Using Event-Related Brain Potentials to Assess Perceptibility: The Case of French Speakers and English [h].

ABSTRACT: French speaking learners of English encounter persistent difficulty acquiring English [h], thus confusing words like eat and heat in both production and perception. We assess the hypothesis that the acoustic properties of [h] may render detection of this segment in the speech stream insufficiently reliable for second language acquisition. We use the mismatch negativity (MMN) in event-related potentials to investigate [h] perception in French speaking learners of English and native English controls, comparing both linguistic and non-linguistic conditions in an unattended oddball paradigm. Unlike native speakers, French learners of English elicit an MMN response only in the non-linguistic condition. Our results provide neurobiological evidence against the hypothesis that French

SUBMITTER: Mah J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5048474 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature