scholarly journals Neurophysiology of non-native sound discrimination: Evidence from German vowels and consonants in successive French–German bilinguals using an MMN oddball paradigm

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Jane Wottawa ◽  
Martine Adda-Decker ◽  
Frédéric Isel
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Oddball Paradigm ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Vowel Length ◽  
Perceptual Salience ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Native Speech ◽  
Sound Discrimination ◽  
Phonological Contrasts ◽  
Assimilation Model

Abstract The present electroencephalographical multi-speaker MMN oddball experiment was designed to study the phonological processing of German native and non-native speech sounds. Precisely, we focused on the perception of German /ɪ-iː/, /ɛ-ɛː/, /a-aː/ and the fricatives [ʃ] and [ç] in German natives (GG) and French learners of German (FG). As expected, our results showed that GG were able to discriminate all the critical vowel contrasts. In contrast, FG, despite their high L2 proficiency level, were only marginally sensitive to vowel length variations. Finally, neither GG nor FG discriminated the opposition between [ʃ] and [ç], as revealed by the absence of MMN response. This latter finding was interpreted in terms of low perceptual salience. Taken together, the present findings lend partial support to the Perceptual Assimilation Model for late bilinguals (PAM-L2) for speech perception of non-native phonological contrasts.

Phonological processing in late second language learners: The effects of proficiency and task

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 162-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
ERIN JACQUELYN WHITE ◽  
DEBRA TITONE ◽  
FRED GENESEE ◽  
KARSTEN STEINHAUER
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Directed Attention ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Phonological Contrasts

Using event related brain potentials (ERPs), we examined the neurocognitive basis of phonological discrimination of phoneme /h/ in native English speakers and Francophone late second language (L2) learners, as a function of L2 proficiency and stimulus/task demands. In Experiment 1, native and non-native (L2 only) phonological contrasts were presented as syllables during a task that directed attention to phonological form. Phonological categorization was assessed with MMN, N2b and P3b effects. In Experiment 2, the same contrasts were presented as words/ pseudowords during a task that directed attention to semantics. Phonological discrimination was assessed with N400 pseudoword effects. High proficiency L2 learners displayed similar ERPs as native speakers in both experiments; low proficiency L2 learners showed discrimination of non-native contrasts in Experiment 1 (directed attention task) only. Thus, L2 phonological discrimination by late learners may depend on stimulus/task factors and occurs in a wider range of contexts as L2 proficiency improves.

scholarly journals ‘Almost people’: A Learner Corpus Account of L2 Use and Misuse of Non-numerical Quantification

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Crosthwaite ◽  
Lavigne L.Y. Choy ◽  
Yeonsuk Bae
Keyword(s):  
English Learners ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Learner Corpus ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Closed Class ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
Noun Number ◽  
L1 English

AbstractWe present an Integrated Contrastive Model of non-numerical quantificational NPs (NNQs, i.e. ‘some people’) produced by L1 English speakers and Mandarin and Korean L2 English learners. Learner corpus data was sourced from the ICNALE (Ishikawa, 2011, 2013) across four L2 proficiency levels. An average 10% of L2 NNQs were specific to L2 varieties, including noun number mismatches (*‘many child’), omitting obligatory quantifiers after adverbs (*‘almost people’), adding unnecessary particles (*‘all of people’) and non-L1 English-like quantifier/noun agreement (*‘many water’). Significantly fewer ‘openclass’ NNQs (e.g a number of people) are produced by L2 learners, preferring ‘closed-class’ single lexical quantifiers (following L1-like use). While such production is predictable via L1 transfer, Korean L2 English learners produced significantly more L2-like NNQs at each proficiency level, which was not entirely predictable under a transfer account. We thus consider whether positive transfer of other linguistic forms (i.e. definiteness marking) aids the learnability of other L2 forms (i.e. expression of quantification).

Colour word Stroop test in Polish learners of English: No evidence that L2 proficiency matters

2014 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-393
Author(s):  
Joanna Śmiecińska ◽  
Grzegorz Krynicki ◽  
Marta Sojkin
Keyword(s):  
Age Of Acquisition ◽  
Naming Speed ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
English Version ◽  
Word Test ◽  
L2 Processing ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Colour Word ◽  
Linguistic Interference ◽  
L1 English

Abstract The aim of our study was to test whether and how the proficiency level in L2 affects the amount of within-language interference in Stroop colour word test (Polish as L1, English as L2); as well as to test whether and how the proficiency level in L2 affects colour naming speed in this L2, based on a study on 50 Polish students (age M = 20.8, SD = 1.6) at varying levels of English proficiency and age of acquisition > 7. The English version of Golden et al. (2002) Stroop Colour and Word Test and its Polish counterpart were used. The results show that in late unbalanced bilinguals the within-language interference was smaller in L2 than in L1 and its amount was not affected by L2 proficiency level; and that colour naming was slower in L2 than in L1, and the scores were not affected by L2 proficiency level. The implications of the study are discussed, concerning, among others, L2 processing in late unbalanced bilinguals. The popular claim that the pattern of the interplay between inter- and intra-linguistic interference in Stroop colour word test relates to proficiency level in L2 is challenged.

