This study aims to describe the production of English monophthongs by nonnative Saudi speakers. It acoustically examined the production of English monophthongal vowels by Saudi second language (L2) speakers. Sixteen L2 participants produced twelve English monophthongs in carrier words. Comparable data were obtained in native Saudi Arabic and native Southern Standard British English to aid interpreting the L2 results. Formant frequencies and durations were measured for all vowels. Similar to Saudi Arabic, the English vowels produced by the Saudi L2 speakers occupied a smaller vowel space than the vowels produced by the native English speakers. There was overlap between many of the English vowel categories produced by the L2 speakers. However, the L2 speakers were found to employ similar durational characteristics to those employed by the native English speakers. L1 influence seems to play a major role in the L2 learners’ production of English vowels. The limited vowel space of the L2 speakers’ L1 appears to have limited their ability to produce the more acoustically peripheral English vowels.

中文翻译：

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沙特 L2 使用者发出的英语单元音

本研究旨在描述非沙特母语人士对英语单音的制作。它从声学角度检查了沙特第二语言 (L2) 使用者发出的英语单元音。十六名 L2 参与者用载体词制作了十二个英语单音节。比较数据是用母语沙特阿拉伯语和母语南方标准英式英语获得的，以帮助解释 L2 结果。测量所有元音的共振峰频率和持续时间。与沙特阿拉伯语类似，沙特 L2 语者发出的英语元音比英语母语者发出的元音占据的元音空间更小。L2 说话者发出的许多英语元音类别之间存在重叠。然而，研究发现，第二语言使用者的持续时间特征与英语母语使用者相似。L1 的影响似乎在 L2 学习者英语元音的产生中发挥着重要作用。L2 说话者的 L1 的元音空间有限，似乎限制了它们产生声学上更外围的英语元音的能力。