Individual Differences in Second/Foreign Language Speech Production: Multidisciplinary Approaches and New Sounds

Abstract

Second/foreign language (L2) speech production is a complex process requiring individuals’ combined efforts to utilize various processing components such as conceptualiser, formulator, and articulator. Since the publication of Pim Levelt’s book Speaking – From Intention to Articulation in 1989, a considerable number of studies have examined L2 speech production in the field of neuroscience with a particular focus on the link between speech perception and speech production. Undeniably, a neurolinguistic examination of speech production can enrich our understanding of how human brains compute linguistic information at a cognitive level. However, it is insufficient by only focusing on the neurocognitive dimension of speech production, given that individuals’ speech production can be subject to various individual differences factors, either cognitively, affectively, or socio-culturally. It is, therefore, necessary to move beyond the neurocognitive understanding of speech production by taking every possible perspective into consideration. Individual difference, as an umbrella term, covers psychological traits, personal characteristics, cognitive and emotional components that distinguish learners from each other. Given that individual difference factors can reveal disparities in L2 learning and performance among learners, such factors have attracted researchers’ growing interest concerning their influences on L2 speech processing, their relationships with L2 speech performance, and their contributions to L2 speech development. Nevertheless, our understanding of L2 speech production is not only insufficient compared to other L2 skills such as writing and reading, but also limited to the neurocognitive account of L2 speech production. More research, therefore, is in urgent need to uncover the influence of various individual differences factors on L2 speech production from multidisciplinary perspectives.