The Basis for Language Acquisition: Congenitally Deaf Infants Discriminate Vowel Length in the First Months after Cochlear Implantation

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (12) ◽  
pp. 2427-2441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niki Katerina Vavatzanidis ◽  
Dirk Mürbe ◽  
Angela Friederici ◽  
Anja Hahne
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Acoustic Stimulation ◽  
Oddball Paradigm ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Short Vowel ◽  
Auditory Input ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Vowel Length ◽  
Discriminative Ability

One main incentive for supplying hearing impaired children with a cochlear implant is the prospect of oral language acquisition. Only scarce knowledge exists, however, of what congenitally deaf children actually perceive when receiving their first auditory input, and specifically what speech-relevant features they are able to extract from the new modality. We therefore presented congenitally deaf infants and young children implanted before the age of 4 years with an oddball paradigm of long and short vowel variants of the syllable /ba/. We measured the EEG in regular intervals to study their discriminative ability starting with the first activation of the implant up to 8 months later. We were thus able to time-track the emerging ability to differentiate one of the most basic linguistic features that bears semantic differentiation and helps in word segmentation, namely, vowel length. Results show that already 2 months after the first auditory input, but not directly after implant activation, these early implanted children differentiate between long and short syllables. Surprisingly, after only 4 months of hearing experience, the ERPs have reached the same properties as those of the normal hearing control group, demonstrating the plasticity of the brain with respect to the new modality. We thus show that a simple but linguistically highly relevant feature such as vowel length reaches age-appropriate electrophysiological levels as fast as 4 months after the first acoustic stimulation, providing an important basis for further language acquisition.

Predictors of reading among Herero–English bilingual Namibian school children

2005 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
KAZUVIRE VEII ◽  
JOHN EVERATT
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Word Reading ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Semantic Fluency ◽  
Linguistic Processing ◽  
Central Processing ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Cognitive Linguistic ◽  
Sound Discrimination

Predictions derived from the central processing and script dependent hypotheses were assessed by measuring the reading ability of 116 Grade 2–5 Herero–English bilingual children in Namibia ranging in age from 7 to 12 and investigating possible predictors of word reading among measures of cognitive/linguistic processes. Tasks included measures of word reading, decoding, phonological awareness, verbal and spatial memory, rapid naming, semantic fluency, sound discrimination, listening comprehension and non-verbal reasoning. Faster rates of improvement in literacy within the more transparent language (Herero) supported the predictions of the script dependent hypothesis. However, the central processing hypothesis was also supported by evidence indicating that common underlying cognitive-linguistic processing skills predicted literacy levels across the two languages. The results argue for the importance of phonological processing skills for the development of literacy skills across languages/scripts and show that phonological skills in the L2 can be reliable predictors of literacy in the L1.

scholarly journals Age of acquisition and proficiency in a second language independently influence the perception of non-native speech

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 190-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
PILAR ARCHILA-SUERTE ◽  
JASON ZEVIN ◽  
FERENC BUNTA ◽  
ARTURO E. HERNANDEZ
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Age Of Acquisition ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Sensorimotor Processing ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Native Speech

Sensorimotor processing in children and higher-cognitive processing in adults could determine how non-native phonemes are acquired. This study investigates how age-of-acquisition (AOA) and proficiency-level (PL) predict native-like perception of statistically dissociated L2 categories, i.e., within-category and between-category. In a similarity task, participants rated the level of similarity between pairs of English syllables from 1 (similar) to 4 (dissimilar). Early L2 acquisition predicts accurate within-categorization and high proficiency in late L2 acquisition predicts improved between-categorization. Our results suggest that the manner in which bilinguals learn to categorize non-native sounds depends on the cognitive processes available at the age of L2 exposure.

scholarly journals The Acquisition of Do-Support in Negation and Interrogatives by Adult Arab Learners of English: A preliminary study

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Elham Salem AL-Makatrah ◽  
Mohamad Subakir Mohd Yasin
Keyword(s):  
Arabic Language ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Main Question ◽  
Production Task ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
Arabic Speaking

This preliminary study investigates the acquisition of do-support in negation and interrogatives by adult Arab learners of English. The main question is to identify how Arabic language influences the acquisition of do-support. The influence of L2 proficiency level in the acquisition of do-support is also addressed. The study is conducted within the perspective of Full Transfer/Full Access Hypothesis and Differential Markedness Hypothesis. Do-support as a marked feature of English has received little or no attention in previous work on the acquisition of English as a second language by adult Arab learners. This study seeks to fill that gap by documenting the acquisition of do-support in negation and interrogatives. To address these aims, a written production task, a multiple-choice task and a semi-structured interview were administered to 10 adult Arab learners of low and advanced English proficiency levels. The findings indicate that the role of Arabic is noted. While not the source of errors, it acts as a strategy that adult Arab learners use to dealing with limited L2 knowledge and the markedness of do-support, which is the main source of difficulty shown by adult Arab learners. The role of learners’ L1 is selective according to the learners’ perception of what is difficult or not. Moreover, a significant relationship was found between L2 proficiency level and the mastery of do-support in that high- proficiency learners outperform low-proficiency learners. It is recommended that future research examine the acquisition and markedness of do-support in the interlanguage of Arabic-speaking children.

The Relationship Between Controlled Productive Collocational Competence and L2 Proficiency

2010 ◽  
Vol 84-85 ◽  
pp. 29-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Déogratias Nizonkiza
Keyword(s):  
Crucial Role ◽  
Proficiency Test ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Vocabulary Growth ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Established Relationship ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship

This paper assesses the extent to which L2 learners' controlled productive collocational knowledge increases with proficiency level, and the extent to which controlled produc-tive collocational knowledge of L2 learners changes across word frequency levels. A proficiency test and a collocation test modelled after Laufer & Nation (1999) were administered to English majors at the University of Burundi. The results of the study suggest that controlled productive collocational knowledge develops alongside L2 proficiency without significant gains at low levels. This empirically supports Laufer's (1998) observation that productive vocabulary growth is slow in the first years and gains momentum later and strengthens the established relationship between productive collocation knowledge and L2 proficiency (Gitsaki, 1999; Bonk, 2001). Moreover, the study highlights the crucial role played by frequency in knowing words (cf. Nation & Beglar, 2007).

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