Description
Abstract: Compared to monolinguals, bilinguals have an advantage in faster reaction times during task switching (Hernández et al., 2013). However, it is not known how switching task language affects basic perception of speech sounds. The goal of this project was to determine whether Spanish-English bilingual participants respond to auditory stimuli differently based on the language in which they receive task instructions. Participants were randomly given experiment instructions in English or Spanish, and then were presented with minimal pairs of words varying in voice onset time (VOT) along a continuum (e.g., belly/peli). Both endpoints of the stimuli were words in Spanish, but only one was a word in English. After each word, participants classified the starting sound (e.g., either /b/ or /p/). Thus, we predicted that if participants were given instructions in English, they would be thinking in English, and thus their responses would follow the pattern of the Ganong effect (Ganong, 1980), shifting the boundary between /b/ and /p/ towards the endpoint that is a word in English (e.g., giving more /b/ responses to the belly/peli continuum). However, if participants were given Spanish instructions and thinking in Spanish, their responses would shift more towards the voiceless endpoint overall (e.g., giving more /p/ responses) given the differences in VOT between Spanish and English speakers (Lisker & Abramson, 1964). Results will show how English-Spanish bilinguals' auditory perception is affected by instruction language, which can have implications for bilinguals who grow up as informal translators as well as for auditory comprehension in everyday conversations.
Included in
Effect of Instruction Language on English-Spanish Bilinguals’ Speech Perception
Abstract: Compared to monolinguals, bilinguals have an advantage in faster reaction times during task switching (Hernández et al., 2013). However, it is not known how switching task language affects basic perception of speech sounds. The goal of this project was to determine whether Spanish-English bilingual participants respond to auditory stimuli differently based on the language in which they receive task instructions. Participants were randomly given experiment instructions in English or Spanish, and then were presented with minimal pairs of words varying in voice onset time (VOT) along a continuum (e.g., belly/peli). Both endpoints of the stimuli were words in Spanish, but only one was a word in English. After each word, participants classified the starting sound (e.g., either /b/ or /p/). Thus, we predicted that if participants were given instructions in English, they would be thinking in English, and thus their responses would follow the pattern of the Ganong effect (Ganong, 1980), shifting the boundary between /b/ and /p/ towards the endpoint that is a word in English (e.g., giving more /b/ responses to the belly/peli continuum). However, if participants were given Spanish instructions and thinking in Spanish, their responses would shift more towards the voiceless endpoint overall (e.g., giving more /p/ responses) given the differences in VOT between Spanish and English speakers (Lisker & Abramson, 1964). Results will show how English-Spanish bilinguals' auditory perception is affected by instruction language, which can have implications for bilinguals who grow up as informal translators as well as for auditory comprehension in everyday conversations.