Voice Onset Time (VOT) in English plosives among bilingual Emirati preschool children

Abstract

Studying Voice Onset Time (VOT) is vital for understanding how bilingual children acquire and distinguish between voiced and voiceless plosives in different languages. This research examines how Emirati Arabic affects preschool children’s acquisition of voicing contrasts in English. The primary research objectives were to investigate the influence of the participants’ first language (L1) on their second language (L2) acquisition and address three key research questions: Do English–Arabic bilinguals acquire separate VOT patterns for each language? What is the influence of L1 on the acquisition of L2 plosives? How does gender impact VOT patterns? The study involved 20 typically developing Emirati preschool children, aged 2:0 to 5:11, who are native speakers of Emirati Arabic and learners of English. The research analysed the audio recordings with PRAAT software to measure VOT for various plosive consonants. Data was collected through a picture-naming task conducted in a controlled acoustic environment and results were compared to previous similar studies. Key findings reveal that L1 significantly affects VOT acquisition in L2, with variations observed based on gender. Emirati children displayed VOT patterns in English plosives that were influenced by their native Arabic phonetic structures, underscoring the role of L1 interference. L1 (Arabic) impacts VOT acquisition in L2 (English) by causing bilingual Emirati children to produce English voiceless plosives (e.g., /p/, /t/, /k/) with shorter VOTs and voiced plosives (e.g., /b/, /d/, /g/) with longer VOTs, reflecting Arabic patterns. Gender differences show that boys tend to exhibit more pronounced L1 interference in their VOT production, while girls often demonstrate closer alignment with English VOT norms, suggesting potential social or developmental factors at play. The study concludes that understanding the influence of L1 on L2 acquisition is essential for developing effective educational strategies and clinical interventions. These findings have important implications for language teaching curricula and the diagnosis and treatment of phonological disorders in bilingual children, providing valuable insights into bilingual phonological development.