Though the claim that cognates are comprehended more accurately than non-cognates in the visual modality is uncontroversial, it is still uncertain what role phonology plays in the comprehension of cognates. Research on cognates focuses mainly on the visual modality (e.g., Sherkina-Lieber, 2004; Hoshino and Kroll, 2008; Tonzar et al, 2009; Tercedor, 2010; among others) whereas the aural modality remains to be explored in depth.

This study investigates the role of phonological factors in the aural comprehension of cognates in learners of Spanish as a second language. For this study, Spanish-English cognates were classified in four groups of 12 cognates on the basis of their shared phonological features (i.e., stressed syllable) and the degree of phonological overlap (i.e., number of shared phonemes). Group 1 included cognates that share 1 or 2 phonemes and the stressed syllable, e.g., “control” [kənˈtroʊɫ] and “control” [konˈtɾol]. Group 2 had cognates that share 1 or 2 phonemes but not the stressed syllable. For example, “activity” [ækˈthɪvətɪ] and “actividad” [aktiβiˈðað]. Group 3 included cognates that share 3 or more phonemes and the stressed syllable. For example, “center” [ˈsɛntɚ] and “centro” [ˈsentɾo]. Finally, Group 4 was comprised of cognates that share 3 or more phonemes but not the stressed syllable. For instance, “information” [ˌɪnfɚˈmeɪʃən] and “información” [imfoɾmaˈsjon]. Sixty-two learners of Spanish as a second language performed translation tasks. Participants were divided into two groups: Control Group (32 participants), who encountered isolated words visually; and Experimental Group (30 participants), who encountered isolated words aurally. Both groups were asked to translate 48 cognates (12 from each category) and 15 non-cognates in the corresponding modalities. All the words used in the stimuli were frequent in both languages.

Preliminary non-parametric analyses suggest that the degree of phonological overlap may affect the comprehension of cognates. In terms of the aural modality, preliminary analyses suggest that the number of shared phonemes might not have a great effect on the comprehension of cognates with 95% CIs [15.8, 19.8] and [15.8, 20] for cognates that share 1 or 2 phonemes and 3 or 4 phonemes respectively; however, participants seemed to perform slightly better with cognates that do not share a stressed syllable with 95% CIs [16.5, 20.6] and [15, 19] for cognates that share and do not share the stressed syllable in order. In terms of the visual modality, preliminary analyses indicate that the number of shared phonemes and the stressed syllable might have an effect on the comprehension of cognates since participants performed better with cognates that share 1 or 2 phonemes - 95% CIs [21.5, 22.6] than with cognates that share 3 or 4 phonemes - 95% CIs [20, 21.7]. They also performed better with cognates that do not share a stressed syllable than with cognates that share a stressed syllable with 95% CIs [21.64, 22.7] and [20, 21.63] respectively.

The study suggests that phonological factors might have an effect on the comprehension of cognates in both the visual and the aural modalities.