L2 Phonology Research Articles

Phonetic Category Formation is Perceptually Driven During the Early Stages of Adult L2 Development.

Research on the acquisition of L2 phonology in sequential language learners has stressed the importance of language use and input as a means to accurate production and perception; however, the two constructs are difficult to evaluate and control. This study focuses on the role of language use during the initial stages of development of phonetic categories related to stop voicing and analyzes the relationship between production and perception. Native English-speaking late learners of Spanish provided production/perception data on a weekly basis throughout the course of a seven-week immersion program in which L1 use was prohibited. The production/perception data were analyzed using generalized linear mixed effects models. Generalized additive mixed models were used to analyze and compare the learning trajectories of each modality. The analyses revealed phonetic learning in both production and perception over the course of the program. Perception gains paralleled those of native bilinguals by the conclusion of the program and preceded production gains. This study is novel in that it provides production/perception data in a semi-longitudinal design. Moreover, the beginning adult learners are examined in a learning context in which L1 use was minimal and L2 input was maximized. Taken together, the experiments suggest that L2 phonetic category formation can occur abruptly, at an early stage of development, is perceptually driven, and appears to be particularly fragile during the initial stages of learning.

English orthographic forms affect L2 English speech production in native users of a non-alphabetic writing system

AbstractThere is growing evidence that the orthographic forms (spellings) of second language words affect second language (L2) speech production, but it is not known whether orthography affects L2 phonology in native users of a non-alphabetic writing system. To answer this question, this study tested the effects of number of letters on the duration of consonants and vowels in the EnglishL2speech production of Japanese–English sequential bilinguals. JapaneseL1–EnglishL2bilinguals and English native speakers (bothn= 16) performed a delayed word repetition task, producing 16 English word pairs in which the same consonant or vowel was spelled either with a single letter or with double letters, as incity-kitty. The bilinguals produced the same English sound as longer or shorter depending on the number of letters in its spelling, confirming that L2 orthographic forms affect L2 speakers’ phonological representations of L2 words even when their L1 writing system is not alphabetical.

Assimilação percetiva das oclusivas orais do português europeu L2 por falantes nativos de cantonês

Os aprendentes chineses de português europeu (PE) tendem a evidenciar dificuldades de perceção e produção das consoantes oclusivas orais da L2, nomeadamenteno que respeita à distinção de vozeamento (Shu 2014). O presente estudo visa analisar a semelhança interlinguística entre os sons oclusivos orais da L1 e os da L2, tal como percecionada por estes aprendentes, procurando explicar as dificuldades na aprendizagem fonético-fonológica do PE reportadas na literatura (Batalha 1995; Martins 2008; Shu 2014). Assim, 11 participantes macaenses, falantes nativos de cantonês, realizaram uma tarefa de assimilação percetiva, identificando o som do cantonês que mais se assemelhava à consoante inicial de estímulos CV, produzidos por falantes nativos de PE, e procedendo à avaliação da sua qualidade numa escala de sete pontos. Os resultados, interpretados à luz do Perceptual Assimilation Model L2 (Best & Tyler 2007), sugerem que este grupo de aprendentes não reconhece diferenças fonéticas entre os sons /p/ e /b/ da L2, ouvidos como exemplares igualmente bons de uma única categoria nativa (/p/). A mesma tendência se evidencia com /t/-/d/ e /k/-/g/ do português, ainda que pareça haver uma maior facilidade de percecionar diferenças fonéticas entre os elementos destes pares à medida que o ponto de articulação recua.

Refining representations for L2 phonology

This article discusses the implications of phonological representation for the study of L2 speech acquisition. It is argued, on the basis of empirical findings from diverse phenomena in L2 phonology, that refined representations in which ‘segments’ have internal prosodic structure offer a more insightful view of cross-linguistic phonetic interaction than traditional phonological models. These refinements may be implemented in the Onset Prominence representational environment, in which diverse structural parses affect sub-segmental phonetic properties, transitions between segments, and the formation of prosodic boundaries.

