Effect of Musical Aptitude on the Perception of English Vowels: An Eye-Tracking Investigation Among Native Mandarin Speakers

Purpose: Previous research has suggested that individuals' higher musical aptitude enhances their speech perception in terms of pitch and temporal features. However, it remains unclear whether this cross-domain transfer could extend to the perception of second language (L2) vowels. The primary aim of this study is to investigate how musical aptitude influences the categorical perception of English vowels by native Mandarin speakers. Method: Sixty Mandarin speakers were assigned into a high aptitude (HA) group and a low aptitude (LA) group based on the median of their musical aptitude test scores. Each participant completed a visual-world eye-tracking experiment on the categorical perception of English vowels, which included the acoustically less salient /ɛ/−/æ/ contrast and the more salient /i/−/eɪ/ contrast. Statistical analyses were conducted on both behavioral and eye-tracking data to compare vowel categorization across different groups and vowel contrasts. Results: Overall, the HA group significantly outperformed the LA group in vowel categorization. In addition, the Group × Contrast interaction on boundary width and correlational results on the eye-tracking parameter showed more robust effect of musical aptitude observed for the acoustically less salient /ɛ/−/æ/ contrast. Conclusion: Mandarin speakers with relatively higher musical aptitude tend to show more refined categorization of L2 English vowels, with this cross-domain transfer effect modulated by acoustic salience.