Speech Sound Perception and Production in Spanish/English Bilingual Preschoolers - Project Summary
Although much research has documented speech perception and production abilities in young simultaneous
bilingual learners (Höhle et al., 2019) and in adult second/foreign language learners (Kim et al., 2017), there is a
major gap in the literature on how young sequential bilinguals – in particular, Spanish/English Dual Language
Learners (DLLs) – perceive and produce sounds in both their first (L1) and second language (L2) when
exposure to English starts after exposure to Spanish in early childhood (National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering, and Medicine, 2017). Since perception of speech sound contrasts is crucial in order for children to
develop phonological and phonemic awareness (Nittrouer & Burton, 2005) – the strongest predictors of
reading achievement, understanding DLLs’ abilities to perceive and produce L1 and L2 speech sound
categories during the preschool years has important implications for curricular and instructional approaches
and is thus of critical importance for their future well-being and success. The proposed project uses a
longitudinal design to track the development of English and Spanish speech sound perception and production
skills in 50 low-income, Spanish L1/English L2 DLLs who begin to receive formal and consistent exposure to
English in the Head Start preschool at around 3;6 of age. Children will be administered a) a speech perception
task, b) a speech production task, and c) a vocabulary task in each language at 1) preschool entry (T1, mean
age 3;6), 2) in the fall of their second year in the program (T2, mean age 4;6), and 3) at the end of preschool (T3,
mean age 5;2). Children’s language history, language use and exposure patterns will be assessed at each time
via parental interview and the classroom language environment will be observed as well. The study will then
explore 1) the extent to which English vowel and Voice Onset Time perception and production patterns are
comparable to those produced by 20 same-age monolingual controls; 2) how English and Spanish perception
and production patterns in each language change from T1 to T3; 3) whether pre-existing Spanish speech sound
categories influence English perception and production; and 4) the extent to which perception and production
patterns are related a) with vocabulary measures in the same language, b) with language exposure and use
patterns as reported by parents, c) with the classroom language environment, and d) within and across
languages. The study is grounded in Flege’s Speech Learning Model (1995, 1999, 2002) and the Perceptual
Assimilation Model of Second Language Speech Learning (Best & Tyler, 2007), which predict more accurate
speech perception and production for phonemes and contrasts that are dissimilar between languages. The
study will be carried out by a team of Spanish/English bilingual undergraduate students at California State
University, Los Angeles, a federally recognized Hispanic-serving undergraduate institution, improving the
research environment at CSULA and significantly contributing to the efforts to strengthen recruitment and
training of minority students for careers in biomedical- and behavioral-related sciences.
