Perception of English Voicing by Native and Nonnative Adults

Recordings of naturally produced stop-vowel English words with a wide range of voice onset time values were used to investigate nonnative perception of voicing categories. L2 learners of English from nine language groups and native American English speakers served as subjects. The responses of the language learners suggested that they were using a hybrid perceptual system, one in which the English voicing categories were not yet fully established.