Automaticity and cognition in received pronunciation English vowel perception, and attitudes towards English language pronunciation

Abstract

The present research investigated perception of RP English prototypic vowels among a group of 53 Algerian 3rd year students of English at the ENS Assia Djebar School in Constantine and their attitudes towards English language pronunciation. The research hypothesised that participants’ L1 vowel inventory would not predict perception difficulty and that their attitudes would significantly correlate with their speaking proficiency. The research used a mixed research design to investigate phenomena of interest. Three experimental conditions were manipulated: (a) discrimination of spectral distance among 9 RP English prototypic vowel contrasts, using an AX test, (b) identification of RP English prototypic vowels in isolation across durational variation, using an m-AFC test, and (c) an m-AFC test for identification of RP English prototypic vowels in varying phonetic contexts. The research used a questionnaire to explore Algerian learners’ attitudes towards pronunciation. Findings for AX discrimination test showed learners’ remarkable perceptual sensitivity to spectral distances among 8 vowel contrasts, with d’ ranging between 1.87 for (/uː/ vs. /ʊ/) and 5.76 for (/ɜː/ vs. /ʊ/), and a null d’ for (/ɑː/ vs. /ʌ/). The m-AFC test for isolated vowels’ identification across manipulated durations showed the following identification pattern: /ʊ/ > /ɪ/ > /e/ > /ʌ/ > /æ/ > /ɒ/, with /ɒ/ being significantly the least accurately identified. For long vowels, the pattern was /iː/ > /ɔː/ > /ɑː/ > /ɜː/ > /uː/, with /uː/ being significantly the least accurately identified. In the second mAFC test, identification of in-context vowels followed a varied pattern than in the previous test, with all vowels identified accurately with a hit rate ranging from .74 to .98. The survey demonstrated an overall positive attitude towards English pronunciation learning and instruction and a sensed reluctance in involvement in self-initiated pronunciation learning activities. The research discussed obtained findings within common theories of cross language speech perception, the status of pronunciation among Algerian students of English, drew a brief conclusion and recommended further speech perception research within the Algerian context.