Identity Markers and L2 Pronunciation

This is a report of a study of social marking in second language pronunciation. In particular, it tested out Trudgill's (1981) suggestion that sounds that are most likely to undergo sociolinguistic variation, that is, that may become social markers, are those that Labov (1972a, 1972b), calls stereotypes. This study sought to determine whether there were certain aspects of English pronunciation that native Spanish speakers would, at some level of awareness, associate with American English/American identity. The speakers were asked to perform several tasks, including a mimic of an American speaking Spanish with an American accent (following Flege & Hammond, 1982). Among the results, speakers displayed a tacit awareness of English-Spanish sound distinctions (in particular, allophonic differences) in performing the mimic (supporting Flege & Hammond, 1982). Additionally, some of the alterations they were very conscious of held as stereotypes of American English. Support was found for Trudgill's (1981) suggestion.

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TOWARD A DYNAMIC VIEW OF SECOND LANGUAGE COMPREHENSIBILITY

Studies in Second Language Acquisition ◽

10.1017/s0272263119000044 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 41 (04) ◽

pp. 647-672 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Charles Nagle ◽

Pavel Trofimovich ◽

Annie Bergeron

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Spanish Speakers ◽

Native Spanish Speakers ◽

Stimulated Recall ◽

Dynamic View ◽

Audio Clip ◽

Global Ratings ◽

University Level ◽

L2 Spanish ◽

Listening Task

AbstractThis study took a dynamic approach to second language (L2) comprehensibility, examining how listeners construct comprehensibility profiles for L2 Spanish speakers during the listening task and what features enhance or diminish comprehensibility. Listeners were 24 native Spanish speakers who evaluated 2–5 minute audio clips recorded by three university-level L2 Spanish speakers responding to two prompts. Listeners rated comprehensibility dynamically, using Idiodynamic Software to upgrade or downgrade comprehensibility over the course of the listening task. Dynamic ratings for one audio clip were video-captured for stimulated recall, and listeners were interviewed to understand which aspects of L2 speech were associated with enhanced versus diminished comprehensibility. Results indicated that clips that were downgraded more often received lower global ratings but upgrading was not associated with higher ratings. Certain problematic features and individual episodes caused listeners’ impressions to converge, though substantial individual variation among listeners was evident.

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DISCOVERING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CONTEXT AND ALLOPHONES IN A SECOND LANGUAGE

Studies in Second Language Acquisition ◽

10.1017/s0272263110000276 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 32 (4) ◽

pp. 581-606 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Christine E. Shea ◽

Suzanne Curtin

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

English Learners ◽

First Language ◽

Spanish Speakers ◽

English Speakers ◽

Native Spanish Speakers ◽

Conditioning Factors ◽

Word Position ◽

Distributional Information ◽

Word Onset

The identification of stressed syllables by adult second-language (L2) Spanish learners was examined for evidence of influence of an allophonic alternation driven by word position and stress. The Spanish voiced stop-approximant alternation, whereby stops occur in stressed-syllable and word onsets, was utilized. If L2 learners track the distribution of this alternation, they should tend to link stops to stressed syllables in word-onset position and approximants to unstressed, word-medial position. Low- and high-intermediate-level first-language English learners of Spanish as well as native Spanish and monolingual English speakers listened to a series of nonce words and determined which of the two consonant-vowel (CV) syllables they perceived as stressed. In Experiment 1, onset allophone and vowel stress were crossed. In Experiment 2, the onset allophone alternated and a vowel unmarked for prominence was used. The results show that the monolingual English and low-intermediate groups were more likely to perceive syllables with stressed vowels as stressed, regardless of the allophone onset. In contrast, listeners with greater Spanish proficiency performed similarly to native Spanish speakers and were more likely to perceive stress on syllables with stop onsets, a pattern that follows the distributional information of Spanish. This finding suggests that learning the interplay between allophonic distributions and their conditioning factors is possible with experience and that knowledge of this relationship plays a role in the acquisition of L2 allophones.

