FOREIGN ACCENT: THE ONTOGENY AND PHYLOGENY OF SECOND LANGUAGE PHONOLOGY. Roy C. Major. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2001. Pp. viii + 212. $49.95 cloth.

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 456-458
Author(s):  
Debra M. Hardison
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Negative Transfer ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
Phonological Development ◽  
Second Language Phonology ◽  
Universal Language

This discussion of second language (L2) phonological development is rooted in what the author refers to as the three features of interlanguage (IL): native language (L1) contribution (as positive or negative transfer to the L2), L2 input, and universal language principles not subsumed by either language.

THE EMERGENCE OF THE UNMARKED IN SECOND LANGUAGE PHONOLOGY

1998 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen Broselow ◽  
Su-I Chen ◽  
Chilin Wang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Second Language Phonology

This paper discusses the simplification of forms ending in obstruents by native speakers of Mandarin, in particular two effects that are not obviously motivated by either the native- or the target-language grammars: a tendency to devoice final voiced obstruents and a tendency to maximize the number of bisyllabic forms in the output. These patterns are accounted for within Optimality Theory, which describes a grammar as a set of universal, ranked constraints. It is argued that the devoicing and bisyllabicity effects result from universal markedness constraints that are present in all grammars but that are masked in the learner's native-language grammar by the effects of higher ranking constraints.

Optimality in second language phonology: codas in Thai ESL

2000 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Hancin-Bhatt
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Native Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Second Language Phonology ◽  
Esl Learners

This study presents an Optimality Theoretic account of syllable codas in Thai ESL. To date, there is little research in the literature on the study of codas, and Thai ESL presents an interesting test case since Thai has a more restrictive set of constraints on what can occur syllable-finally than does English. Thai ESL learners thus need to resolve the conflict between what they know (their first language or L1) and what they are learning (their second language or L2 grammar). Optimality Theory provides the mechanisms to understand how this phonological conflict is resolved,and in what ways. The main findings of this study are that the native language constraint rankings interact with target constraint rankings in a specific way, allowing a restricted and predictable range of production types by intermediate Thai learners of ESL. The study argues that constraint rerankings occur in an ordered fashion:the constraints on which segments can appear in codas (CODA-AC) re-rank before the constraint disallowing complex codas (*COMPLEX), thereby correctly defining the observed stages in ESL coda development.

scholarly journals Effects on L1 during early acquisition of L2: Speech changes in Spanish at first English contact

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRISTINA E. GILDERSLEEVE-NEUMANN ◽  
ELIZABETH D. PEÑA ◽  
BARBARA L. DAVIS ◽  
ELLEN S. KESTER
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Negative Transfer ◽  
First Language ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Phonological Development ◽  
Consonant Cluster ◽  
Cluster Accuracy ◽  
Early Acquisition ◽  
Linguistic Transfer

Spanish phonological development was examined in six sequential bilingual children at the point of contact with English and eight months later. We explored effects of the English vowel and consonant inventory on Spanish. Children showed a significant increase in consonant cluster accuracy and in vowel errors. These emerging sequential bilingual children showed effects of English on their first language, Spanish. Cross-linguistic transfer did not affect all properties of the phonology equally. Negative transfer may occur in specific areas where the second language is more complex, requiring reorganization of the existing system, as in the transition from the Spanish five-vowel to the English eleven-vowel system.

scholarly journals A Study on Positive Transfer of Native Language and Second Language Teaching Methods

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 306
Author(s):  
Chen Chen
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Negative Transfer ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Positive Transfer ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Language Teaching Methods ◽  
Chinese And English

Native language is one of the important factors that affect second language acquisition (SLA). However, compared with the heated discussion about the negative transfer of native language, the positive transfer of native language lacks due attention. Taking Chinese and English as a case study, this paper first reveals the similarities between the two languages, then discusses the positive effects of native language on SLA, and finally explores English teaching methods so as to promote the positive transfer of native language and reduce the negative transfer.

scholarly journals The Acquisition of English Lexical Stress by Chinese-speaking Learners: An OT Account

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 140
Author(s):  
Man Yuan ◽  
Wei Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Lexical Stress ◽  
Read Aloud ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
Production Test ◽  
Important Contributor ◽  
Active Constraints ◽  
Chinese Learners

