Perceptual integrality of foreign segmental and tonal information: Dimensional transfer hypothesis

Abstract

This study investigates whether (a) Cantonese and (b) English listeners integrally or independently perceive Thai tone and segmental information. Listeners completed a modified AX discrimination task that contained a control block (without segmental variation) and an orthogonal block (with segmental variation). Relative to their own performance in the control block, the Cantonese listeners showed increased response time, decreased proportion of accuracy, and decreased sensitivity index in the orthogonal block. By contrast, the English listeners showed similar response time, proportion of accuracy, and sensitivity index across the two blocks. These reflect integral processing among the Cantonese but not the English listeners. This finding motivates the dimensional transfer hypothesis. The hypothesis posits that L1 perceptual experience shapes the perceptual integrality (or nonintegrality) of foreign suprasegmental and segmental information.