Effects of talker and vowel context in Thai learners’ discrimination of English dental fricatives
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12928/eltej.v9i2.16045Keywords:
World Englishes, Vowel context, Dental fricative, Talker variability, L2 speech perceptionAbstract
L2 speech perception is shaped by variability in both talker characteristics and phonetic context, yet how these sources of variability interact remains insufficiently understood. This study investigated how talker accent and vowel context interact to influence L2 speech perception among Thai learners. Thirty-eight Thai undergraduate learners completed an ABX discrimination task testing five English consonant contrasts (/f–θ/, /ð–d/, /θ–ð/, /f–t/, and /t–θ/) produced by five talkers (Thai, Philippine, Indian, British, and American English) across three vocalic environments (high, low, and back vowels). Accuracy was analysed using a binomial generalised linear mixed-effects model (GLMM). Results revealed a significant three-way interaction among consonant contrast, vowel context, and talker (p < .001). Talker effects were limited in high- and back-vowel contexts but pronounced in the low-vowel context. Similarly, vowel-context effects were non-uniform; for instance, low vowels degraded /ð–d/ discrimination for American, Indian, and Thai talkers, whereas back vowels impaired /t–θ/ discrimination specifically for the Thai talker. Overall, no single talker or vowel context provided a uniform perceptual advantage. These findings demonstrate that L2 phoneme discrimination is dynamically co-conditioned by phonetic context and talker variability, carrying important implications for models of L2 speech perception (PAM-L2, SLM-r, L2LP) and contextualised perception pedagogy.
References
Alshangiti, W., Evans, B. G., & Wibrow, M. (2023). Investigating the effects of speaker variability on Arabic children's acquisition of English vowels. Arab World English Journal, 14(1), 3–27.
Baese-Berk, M. M., Chandrasekaran, B., & Roark, C. L. (2022). The nature of non-native speech sound representations. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 152(5), 3025–3034. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0015230
Best, C. T., Tyler, M., Bohn, O., & Munro, M. (2007). Nonnative and second-language speech perception. In M. J. Munro & O. S. Bohn (Eds.), Language experience in second language speech learning (Vol. 17, pp. 13-34). John Benjamins.
Boersma, P., & Weenink, D. (2023). Praat: Doing phonetics by computer (Version 6.4.60). In Glot International http://www.praat.org/
Boonsuk, Y., Ambele, E. A., & McKinley, J. (2021). Developing awareness of Global Englishes: Moving away from ‘native standards’ for Thai university ELT. System, 99, 102511. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2021.102511 02511
Boonsuk, Y., & Fang, F. (2022). Perennial language learners or competent language users: An investigation of international students' attitudes towards their own and native English accents. RELC Journal, 53(1), 40–55. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688220926715 6715.
Borodkin, K., Gassner, T., Ershaid, H., & Amir, N. (2022). tDCS modulates speech perception and production in second language learners. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 16212. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-20512-0
Bradlow, A. R., Bassard, A. M., & Paller, K. A. (2023). Generalized perceptual adaptation to second-language speech: Variability, similarity, and intelligibility. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 154(3), 1601-1613. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0020914
Brekelmans, G., Lavan, N., Saito, H., Clayards, M., & Wonnacott, E. (2022). Does high variability training improve the learning of non-native phoneme contrasts over low variability training? A replication. Journal of Memory and Language, 126, 104352. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2022.104352
Cebrian, J., Gavaldà, N., Gorba, C., & Carlet, A. (2024). Differential effects of identification and discrimination training tasks on L2 vowel identification and discrimination. Studies in second language acquisition, 46(4), 1069-1093. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263124000408
Choi, W. (2022). Theorizing positive transfer in cross-linguistic speech perception: The Acoustic-Attentional-Contextual hypothesis. Journal of Phonetics, 91, 101135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2022.101135
Escudero, P., & Boersma, P. (2004). Bridging the gap between L2 speech perception research and phonological theory. Studies in second language acquisition, 26(4), 551-585. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263104040021
Flege, J. E., & Bohn, O.-S. (2021). The Revised Speech Learning Model (SLM-r) Applied. In R. Wayland (Ed.), Second language speech learning: Theoretical and empirical progress (pp. 84-118). Cambridge University Press.
