The role of pitch statistical learning in second language morphosyntactic acquisition

To contribute to the ongoing discussion on the role of pitch processing in grammar learning, this study examines the extent to which pitch statistical learning (pitch statistical learning (SL); the ability to detect and internalize pitch patterns in auditory input) affects second language (L2) morphosyntax learning outcomes. In the context of 93 Japanese learners of English, piece-wise regression analyses were conducted to compare the roles of their pitch SL abilities and pitch acuity in L2 morphosyntactic knowledge. The results revealed a weak but significant positive correlation between pitch SL and morphosyntactic knowledge, whereas pitch acuity showed no significant association. Further analysis identified a threshold effect: pitch SL has a strong association with morphosyntactic knowledge for learners with lower pitch SL abilities, but not for those with higher pitch SL abilities. These findings suggest that the lack of pitch SL ability could substantially slow down L2 morphosyntactic learning.