Preliminary Results on the Development of the Perception of Spanish /e/ and /ei/ by Heritage Learners vs. L2 Learners of Spanish in the Classroom

This exploratory study gives a first glance at the development of perception Spanish /e/-/ei/ contrast by heritage learners in comparison to that L2 classroom. To this end, two types semester-long, explicit phonetic instruction training are compared: High Phonetic Variability Training (HPVT) with exposure multiple sources speech, and regular standalone phonetics courses low variability speech input (LPVT). Data from identical pre-test post-test ABX perceptual discrimination tasks were obtained 27 students, as well 7 control speakers whose primary language is Spanish. Results show perceive better than learners, HPVT significantly improves contrast. Although perform close native ceiling do not differ controls, improvement larger enrolled LPVT training. These results suggest that, although accuracy /e/ /ei/ already high for stage, can be beneficial their language, even matching speakers.