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Problematic Phonemes for Spanish-speakers’ Learners of English

GiST Education and Learning Research Journal ◽

10.26817/16925777.701 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 215-238

Author(s):

Olga Lucía Uribe-Enciso ◽

Sol Smith Fuentes Hernandez ◽

Karla Lizeth Vargas Pita ◽

Anderson Steve Rey Pabón

Keyword(s):

English Language Learners ◽

Second Language ◽

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Language Learners ◽

English Learners ◽

English Language ◽

Second Language Learners ◽

Spanish Speakers ◽

English Pronunciation ◽

Causes Of Errors

When learning English, learners might face a challenging task in mastering pronunciation due to differences in both languages such as sound-to-letter correspondence, size of phoneme inventory, allophonic realization of sounds, place and manner of articulation, among others. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to review both theoretical and research reports on the most problematic sounds for Spanish-speakers English language learners. Approaches to second language learners’ errors like Contrastive Analysis and Error Analysis although being criticized have contributed to identifying likely causes of errors and dealing with them whether anticipating them or providing appropriate feedback on them. Besides, first language interference and age of second language acquisition have been found as complicating factors in the English pronunciation learning process. Finally, some classroom activities have been reported as successful for facilitating English pronunciation in Spanish native speakers.

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Voiced stop spiratization in the ESL speech of native speakers of Spanish

Applied Psycholinguistics ◽

10.1017/s0142716400007979 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 17 (3) ◽

pp. 335-354 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Mary L. Zampini

Keyword(s):

Native Speakers ◽

Native Language ◽

Syllable Structure ◽

Spanish Speakers ◽

Language Transfer ◽

Native Spanish Speakers ◽

Equal Rate ◽

English Pronunciation ◽

Phonemic Status ◽

L2 Pronunciation

ABSTRACTThis study examines the role that voiced stop spirantization plays in the acquisition of English/b d g/ and /dgr;/ by native Spanish speakers. The results of a data-based experiment show that accuracy in English pronunciation is hindered by native language transfer, including the transfer of spirantization and LI syllable structure constraints. Furthermore, the suppression of spirantization is not achieved at an equal rate for all voiced stops: /d/ is spirantized the least often. It is proposed that the phonemic value of /δ/ in English contributes to this disparity. An examination of the L2 pronunciation of /δ/ further reveals that learners do not assign phonemic status to /δ/ in all contexts; it is acquired in postvocalic position first and only more gradually acquired elsewhere.

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Oscillatory brain dynamics of pronoun processing in native Spanish speakers and in late second language learners of Spanish

Bilingualism Language and Cognition ◽

10.1017/s1366728919000798 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 23 (5) ◽

pp. 964-977

Author(s):

Eleonora Rossi ◽

Yanina Prystauka

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Language Processing ◽

Time Course ◽

Spanish Speakers ◽

Cell Assembly ◽

Native Spanish Speakers ◽

Time Frequency ◽

L2 Processing ◽

L2 Learners

AbstractA longstanding question in the second language acquisition literature is whether late second language (L2) learners process grammatical structures in a native-like manner. Here, we use Time Frequency Representation (TFR) analysis to test morpho-syntactic processing of clitic pronouns in native and late L2 learners of Spanish. The TFR results show overall similar power decreases in theta, alpha, and beta frequencies in both groups. Critically, the observed oscillatory effects persisted in time for native Spanish speakers, but declined earlier for L2 learners. We discuss the results using cell-assembly theory models for language processing (e.g., Pulvermüller, 1999) that posit a biphasic time-course for neural assemblies consisting of an early ignition (recognition) and a later reverberation (re-processing) phase. We propose a working hypothesis for L2 processing in tune with a cell-assembly theory suggesting that the length of the reverberation phase could be a distinguishing feature between native and L2 processing.