Georgiou, G. P. (2024). Perception of familiar second language accents and the role of linguistic background. Applied Sciences, 14(24), 11776. https://doi.org/10.3390/app142411776
Huang, Y., & Hashim, A. (2024). Contributing factors to Chinese English learners’ perceptions of different English accents. RELC Journal, 55(2), 313-328. https://doi.org/10.1177/00336882221090321
Jenkins, J. (2000). The phonology of English as an international language. Oxford university press.
Jeong, H., & Lindemann, S. (2025). Beyond ideologies of nativeness in the intelligibility principle for L2 English pronunciation: A corpus-supported review. System, 129, 103599. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2025.103599
Kafryawan, W., & Zulihi, Z. (2023). Sound production of English dental fricatives by Papuan EFL students. Tell: Teaching of English Language and Literature Journal, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.30651/tell.v11i2.19007
Kalaiah, M. K., & Bhat, J. S. (2017). Effect of vowel context on the recognition of initial consonants in Kannada. Journal of audiology & otology, 21(3), 146. https://doi.org/10.7874/jao.2017.00122
Kapadia, A. M., Tin, J. A., & Perrachione, T. K. (2023). Multiple sources of acoustic variation affect speech processing efficiency. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 153(1), 209-223. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0016611
Kitikanan, P. (2016). L2 English fricative production by Thai learners [Doctoral dissertation, Newcastle University].
Kitikanan, P. (2017). The effects of L2 experience and vowel context on the perceptual assimilation of English fricatives by L2 Thai learners. English Language Teaching, 10(12), 72-82. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v10n12p72
Kostromitina, M., Sudina, E., & Baghlaf, E. (2025). Study and instrument quality in perception-based L2 pronunciation research: A methodological synthesis. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 47(2), 721–754. https://doi.org/10.1017/S027226312500018X
Krug, M. (2024). English dental fricatives and their substitutes in EFL learners: A study of L1-German university students and implications for EFL teaching. In A. Rosen & K. Beuter (Eds.), Englische Sprachwissenschaft und Fachdidaktik im Dialog: Chancen zur Stärkung der Lehrkräftebildung (pp. 65–80). Narr Francke Attempto Verlag. https://doi.org/10.24053/9783381112524
Lenth, R. (2024). emmeans: Estimated Marginal Means, aka Least-Squares Means. R package version 1.10. 5. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=emmeans
Liu, P. B., & Li, M. (2024). The perceptual distinctiveness of the [n-l] contrast in different vowel and tonal contexts. JASA Express Letters, 4(11). https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0034196
Luthra, S. (2024). Why are listeners hindered by talker variability? Psychon Bull Rev, 31, 104–121. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-023-02355-6
McGillycuddy M, Warton DI, Popovic G, Bolker BM (2025). Parsimoniously fitting large multivariate random effects in glmmTMB. Journal of Statistical Software, 112(1), 1–19.
Miao, Y. (2024). Factors affecting listener perception of accented speech: The role of accent familirity and linguistic training. International Journal of Listening, 38(3), 203–215. https://doi.org/10.1080/10904018.2023.2252019
Mingxing, L. (2022). Vowel context, place difference, and the perceptual distinctiveness of sibilants. Chinese Journal of Phonetics, 17(1), 96-105.
Mohan, D., & Maruthy, S. (2021). Vowel context effect on the perception of stop consonants in Malayalam and its role in determining syllable frequency. Journal of audiology & otology, 25(3), 124-130. https://doi.org/10.7874/jao.2021.00087
Öztürk, C. Y. (2025). Using a Speech Corpus to Raise Phonemic Awareness Among L2 English Speakers: Production and Substitution of Dental Fricatives. In Exploration of the Intersection of Corpus Linguistics and Language Science (pp. 133-156). IGI Global Scientific Publishing.
