1. Introducing SLA of phonology research:
Major theoretical approaches

2. Perceptual Assimilation Model PAM - Best (1996)
concerns initial perceptual difficulties: non-native phonetic segments are perceptually assimilated to native phonetic categories according to their articulatory similarity to the native gestural constellations
perceptual difficulty in differentiating non-native contrasts is predictable from these assimilation patterns (cf. 'goodness of fit' to a given native category)
Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk

3. Speech Learning Model SLM - Flege (1991)
L1 & L2 position-sensitive allophones are related along a continuum of interlingual phonetic similarity defined in acoustic-phonetic terms (such as F1/F2 for Vs, VOT for Cs)
beginners perceptually assimilate most L2 categories to native ones; if L2 segment is sufficiently dissimilar - a new L2 perceptual category is established over time
Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk

4. Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk
SLM cont.
the new category formation may be blocked by equivalence classification for less dissimilar sounds, so a single perceptual category subsumes both L1 & L2 segments, leading to persistent accented production in L2 or even to shifts in L1 production
Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk

5. Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk
both in PAM & SLM
context-dependent phonetic segments form the level of analysis (not phonemes or features)
Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk

6. an exemplar-based model - Pisoni (1996)
native phonetic categories are represented as clusters of exemplars that share certain critical acoustic parameters
categorization involves matching an incoming signal to previously stored exemplars
L2 perceptual training should be conducive to the formation of (new) equivalence clusters
Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk

7. Perceptual Magnet model - Kuhl (1996)
native-lg phonetic categories are organized around prototypes (established within the first year of life) which distort the phonetic perceptual space
L2 perceptual learning would require the reorganization of the phonetic perc space around newly established prototypes
Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk

8. Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk
all four models
rely on the notion of phonetic similarity (cf. Strange 1999 for further discussion)
Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk