Abstract
We explored 3 factors—similarity, dissimilarity, and markedness—as they relate to second language (L2) phonological acquisition. Previous studies have made claims about difficulty, order of acquisition, and ultimate achievement depending on L2 exposure but have often presented conflicting claims and results. This study incorporates similarity and dissimilarity into a hypothesis about rate of acquisition: The rate of acquisition for a dissimilar phenomenon is faster than for a similar phenomenon. Although not stated in the hypothesis, effects of markedness are accounted for: Degree of markedness, an intervening factor, can increase or decrease rate. The claims are strongly supported by analyses of two experiments investigating the acquisition of and of 10 adult Korean learners of English, as well as by reanalyses of data from previous studies. Although the evidence presented here deals exclusively with phonology, it should be possible to test the hypothesis for other linguistic phenomena.
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