The effect of perception training on production and perception of English back vowels by German learners

Abstract

The present study investigates whether perception training with feedback can improve the production and perception of German native speakers, when they speak English. An online experiment with three training rounds was created, which all participants had to complete. Perception and production performance were tested before and after the training. The quantitative analysis showed no significant improvements between the tests. No correlation between perception and production could be found. A qualitative analysis of the data provided insights into the perception and production of English back vowels in an L2 context. Speech patterns were analysed with regard to deviations from English native speakers. The data were interpreted in the context of current models of second language speech learning. The obtained results contribute to the sparse amount of available literature in this field of study.