Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Perceptual Proficiency Ratings Of Obstruent Productions In L2 Learners Of English As A Function Of Speech Task Type, Word Position, And Listener Expertise, Rachel Mcpherson Zitting

Theses and Dissertations

Second language (L2) learners of English must learn to produce English phonemes, words, and sentences. These L2 learners make many errors when learning English; they may change the place or manner of articulation, insert vowels, or delete consonants. Obstruent sounds, such as fricatives, affricates, and stops, can be especially difficult for L2 learners. This study analyzed native English speakers’ perception of the quality of obstruents produced by native Mandarin Chinese and Korean speakers. Target words containing obstruents had been produced in three different tasks: in a carrier phrase, in a paragraph, and in a spontaneous speech sample. Obstruents were produced …