The decoding of word classes by L2 English listeners

Abstract

This study examined L2 English listeners’ decoding of the two word classes of content words and function words. Thirty-three advanced and 33 intermediate-level Taiwanese listeners listened to two texts, which were stopped intermittently for them to transcribe the last few words they heard. The texts varied in difficulty level based mainly on their speed of delivery. First, the study found that the intermediate-level listeners identified content words at a rate approximately 20% higher than function words. This is consistent with similar findings by Field (2008a) for L2 listeners with both stress-based and syllable-based L1s, endorsing Field’s view that attentional factors dominate over perceptual ones in influencing intermediate-level listeners’ recognition of the two word classes, and in particular, that they purposely direct attention to the meaning-bearing content words. Secondly, the present study investigated this issue further by examining whether the listeners’ recognition of stressed functors aligned more closely with that of stressed content words (indicating a perceptual factor), or with unstressed functors (items of the same word class; indicating an attentional factor). The advanced listeners demonstrated a balanced use of the two factors. For the intermediate group, though, the perceptual factor was dominant on the easier text, while the attentional factor dominated on the harder text.