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Cross-modal priming differences between native and nonnative Spanish speakers

Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics ◽

10.1515/shll-2015-0005 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Wendy Herd ◽

Joan Sereno ◽

Allard Jongman

Keyword(s):

Native Speakers ◽

American English ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Spanish Speakers ◽

English Speakers ◽

Native Spanish Speakers ◽

Visual Targets ◽

American English Speakers

AbstractTraining has been shown to improve American English speakers’ perception and production of the Spanish /ɾ, r, d/ contrast; however, it is unclear whether successfully trained contrasts are encoded in the lexicon. This study investigates whether learners of Spanish process the /ɾ, r, d/ contrast differently than native speakers and whether training affects processing. Using a cross-modal priming design, thirty-three Spanish learners were compared to ten native Spanish speakers. For native speakers, auditory primes with intervocalic taps (like [koɾo]) resulted in faster reaction times in response to matching visual targets (like

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Spanish speakers’ English schwar production: Does orthography play a role?

Applied Psycholinguistics ◽

10.1017/s0142716421000266 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-25

Author(s):

Christine Shea

Keyword(s):

Mixed Model ◽

American English ◽

Spanish Speakers ◽

English Speakers ◽

Acoustic Cues ◽

Native Spanish Speakers ◽

Mexican Spanish ◽

Mixed Model Analysis ◽

Input Mode ◽

Orthographic Representations

Abstract This study examines how input mode – whether written or auditory – interacts with orthography in the production of North American English (NAE) schwar (/ɝ/, found in fur, heard, bird) by native Spanish speakers. Greater orthographic interference was predicted for written input, given the obligatory activation of orthographic representations in the execution of the task. Participants were L1 Mexican Spanish/L2 English speakers (L2, n = 15) and NAE (n = 15, rhotic dialect speakers). The target items were 10 schwar words and 10 words matched in graphemes to the onset and nucleus of the schwar words (e.g., bird was matched with big), for a total of 20 items. The degree of overlap between schwar productions across group and input mode (L2 only) was analyzed, followed by a generalized additive mixed model analysis of F3, one of the acoustic cues to rhotacization. Results showed that L2 schwar productions were different from the NAE productions in both the overlap and F3 measures, and the written input mode showed greater L1 orthographic interference than the auditory input mode, supporting the hypothesis that L1 orthography–phonology correspondences affect L2 productions of English schwar words.

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Native Spanish language acquisition: the effect of age, schooling and context on responses to ‘dile’ and ‘pregúntale’

Journal of Child Language ◽

10.1017/s0305000900001793 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 4 (3) ◽

pp. 453-475 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Carole Edelsky ◽

Virginia Muiña

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Language Acquisition ◽

Spanish Language ◽

Spanish Speakers ◽

Native Spanish Speakers ◽

Language Performance ◽

Relative Difficulty ◽

Spanish Language Acquisition ◽

Second Language Performance ◽

Effect Of Age

ABSTRACTThe ability to distinguish ask and tell in Spanish was studied with five groups of native Spanish speakers: adults, 7- and 10-year-olds in a full-bilingual-programme school (BISO), and 7- and 10-year-olds in a non-total BISO school. The interviews included context-present and context-absent items. Differences in these subjects' responses and those elicited by Chomsky (1969) among children acquiring English are explored. Increased age, bilingual schooling, and presence of contextual clues enhanced performance. Relative difficulty of dile and pregúntale, stages in distinguishing these in three types of constructions, and comparisons of first and second language performance are discussed.

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Production of Subject-Verb Agreement in Spanish as a Second Language

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1026//1617-3169.50.3.196 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 50 (3) ◽

pp. 196-203 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Janet Nicol ◽

Delia Greth

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Spanish Speakers ◽

English Speakers ◽

Error Patterns ◽

Verb Agreement ◽

Different Types ◽

Semantic Variables ◽

Advanced Proficiency

Abstract. In this paper, we report the results of a study of English speakers who have learned Spanish as a second language. All were late learners who have achieved near- advanced proficiency in Spanish. The focus of the research is on the production of subject-verb agreement errors and the factors that influence the incidence of such errors. There is some evidence that English and Spanish subject-verb agreement differ in susceptibility to interference from different types of variables; specifically, it has been reported that Spanish speakers show a greater influence of semantic factors in their implementation of subject-verb agreement ( Vigliocco, Butterworth, & Garrett, 1996 ). In our study, all participants were tested in English (L1) and Spanish (L2). Results indicate nearly identical error patterns: these speakers show no greater influence of semantic variables in the computation of agreement when they are speaking Spanish than when they are speaking English.

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