This article aims to investigate the discrimination of phonemes for second language of an adult who speaks Spanish as native language who is acquiring Brazilian Portuguese as second language, according to the perceptions of the speaker himself. The article was developed from a case study of qualitative cross-sectional nature using a semi-structured interview. A comprehensive reading and skimming of data were performed following the orthographic transcription of the interview, seeking to analyze what was recurrent in the patient's speech. Some determinants were shown and pointed to discursive categories of analysis. Five categories were created and 11 discursive sequences were selected for discussion. Based on the discursive sequences it was possible to attest the importance of the discrimination of phonemes in the learning process of second language, as well as the difficulty of developing second language in late age because it becomes restrict and unnatural. The discrimination of phonemes seems to be facilitated by some characteristics presented by the interlocutor that make the acoustic traces more prominent. Furthermore, the change in this ability can generate complex circumstances in the interaction between the pairs. Once there is an improvement in the discrimination of phonemes, there is also an improvement in both the speech production and comprehension, facilitating the language domain and the social interaction between pairs. Results demonstrated that the a better development of second language seems to be associated to the early exposure to the second language because in the first infancy there is still a great plasticity of auditory skills and the discrimination of phonemes is not restrict indicating that the formal teaching of second language and the perceptual skills should be stimulated at this age range.
Speech Perception; Auditory Perception; Multilingualism