Good ear for sound details accelerates foreign language pronunciation

People who are better at noticing fine details in sound – known as auditory precision – can master the pronunciation of new languages faster and more accurately than other learners, a new study finds.

Even when hearing a human voice, some people's brains do not immediately treat new sounds as 'language', instead they understand them as unfamiliar acoustic signals. This ability may be one of the keys to successfully mastering pronunciation of a new language.

Researchers from UCL and Tohoku University measured the auditory precision of 67 Japanese learners of English by measuring their ability to detect slight acoustic differences, such as changes in pitch, length and tone, in non-speech sounds. 

They then used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology to measure the participants' brain activity as they tried to distinguish between the English vowels /æ/ (like the 'a' in 'cat') and /ʌ/ (like the 'uh' in 'cup'). Neither of these sounds map directly on to Japanese vowels. 

In a second task, the participants distinguished similar subtle differences in non-speech sounds.

The results showed that learners with higher auditory precision relied less on the brain's left sensorimotor system (involved in language processing) when processing foreign-language sounds. Their brain activity patterns were similar to those that occur when the brain processes non-speech sounds. With less interference from pre-existing patterns of their native language, it was simpler for these learners to accurately process new sounds. 

In contrast, the fMRI results showed learners with lower auditory precision relied more on the brain's left sensorimotor network when listening to foreign-language sounds. They used the pronunciation patterns of their native-language when processing unfamiliar foreign-language sounds. 

Learners with a 'good ear' for auditory differences can hear a new foreign-language sound objectively, without immediately processing it as 'language'. Instead, their brains analyse the acoustic information itself, and this may be the key to why some people grasp new languages with more ease than others. 

Most people approach foreign language learning by memorizing vocabulary and listening to speech, but our study indicated that language learners might also benefit from training the auditory abilities that underpin language learning itself.

Foreign language education should move beyond an approach based on 'more practice' and towards one that develops learners' ear for language learning in line with their auditory characteristics."

Dr. Kazuya Saito-van Poeteren, Lead Author, UCL Institute of Education

The research team aim to develop a new form of combined language and auditory training designed to improve the ability to detect fine differences in pitch and other acoustic properties.