ABSTRACT
Current models of second language speech learning agree that production and perception difficulty is primarily due to cross-language phonetic relationships of the sounds of the nonnative and the native language. This contribution will first provide additional support for this basic assumption, and will then present some clear evidence showing that second language learners may be (partly) immune to cross-language phonetic relationships either because of universal perceptual biases or because they generalize sensitivities based on native language characteristics when dealing with the nonnative phonetic system. Universal biases in vowel perception are solidly documented and described by Polka and Bohn’s (2011) Natural Referent Vowel framework and Bohn’s (1995) Desensitization Hypothesis, whereas biases in consonant perception have only recently received the attention that they perhaps deserve. Several studies have documented the influence of “higher-order” characteristics of the L2, but it is far from clear when these characteristics affect L2 perception or production. This contribution concludes with an attempt to present a complete picture of L2 speech learning which acknowledges the role of universal phonetic biases and of generalized sensitivities.
