The weight of VOT and f0 in English stop differentiation: 2L1 bilinguals versus monolinguals

Abstract This study focuses on the differences and similarities between 2L1 bilinguals and monolinguals from the perspective of the weight of VOT and f0 as cues in English stop differentiation. The paper takes both Japanese-English and Mandarin-English 2L1 bilinguals into consideration, as f0 has different roles in stop distinguishing in Japanese and Mandarin. The statistical analysis models indicate that both kinds of 2L1 bilinguals show differences from the English monolinguals that cannot be explained by cross-linguistic interaction. Efficiency can satisfactorily explain these observed differences. Neither 2L1 bilingual group differs from the English monolingual group both in the weights of VOT and f0. The Japanese-English 2L1 bilingual group relies less on VOT than the English monolingual group in word list reading and more on f0 than the English monolingual group in text reading, although VOT and f0 have similar weights as cues for stop differentiation in Japanese and English. The Japanese-English 2L1 bilingual group uses one cue differently from the English monolingual group to distinguish between their two first languages. The Mandarin-English 2L1 bilingual group relies on f0 as much as the monolingual group in English stop differentiation although f0 has a lighter weight in Mandarin stop differentiation; this may make the differentiation between Mandarin and English easier.