What question did this study set out to answer?

This study aims to explore how lexical bias in L2 English speakers is influenced by their language background and proficiency.

May 14, 2026

Lexical recruitment across contrasts in Japanese and Mandarin L2 English speakers

Key Points

This study aims to explore how lexical bias in L2 English speakers is influenced by their language background and proficiency.
Participants included Mandarin and Japanese L2 English speakers aged 18–35.
Phoneme categorization was assessed using a Ganong task with four phonemic contrasts: /ɛ/–/æ/, /r/–/l/, /s/–/ʃ/, and /d/–/t/.
English proficiency was measured using LexTALE.
Contrast-dependent differences in lexical bias were observed between the language groups.
No consistent correlation was found between English proficiency and lexical bias.
Findings imply that native language background plays a significant role in how L2 speakers integrate lexical and acoustic information.

Abstract

Lexical recruitment in speech perception can vary across individuals and tasks (Giovannone Lemhöfer & Broersma, 2012) and lexical bias. This suggests that language ability in L2 speakers may not directly modulate lexical recruitment. These findings suggest a potential role for native language background in integrating lexical and acoustic information in perception.

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