The effect of distributional training on the production of non-native vowel contrasts

The current study tests production accuracy of a non-native vowel contrast following a modified perceptual learning paradigm. Previous research has found that adults can learn non-native sound categories with sensitivity to distributional properties of their input. In the current study, 34 native-English adults heard stimuli from /o/-/oe/ continuum. Half of the participants heard stimuli drawn from a bimodal distribution and half from a unimodal distribution. To support learning, we incorporated active learning with feedback, lexical support in the form of two images, and overnight consolidation. Production of this contrast was assessed through a repetition task at baseline and at the end of the experiment. Production accuracy is measured as the Euclidean distance between /o/ and /oe/ at baseline and post-training. Preliminary analyses suggest that the distance between these two vowels increased for both groups, indicating that listeners in both conditions were able to transfer perceptual learning to prod...