The Younger, the Better? A Multi-Factorial Approach to Understanding Age Effects on EFL Phonological Attainment

Second language (L2) phonological acquisition is constrained by a complex interplay of extra-linguistic factors, among which the age factor is frequently investigated. This study adopted a multi-factorial approach to examine the effects of the age of learning English (AoLE), along with ten other extra-linguistic factors, on the ultimate English phonological attainment of 318 university students in Chinese context for English as a foreign language (EFL) as a whole and across three cohorts: first-year non-English majors, first-year English majors, and third-year English majors. The participants were administered background questionnaires and receptive and productive EFL phonology tests. The results of regression analyses indicated that the AoLE was not a predictor for the whole sample, while English pronunciation self-concept (EPSC) turned out to be the most predictive. Predictors for each cohort varied in number and content. Whichever cohort the participants came from, EPSC remained a constant and potent predictor, whereas the AoLE could merely predict the phonological attainment of first-year non-English majors, accounting for 4% of its variance. The findings of the study contribute to the long-standing debate over the viability of the critical period hypothesis, provide methodological implications for age-related L2 phonology research, and inform early EFL educational decisions.

A comparison between native and non-native speech for automatic speech recognition

This study investigates differences in sentence and story production between native and non-native speakers of English for use with a system of Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR). Previous studies have shown that production errors by non-native speakers of English include misproduced segments (Flege, 1995), longer pause duration (Anderson-Hsieh and Venkatagiri, 1994), abnormal pause location within clauses (Kang, 2010), and non-reduction of function words (Jang, 2009). The present study uses phonemically balanced sentences from TIMIT (Garofolo et al., 1993) and a story to provide an additional comparison of the differences in production by native and non-native speakers of English. Consistent with previous research, preliminary results suggest that non-native speakers of English fail to produce flaps and reduced vowels, insert or delete segments, engage in more self-correction, and place pauses in different locations from native speakers. Non-native English speakers furthermore produce different patterns of intonation from native speakers and produce errors indicative of transfer from their L1 phonology, such as coda deletion and vowel epenthesis. Native speaker productions also contained errors, the majority of which were content-related. These results indicate that difficulties posed by English ASR systems in recognizing non-native speech are due largely to the heterogeneity of non-native production.

Influence of L2 English phonotactics in L1 Brazilian Portuguese illusory vowel perception

This study examines potential changes to L1 (Brazilian Portuguese, BP) perception of phonotactic structure as a function of L2 (English) experience. Syllables with a coda stop violate syllable structure constraints in BP, but are licit in English. As a result, BP monolinguals perceive an illusory /i/ after an illicit coda (e.g., ob/i/ter ‘to obtain’). To understand the effects on L1 perception when the L2 phonology allows a syllabic structure that is illicit in the L1, we tested 15 L1 speakers of BP in an L2 English immersion setting. In separate BP and English sessions, participants completed an explicit metalinguistic vowel identification task and two ABX tasks, with one ABX task designed to tap lower-level processing and the other, higher-level phonological processing. Our analysis reveals that, while not fully target-like in L2 English, the bilinguals’ perception data in both languages contrast sharply with existing monolingual BP data. This is the case whether participants employ what we assume here to be metalinguistic strategies, lower-level encoding strategies, or higher-level encoding strategies in perception. Based on this pattern of results, we conclude that the data provide evidence of L2 phonotactic influence in L1 perception.

A phono-ethnic story of Nigerian English: As told by high vowels

This study explores the role of dialect-contact among developing L2 phonologies, and the influence of L1 ± ATR system on L2 English tense/lax vowels, using the under-documented Ebira English spoken in Nigeria as an exemplar. The variety presents an interesting precedent due to its differential historical contact with Yoruba English, starting in the early colonial periods, and Hausa English, becoming more prominent in the past three decades. This is relevant because the two dialects differ in degree of acoustic distinction of the tense-lax high vowel pairs, with Yoruba English being reported as having a merger, and Hausa English reported as having differentiation. Framed by theories of L2 speech and evolutionary approaches to language change, sociophonetic procedures are deployed to measure the high front and back vowels in Ebira English, as well as assess the trajectory of sociolinguistic variation within the variety. If it is the case that increased contact with Hausa English in the past three decades is influencing Ebira English vowels, a shift in apparent time away from merger and towards distinction would be expected. This would also be the case if the ± ATR distinction in Ebira have substrate effects on the realisation of English tense/lax vowels. The evidence of contrast between the high front (FLEECE & KIT) and back (GOOSE & FOOT) vowels thus confirm these predictions, while variation in the system is further indicated by gender and linguistic contexts.

The role of perceptual ability and lexical knowledge in L2 sound production

This study examined the relationship between L2 sound production and perceptual ability/lexical knowledge through the analysis of Korean learners’ production of English /s/ and /∫/ measured by friction ratio, Centroid Frequency (CF), and Peak Amplitude Frequency (PAF). It was found that Korean learners’ perceptual ability of the sounds were related to their production. Friction ratio for /s/ and /∫/ was significantly longer for the accurately perceived tokens than for the inaccurately perceived tokens. Korean learners’ production of /s/ and /∫/ was also related to Korean learners’ lexical knowledge of English tokens. Even when English tokens were perceived accurately by Korean learners, their production of /s/ and /∫/ showed different patterns depending on whether the tokens had accurate or inaccurate lexical knowledge. Finally, Korean learners’ production of English /s/ and /∫/ showed the influence of L1 phonology and proficiency level in English.

Effects of L1 orthography and L1 phonology on L2 English pronunciation

Des recherches récentes ont dévoilé les effets de l’orthographe sur la durée consonantique en anglais L2 de locuteurs natifs italiens (le [p] étant réalisé plus long pour floppy que pour copy ). Nous avons comparé cet effet orthographique avec un effet de la phonologie de la L1 indépendant de l’orthographe, le Voice Onset Time (VOT). La tenue et le VOT d’occlusives dans des mots-cibles ont été mesurés chez 30 apprenants d’anglais L2 en Italie, 30 bilingues tardifs italiens résidant au Royaume Uni et 30 locuteurs natifs de l’anglais. Si les valeurs de VOT produites par les bilingues se différencient de manière significative par rapport à celles des apprenants, les valeurs de tenue restent comparables dans les deux groupes. En outre, le taux d’adaptation du VOT en anglais L2 est plus important chez les bilingues tardifs que chez les apprenants. Cela prouve que les effets orthographiques sur la longueur consonantique peuvent être plus résistants à l’exposition de la L2 que les effets de la phonologie de la L1 indépendants de l’orthographe.

Orthographic effects on the perception and production of L2 mandarin tones

Recent studies on orthographic effects on L2 phonology have typically investigated alphabetic writing systems and segmental contrasts with novice learners. The current study extends such investigation to compare orthographic effects of an opaque logographic system (Chinese characters) and a transparent schematic system (pinyin) on a suprasegmental feature (lexical tones) with experienced learners. A perception experiment of Mandarin tones by Cantonese L2 learners shows that pinyin was more beneficial for tone perception in monosyllabic words, while tones were better perceived in characters for disyllabic words. A production experiment reveals a similar pattern. Additionally, low performance learners were affected by orthographic differences more than high performance learners. The findings suggest that orthographic effects are not limited to alphabetic systems, and are dependent on task nature and learner proficiency. A transparent system may not always be easier than an opaque system.

Neurophysiological indices of the effect of cognates on vowel perception in late Spanish-English bilinguals

It is well established that acquiring a second language (L2) later in life results in less accurate production and perception of speech sounds in the L2. An interesting question is to what extent phonological similarity of translation equivalents across the first language (L1) and L2 affects speech-sound processing and lexical access in an L2.The present study examined this question by comparing processing of Spanish-English translation equivalents that either were phonologically similar (cognates) or dissimilar (non-cognates) in fifteen monolingual English-speakers and 15 late Spanish-English bilinguals. Event related potentials (ERP) were used to examine whether late L2-learners had more difficulty discriminating mispronunciations of vowels in English words that have Spanish cognates compared to words that do not have cognates. Behavioral results indicated effects of language background and cognate status on discrimination, with bilinguals showing poorer discrimination of English vowel mispronunciations than the American-English monolingual control group. ERP results revealed that cognate words facilitated L2 phonological processing as evidenced by a larger frontal positive component (P400) ERP effect, similar in amplitude to the P400 from monolinguals. Results suggest that cognate words facilitate speech processing in adult L2 learners, and, thus, may also be useful as a tool for perceptual learning of L2 phonology.

Phonological development in different learning contexts

AbstractThis paper examines the effect of learning context on the improvement of some L2 phonological parameters. Based on theLearning Prosody corpus(LeaP), it investigates the speech of 29 learners with various L1s who were recorded before and after either (i) a six to nine-month stay abroad, (ii) a six-month training course in the target language phonology or (iii) a stay abroad that included instruction in the L2 phonology. Quantitative corpus analyses were carried out on the learners’ vowel reduction, intonation and on their oral fluency. Results showed gains for all learner groups in pitch range, vowel reduction and fluency, but only one significant gain for the training course participants (group 2) as compared to the stay abroad groups. Qualitative corpus analyses revealed the pronounced variation across individual learners and suggest an intricate interplay between speaking styles and learning contexts.

