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English Language and Literature

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2007

Perception

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Why Learning French First Is Better Than Learning German First, Wendy Baker-Smemoe, Laura Catherine Smith Jan 2007

Why Learning French First Is Better Than Learning German First, Wendy Baker-Smemoe, Laura Catherine Smith

Faculty Publications

This study investigated whether differences in cross-language similarity between English-French and English-German vowels would translate into differences in accurately identifying and discriminating French and German vowels (i.e., Iii, /y/, and /u/). In addition, this study investigated whether these same differences in cross-language perception would also translate into differences in accurately identifying and discriminating vowels in a novel third language. The results suggest that learners exposed to a language with a greater perceived difference with the LI are more able to generalize their perception of their L2 vowels to a novel L3.