When the Easy Becomes Difficult: Factors Affecting the Acquisition of the English /iː/-/ɪ/ Contrast

The degree of similarity between the sounds a speaker’s first and second language (L1 L2) is believed to determine likelihood accurate perception production L2 sounds. This paper explores relationship cross-linguistic subset English vowels, including highly productive /iː/-/ɪ/ contrast (as in “beat” vs. “bit”), by group Spanish/Catalan native speakers learning as an L2. learners’ ability identify, discriminate produce vowels accurately was contrasted with their perceived judgements. results showed that accuracy not always predicted from patterns cross-language similarity, particularly regarding difficulty distinguishing /iː/ /ɪ/. Possible explanations may involve way /ɪ/ categories interact, effect non-native acoustic cue reliance, roles orthography instruction.