Foreign Language Learners Acquire L2 Phonetic Detail: Goose and Foot Fronting in Non-Native English

Whether late learners discern fine phonetic detail in second-language (L2) input, form new phonetic categories, and realize them accurately remains a relevant question in L2 phonology, especially for foreign-language (FL) learning characterized by limited exposure to interactional native input. Our study focuses on advanced Czech learners’ production of the L2 English vowels GOOSE and FOOT. While English /u/ and /ʊ/ have been undergoing fronting, their Czech equivalents, /uː/ and /u/, are fully back. We show that although the spectral differentiation of /u/-/ʊ/ is smaller in the learners’ than in native speech, the vowels being contrasted primarily in length, even FL learners can shift their L2 sound categories towards native-like targets, or in this case, produce English /u/-/ʊ/ as fronted.

Awareness of L2 Syllable Structures: The Case of L2 Japanese and L2 English(L2 Acquisitioin, Phonetics and Phonology of Language Acquisition)

Awareness of L2 Syllable Structures: The Case of L2 Japanese and L2 English(L2 Acquisitioin, Phonetics and Phonology of Language Acquisition)

Phonological Theory and Phonological Acquisition(L1 Acquisitioin, Phonetics and Phonology of Language Acquisition)

Phonological Theory and Phonological Acquisition(L1 Acquisitioin, Phonetics and Phonology of Language Acquisition)

Language-Specific and Language-Universal Aspects of Lingual Obstruent Productions in Japanese-Acquiring Children(L1 Acquisitioin, Phonetics and Phonology of Language Acquisition)

Language-Specific and Language-Universal Aspects of Lingual Obstruent Productions in Japanese-Acquiring Children(L1 Acquisitioin, Phonetics and Phonology of Language Acquisition)

第二言語の音声の習得を阻む要因( 音声研究の課題(第二回))

第二言語の音声の習得を阻む要因( 音声研究の課題(第二回))

LINGUISTIC DIMENSIONS OF L2 ACCENTEDNESS AND COMPREHENSIBILITY VARY ACROSS SPEAKING TASKS

AbstractThis study critically examined the previously reported partial independence between second language (L2) accentedness (degree to which L2 speech differs from the target variety) and comprehensibility (ease of understanding). In prior work, comprehensibility was linked to multiple linguistic dimensions of L2 speech (phonology, fluency, lexis, grammar) whereas accentedness was narrowly associated with L2 phonology. However, these findings stemmed from a single task (picture narrative), suggesting that task type could affect the particular linguistic measures distinguishing comprehensibility from accentedness. To address this limitation, speech ratings of 10 native listeners assessing 60 speakers of L2 English in three tasks (picture narrative, IELTS, TOEFL) were analyzed, targeting two global ratings (accentedness, comprehensibility) and 10 linguistic measures (segmental and word stress accuracy, intonation, rhythm, speech rate, grammatical accuracy and complexity, lexical richness and complexity, discourse richness). Linguistic distinctions between accentedness and comprehensibility were less pronounced in the cognitively complex task (TOEFL), with overlapping sets of phonology, lexis, and grammar variables contributing to listener ratings of accentedness and comprehensibility. This finding points to multifaceted, task-specific relationships between these two constructs.

THE ROLE OF L1 PHONOLOGY IN L2 MORPHOLOGICAL PRODUCTION

AbstractThis study considers the role of L1 phonological influence in L2 English past tense morphology production by native speakers of Spanish, Mandarin, and Japanese. While these L1s share similar phonological restrictions on consonant cluster formation needed for English past tense morphology, differences arise in L1 syntax (only Mandarin lacks syntactic past) and L1 prosodic structure (only Japanese has English-equivalent structure). Aggregate analyses indicate that an L1 English control group outperforms all L2 groups in oral suppliance of past tense morphology. Results therefore reveal that having the syntactic feature for past in the L1 does not translate into targetlike performance and that L1 phonological restrictions alone cannot fully explain nontargetlike performance. Considering previous and the current data sets, we argue that evidence from production of L2 English past tense cannot be used to adjudicate between representational deficit approaches and full access approaches, contrary to what has been argued previously.