Abstract
This preliminary study aims at investigating the production and perception of the English nasals /m/ and /n/ in word-final position by a group of 10 intermediate Brazilian EFL learners. Production data was collected by means of a Sentence Reading Test considering preceding vowel as phonological context. Perception was assessed by means of an identification test contrasting native-like vs. nonnative-like pronunciation of the target nasal consonants. The results from production suggest that the lack of fully realized word-final nasals in Brazilian Portuguese influenced the Brazilian learners’ production, as they frequently nasalized the preceding vowel and deleted the following nasal consonant. The results from the identification test revealed that it was easier for the participants to identify the native-like realization of English word-final nasals when it was presented in contrast to the nonnative-like realization.
Highlights
Second language (L2) acquisition research has often been compared to native language (L1) acquisition
5.1 Production The individual results of the production of the English nasal consonants /m/ and /n/ in word-final position by the ten Brazilian participants are shown in Table 1, which indicates the number of correct productions – full realizations – for each of the target nasal consonants
This research was an investigation of the perception and production of English nasal consonants /m/ and /n/ in word-final position by a group of ten intermediate Brazilian learners of English
Summary
Second language (L2) acquisition research has often been compared to native language (L1) acquisition. Research has shown that interlanguage (IL) phonology is influenced by many factors, such as age (Major, 1994), style (Major, 1994), developmental factors (Flege & Davidian, 1984) and L1 interference (Flege, 1995). Other studies involve the influence of markedness (Eckman, 1977), phonological environment (Carlisle, 1994), and perceptual considerations (Flege, 1995), for instance. The studies cited above and many others have helped those who work in the field of L2 phonetics and phonology and second language acquisition (SLA) in general to identify the sources of errors in L2 acquisition. There is still a lot to be discovered about L2 acquisition
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