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Abstract
Bilingual individuals have been shown in various studies to possess an enhanced capacity for acquiring additional languages (Abu-Rabia & Sanitsky, 2010; Hirosh & Degani, 2018). This phenomenon has often been attributed to either linguistic or cognitive factors. The research has more recently expanded its focus to encompass bidialectalism, with certain investigations demonstrating that bidialectal speakers may hold an advantage over monodialectal individuals in a range of phonological tasks (Chen et al., 2017; Kouridou, 2009; Liu & Escudero, 2023).
In the realm of speech perception, several studies have showcased how differences between the vowel systems of various dialects affect the ability of dialectal speakers to perceive sounds of a nonnative language (e.g., Escudero & Williams, 2012). However, as far as our knowledge extends, no studies have probed into the ability of bidialectals and monodialectals to perceive nonnative sounds.
The purpose of this lecture is to investigate whether there exists a bidialectal advantage in second language (L2) speech perception. We did this by comparing bidialectal speakers of Cypriot Greek/Standard Modern Greek with monodialectal speakers of Standard Modern Greek, both of whom have matched L2 proficiency levels, cognitive abilities, and other linguistic and sociolinguistic variables. Both bidialectal and monodialectal speakers participated in a sound classification test, where they classified L2 vowels based on their L1 phonetic categories, and an AX discrimination test, in which they distinguished various L2 sound contrasts of varying difficulty. Native English speakers also completed the AX discrimination test as control subjects.
The data were analyzed using Bayesian regression models in R. The perceived similarity and discrimination predictions were developed using the framework of the Universal Perceptual Model (Georgiou, 2021). The results suggested that bidialectals outperformed monodialectals in discriminating most of the L2 contrasts, although both groups’ performance fell short of that exhibited by the native English controls. These findings transcend the conventional examination of speakers’ cognitive abilities and disparities in their phonological systems and explore the potential development of advanced higher-order abilities in bidialectals, which, in turn, enhance their ability to perceive L2 contrasts due to their diverse linguistic background.
Bio
Dr Georgios (George) Georgiou is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics at the University of Nikosia. He is the Director of the Phonetic Lab and coordinates the Cyprus Linguistics and Humanities Research Group. He obtained a BA in Greek Philology (2007-2011), an MA in Education (2011-2013) with distinction, and a PhD in Linguistics (2014-2018) with distinction from the University of Cyprus. He has also worked as a postdoctoral researcher at RUDN University (2018-2020) and at the Cyprus University of Technology (2021). His research interests include phonetics, phonology, speech acquisition, and speech-language disorders. He has published over 35 refereed journal articles in a number of high-impact journals. He has also published several monographs, edited volumes, book chapters, and articles in conference proceedings. He has presented papers at over 50 conferences worldwide and has been invited as a guest speaker at various academic meetings around the globe. He is an academic editor of the reputable journal PLOS ONE and a reviewer for several high-indexed journals. He is a member of the International Speech Communication Association, the European Association for Signal Processing, and other academic societies. He has won several research grants and awards, including postdoctoral research fellowship grants at the Cyprus University of Technology (score: 91/100; ranked 5th out of 38) and RUDN University (provided by the Russian Government), the Seal of Excellence for a project submitted to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action, a PhD scholarship from the Cyprus State Scholarship Foundation, and more. More information can be found on his personal website.