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ERIC Number: EJ851894
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009-Jun
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
Reference Count: 32
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1094-3501
Acquisition of L2 Japanese Geminates: Training with Waveform Displays
Motohashi-Saigo, Miki; Hardison, Debra M.
Language Learning & Technology, v13 n2 p29-47 Jun 2009
The value of waveform displays as visual feedback was explored in a training study involving perception and production of L2 Japanese by beginning-level L1 English learners. A pretest-posttest design compared auditory-visual (AV) and auditory-only (A-only) Web-based training. Stimuli were singleton and geminate /t,k,s/ followed by /a,u/ in two conditions (isolated words, carrier sentences). Fillers with long vowels were included. Participants completed a forced-choice identification task involving minimal triplets: singletons, geminates, long vowels (e.g., "sasu," "sassu," "saasu"). Results revealed a) significant improvement in geminate identification following training, especially for AV; b) significant effect of geminate (lowest scores for /s/); c) no significant effect of condition; and d) no significant improvement for the control group. Most errors were misperceptions of geminates as long vowels. Test of generalization revealed 5% decline in accuracy for AV and 14% for A-only. Geminate production improved significantly (especially for AV) based on rater judgments; improvement was greatest for /k/ and smallest for /s/. Most production errors involved substitution of a singleton for a geminate. Post-study interviews produced positive comments on Web-based training. Waveforms increased awareness of durational differences. Results support the effectiveness of auditory-visual input in L2 perception training with transfer to novel stimuli and improved production. (Contains 5 figures, 1 table, and 10 notes.)
University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center. 1859 East-West Road #106, Honolulu, HI 96822. Tel: 808-956-9424; Fax: 808-956-5983; e-mail: llt@hawaii.edu; Web site: http://llt.msu.edu
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers: Japan