Spanish EFL Learners’ Categorization of /iː-I/ and Phonological Short-Term Memory

This study examined the role of phonological-short-term memory (PSTM) in the weighting of spectral and duration cues in the perception of the English vowel contrast /iː-I/ by Spanish English foreign language (EFL) learners (N=31). Cue-weighting was assessed through a perceptual categorization task with natural and manipulated word stimuli. A serial nonword recognition (SNWR) task was used to obtain a measure of PSTM. The results showed that Spanish EFL learners over-relied on duration in the categorization of /iː-I/ However, when controlling for inter-subject differences in proficiency, learners with higher PSTM capacity used duration as a cue in categorization to a lesser extent than learners with lower PSTM capacity. This suggests that PSTM plays an important role in learners’ development of target-like cue-weighting.