Research in Language, 2017, vol. 15:4 DOI: 10.1515/rela-2017-0022 385 FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNERS ACQUIRE L2 PHONETIC DETAIL: GOOSE AND FOOT FRONTING IN NON-NATIVE ENGLISH * ŠÁRKA ŠIMÁČKOVÁ Palacký University Olomouc sarka.simackova@upol.cz VÁCLAV JONÁŠ PODLIPSKÝ Palacký University Olomouc vaclav.j.podlipsky@upol.cz Abstract Whether late learners discern fine phonetic detail in second-language (L2) input, form new phonetic categories, and realize them accurately remains a relevant question in L2 phonology, especially for foreign-language (FL) learning characterized by limited exposure to interactional native input. Our study focuses on advanced Czech learners’ production of the L2 English vowels GOOSE and FOOT. While English /u/ and /ʊ/ have been undergoing fronting, their Czech equivalents, /uː/ and /u/, are fully back. We show that although the spectral differentiation of /u/-/ʊ/ is smaller in the learners’ than in native speech, the vowels being contrasted primarily in length, even FL learners can shift their L2 sound categories towards native-like targets, or in this case, produce English /u/-/ʊ/ as fronted. Keywords: back-vowel fronting, fine phonetic detail, FOOT vowel, foreign language learning, GOOSE vowel, second language phonology 1. Introduction The topic of this paper is the accuracy of vowel production in the speech of highly proficient and highly motivated learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Specifically, the study examines pronunciation of English high back vowels /u/ and /ʊ/ by young Czech adults, trained to become English language professionals. In trying to explain why late second language (L2) learners’ pronunciation often falls short of the native speaker model, researchers have found the concept of equivalence classification very useful. Originally introduced by Flege as a part of his influential Speech Learning Model (SLM; Flege 1987, 1995), equivalence classification can be understood as a cognitive mechanism blocking the formation of a new L2 sound category. This happens when an L2 learner uses a single * We would like to thank Kateřina Chládková for helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper.