Abstract
This article reports on second language perception of non-native contrasts. The
study specifically tests the perceptual assimilation model (PAM) by examining
American learners’ ability to discriminate Arabic contrasts. Twenty two native
American speakers enrolled in a university level Arabic language program took part
in a forced choice AXB discrimination task. Results of the study provide partial evidence
for PAM. Only two-category contrasts followed straightforwardly from PAM;
discrimination results of category-goodness difference and both uncategorizable
contrasts yielded partial support, while results of uncategorized versus categorized
contrast discrimination provided counter-evidence to PAM.