Phonetic and phonological influences on the discrimination of non-native phones

Two non-native phones can be discriminated well if each one is perceived as a different native phonological category. In that case, the perceiver’s prior attunement to a phonological distinction in the native language supports discrimination in the non-native language. Discrimination of non-native phones is more challenging when both are perceived as similar to the same native phonological category, but a perceived difference in phonetic goodness-of-fit to the native category can nevertheless support discrimination. There are four different sources of information that a perceiver might use to discriminate contrasting non-native phones: 1) sensitivity to a native phonological contrast; 2) sensitivity to the phonetic goodness-of-fit to a native phonological category; 3) language-independent phonetic distance, and; 4) perceptual salience of a non-linguistic auditory difference. Using the Perceptual Assimilation Model (Best, 1995) as an example, the aim of this paper is to outline how a theoretical model of cross-language speech perception might account for these sources of information. On the basis of that review an evaluation will be made of the methodological requirements for determining which sources of information listeners use for discrimination.