Effects of English-Language Learning Experience on Speech Sound Development Among Preschool Children in Taiwan

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of language learning experience on the development of children's speech sounds. Participants were 40 4-year-old and 40 6-year-old preschool children. They were divided into groups based on their age and English-language learning experience and were given 3 tasks to examine their speech production, speech perception, and phonological awareness. The first task targeted the articulation of Mandarin and English. Stimuli included disyllabic Mandarin words and pseudowords and monosyllabic English words and pseudowords. The results showed that the 6-year-old group performed better than the 4-year-old group. There were no differences between the groups with different language-learning experiences. Moreover, there was no association between language learning experience and age. The second task focused on speech discrimination. Participants were asked to discern the differences between the word-initial phonemes of disyllabic words. Results revealed that the 6-year-old group performed better than the 4-year-old group and the group with more English-language learning experience performed better than the group with less English-language learning experience. However, this pattern was found only among the 4-year-old subjects. The third task tested phonological awareness by deletion of sounds and blending of sounds. The results showed that on the deletion of sounds test, the 6-year-old group performed better than the 4-year-old group and the group with more English-language learning experience performed better than the group with less English-language learning experience. Again, such advantage was found only among the 4-year-old children. On the blending of sounds test, the 6-year-old group outperformed the 4-yearold group and no differences were found between the group with more English-language learning experience and the group with less English-language learning experience. In sum, the results of the current study indicated that exposure to a foreign language does not interfere with the development of speech sounds in the native language. Instead, such experience can expand speech sound development of children and foster their ability to discriminate speech sounds.