Lexical stress is an important contributor to foreign accent as well as intelligibility of second language (L2) speech. The present study intends to find out to what extent Chinese-speaking learners whose native language has less evident stress can acquire English lexical stress. A production test was administered to nine advanced Chinese learners of English and nine native English controls, who read aloud 12 types of nonce English nouns. The results showed that the Chinese participants were able to place stress correctly in two-syllable words and three-syllable words with a heavy penultimate syllable. However, irregularity was observed in three-syllable words with a light penultimate syllable, particularly H(eavy)L(ow)L(ow). The results are further interpreted in Optimality Theory. It is argued that the learners’ interlanguage grammar is both negatively and positively influenced by their native language. The constraint only active in Chinese causes the interlanguage to be non-nativelike. By contrast, the shared active constraints facilitate learning. Moreover, the emergence of the constraints in the interlanguage grammar which are inactive in Chinese but active in English provides evidence for the learners’ ability to restructure their interlanguage phonology.

Some principles of second language phonology

2003 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 169-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred R. Eckman ◽  
Abdullah Elreyes ◽  
Gregory K. Iverson
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
The Third ◽  
Second Language Phonology ◽  
L2 Phonology ◽  
Interesting Learning ◽  
Similarity And Difference ◽  
L2 Pronunciation ◽  
Phonemic Contrasts

The research we report here is intended to build an understanding of several well-known yet poorly comprehended problems relating to phonemic contrasts in the learning of L2 pronunciation. The competing influences of similarity and difference between native and target language sound systems, in particular, are central to this understanding, which we believe show that L2 phonology is a highly abstract enterprise parallel to the phonologies of primary languages, rather than - as has been assumed - a mere imitation of the target language’s pronunciations. We identify three interesting learning situations which involve the target language’s having different phonemic contrasts from the native language. In the first situation, the native language has neither of two sounds which contrast in the target language; in the second situation, the native language includes just one of two sounds which contrast in the target language. And in the third situation, the native language has both of the sounds in question but shows no contrast between them, i.e., a phoneme of the native language has two (or more) allophones that categorize as separate phonemes in the target language.

scholarly journals Second language phonology at the interface between acoustic and orthographic input

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
BENE BASSETTI ◽  
PAOLA ESCUDERO ◽  
RACHEL HAYES-HARB
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Word Form ◽  
Phonological Development ◽  
Second Language Phonology ◽  
L2 Phonology ◽  
L2 Learners

Recently researchers have become increasingly interested in the influence of orthographic forms on second language (L2) phonology. Orthographic forms (or spellings) represent the sounds and words of a language in writing. L2 learners, in particular those in instructed settings, are simultaneously exposed to the orthographic forms and the phonological forms of the target language. Recent investigations have indicated that orthographic input can affect learners’ phonological development and word learning in their second language in various ways. The availability of L2 orthographic forms in the input to L2 learners can facilitate speech production, perception, and/or word form learning (Escudero, Hayes-Harb, & Mitterer, 2008; Showalter & Hayes-Harb, 2013). It can hinder targetlike acquisition (Bassetti, 2007; Hayes-Harb, Nicol, & Barker, 2010), or it can have mixed effects or no effect at all (Escudero & Wanrooij, 2010; Simon, Chamblessb, & Alvesc, 2010).

scholarly journals Impact of Language Ego, the Native Language Effect on Oral English Learning of High School Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Guo Xiashi ◽  
Yuewu Lin
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Second Language ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Negative Transfer ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
English Learning ◽  
School Students

Language transfer, especially the native language effect on the process of second language acquisition, has always been a hot issue of various linguists. Language transfer is inevitable in the process of second language acquisition, which can be divided into positive transfer and negative transfer. The positive transfer will promote the foreign language learning while negative transfer of mother tongue will hinder the second language learning. In English learning, compared with reading and writing, oral English learning is more important and more complex. Chinese high school students are often disturbed by negative effect of their mother tongue in oral English communication. In China, experts and scholars have done a lot of researches on the negative native language effect in English learning, but most of the researches focus on writing and translation skills, while few of them emphasize on listening and speaking skills.At present, English teaching is undergoing a profound reform, and English teachers and learners are paying an increasing number of attention to the study of spoken English. In order to fill the gap and correctly understand the influences of oral English acquisition of high school students, through the analysis of the principle of native language effect, this paper finds that the vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and pragmatics of mother tongue all have negative transfer to foreign language learning. What’s more, language ego, as an important part of affective principles, has a profound impact on the process of oral English learning. There is a strong and negative correlation between language ego and oral English learning to some extent. The less students´language ego is, the more oral English output students will produce.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document