Pan, S., Yang, Y., Kuang, C., & Huang, Z. (2026). Contextual similarity beyond segments: Interlanguage vocalic distance affects Chinese learners' perception of English alveolar–velar nasal contrasts. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 159, 2741-2753. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0042986
Pérez-Ramón, R. (2024). Discrimination of Degrees of Foreign Accent across Different Speakers. Languages, 9(3), 72. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9030072
Pickering, L., & Huang, M. (2022). Teaching pronunciation in the context of multiple varieties of English. Second Language Pronunciation: Bridging the Gap Between Research and Teaching, 273-293. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781394259663.ch14
Rose, H., McKinley, J., & Galloway, N. (2021). Global Englishes and language teaching: A review of pedagogical research. Language teaching, 54(2), 157-189.
RStudio Team. (2026). RStudio: Integrated Development for R (Version 2026.01.1). In RStudio, Inc. https://www.rstudio.com/
Saito, K., Hanzawa, K., Petrova, K., Kachlicka, M., Suzukida, Y., & Tierney, A. (2022). Incidental and multimodal high variability phonetic training: Potential, limits, and future directions. Language Learning, 72(4), 1049-1091. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12503
Schneider, E. W. (2011). English around the world: An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Shejaeya, G. A., Roon, K. D., & Whalen, D. H. (2024). Talker variability versus variability of vowel context in training naïve learners on an unfamiliar class of foreign language contrasts. Journal of Phonetics, 107, 101369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2024.101369
Sridhanyarat, K. (2017). The Acquisition of L2 Fricatives in Thai Learners’ Interlanguage. 3L: Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 23(1). http://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2017-2301-02
Uchihara, T., Karas, M., & Thomson, R. I. (2025). High variability phonetic training (HVPT): A meta-analysis of L2 perceptual training studies. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 47(3), 794-827. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263125100879
Uchihara, T., Webb, S., Saito, K., & Trofimovich, P. (2022). The effects of talker variability and frequency of exposure on the acquisition of spoken word knowledge. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 44(2), 357–380. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263121000218
Ulla, M. B., Perales, W. F., & Paulino, F. B. (2025). Language teachers’ awareness of their accents at a Thai university: Global Englishes (GE) in English language teaching (ELT). Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 48(2), 177–198. https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.24037.ull
Van Leussen, J.-W., & Escudero, P. (2015). Learning to perceive and recognize a second language: The L2LP model revised. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 1000. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01000
Yeni–Komshian, G. H., & Soli, S. D. (1981). Recognition of vowels from information in fricatives: Perceptual evidence of fricative‐vowel coarticulation. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 70(4), 966-975.
Zhang, X., Cheng, B., & Zhang, Y. (2021). The role of talker variability in nonnative phonetic learning: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 64(12), 4802–4825. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_JSLHR-21-00181
Zhang, X., Cheng, B., Zou, Y., Li, X., & Zhang, Y. (2023). Cognitive factors in nonnative phonetic learning: Impacts of inhibitory control and working memory on the benefits and costs of talker variability. Journal of Phonetics, 100, 101266.
Zhang, X., Cheng, B., Zou, Y., & Zhang, Y. (2025). Determining optimal talker variability for nonnative speech training: A systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 68(3), 1006–1023. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_JSLHR-24-0059
Zhang, K., Li, D., & Peng, G. (2024). Achieving perceptual constancy with context cues in second language speech perception. Journal of Phonetics, 103, 101299.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Patchanok Kitikanan, Ho Ting Chak
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish in ELTEJ agree to the following terms: Authors retain copyright and grant the ELTEJ right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-SA 4.0) that allows others to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material) the work for any purpose, even commercially with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in ELTEJ. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in ELTEJ. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
