Producing words in a foreign language: Can speakers prevent interference from their first language?

1998 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAAN HERMANS ◽  
THEO BONGAERTS ◽  
KEES DE BOT ◽  
ROBERT SCHREUDER
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Lexical Access ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Dominant Language ◽  
Bilingual Speakers

Two picture-word interference experiments were conducted to investigate whether or not words from a first and more dominant language are activated during lexical access in a foreign and less dominant language. Native speakers of Dutch were instructed to name pictures in their foreign language English. Our experiments show that the Dutch name of a picture is activated during initial stages of the process of lexical in English as a foreign language. We conclude that bilingual speakers cannot suppress activation from their first language while naming pictures in a foreign language. The implications for bilingual speech production theories are discussed.

Is lexical selection in bilingual speech production language-specific? Further evidence from Spanish–English and English–Spanish bilinguals

1999 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Costa ◽  
Alfonso Caramazza
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Lexical Access ◽  
Picture Naming ◽  
Facilitatory Effect ◽  
Lexical Selection ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
L2 Spanish ◽  
Naming Latencies ◽  
Spanish Bilinguals

In this study we address the question of how lexical selection is achieved by bilingual speakers during speech production. Specifically, we test whether there is competition between the two lexicons of a bilingual during lexical access. In two picture–word interference experiments we explore the performance of two groups of bilinguals, English–Spanish and Spanish–English proficient bilinguals while naming pictures either in their L1 (Spanish) or in their L2 (Spanish). Picture naming was facilitated when the name of the picture and the distracter word were the “same”, regardless of the language in which the distracter was printed: same-language (e.g., mesa–mesa [table in Spanish]) or different-language pairs (e.g., mesa–table). The magnitude of this facilitatory effect was similar when naming in L1 (Experiment 1) and in L2 (Experiment 2). We also found that naming latencies were slower when the distracter word was semantically related to the picture's name (e.g., mesa–chair), regardless of the language in which the distracter was printed. The results suggest that there is no competition between the two lexicons of a bilingual during lexical access for production. This interpretation favors a model of lexical access in which lexical selection is language-specific both when speaking in L1 and in L2.

Prosodic phrasing of relative clauses with two possible antecedents in Spanish: A comparison of Spanish native speakers and L1 Basque bilingual speakers

2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene de la Cruz-Pavía ◽  
Gorka Elordieta
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Basque Country ◽  
First Language ◽  
Prosodic Phrasing ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Production Study ◽  
Prosodic Boundaries

AbstractThe present production study investigates the prosodic phrasing characteristic of sentences containing a relative clause with two possible noun phrase antecedents [Noun Phrase 1 Noun Phrase 2 Relative Clause] in the variety of Spanish spoken in the Basque Country. It aims to establish the default prosodic phrasing of these structures, as well as whether differences are found in phrasing between native and non-native speakers. Additionally, it examines the effect on prosodic phrasing of constituent length and familiarity with the sentences (skimming the sentences prior to reading them aloud). To do that, the productions of 8 Spanish monolinguals, 8 first language (L1) Spanish/second language (L2) Basque bilinguals, and 8 L1Basque/L2Spanish bilinguals are examined. A default phrasing consisting of the prevalence of a prosodic break after NP2 ([NP1 NP2/RC]) is obtained, and differences are found between the prosodic contours of native and non-native speakers. Additionally, a constituent length effect is found, with a higher frequency of prosodic boundaries after NP2 as RC length increases, as predicted by Fodor’s Same Size Sister Constraint. Last, familiarity with the sentences was found to increase the frequency of occurrence of the default phrasing.

scholarly journals THE USE OF FIRST LANGUAGE IN ENGLISH AS FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iitha Priyastiti
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Sociocultural Theory ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
English As Foreign Language ◽  
Efl Context ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Language And Education

Discussions of the second language (L2) pedagogy have been studied not only in the language and education fields. Experts working in the psychology field also propose theories on applied linguistics because L2 acquisitions involve external and internal processes. However, despite numerous studies on the field, it appears that an issue regarding the use of first language (L1) still creates continuous debates. Although arguments opposing the use of first L1 present compelling theories as to their rationale, they appear to overlook the context in which teaching and learning process takes place. The studies were either conducted in English as a Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL), where teachers are native speakers who do not share the same L1 with students. Considering the uniqueness in classroom contexts, this paper is not going to argue or take sides on the conflicting views on the use of L1. Instead, it attempts to acknowledge the gap of the context in language teaching used in previous studies. Using a sociocultural theory, this article will describe the beneficial use of L1 with a focus on its use by teachers in an EFL context where teachers share the same L1 with students. Keywords: first language, English as a Foreign Language, sociocultural theory

Non-native Japanese learners’ perception of consonant length in Japanese and Italian

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimiko Tsukada ◽  
Felicity Cox ◽  
John Hajek ◽  
Yukari Hirata
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
Identification Task ◽  
Two Stage ◽  
Linguistic Experience ◽  
Australian English ◽  
Japanese Learners

Learners of a foreign language (FL) typically have to learn to process sounds that do not exist in their first language (L1). As this is known to be difficult for adults, in particular, it is important for FL pedagogy to be informed by phonetic research. This study examined the role of FL learners’ previous linguistic experience in the processing of a contrast absent in the L1. The FLs under investigation are Japanese and Italian, which both use contrastive consonant length. Two groups of non-native Japanese (NNJ) learners – L1 Australian English (OZ) and L1 Korean – participated in the consonant length identification task. Neither OZ nor Korean has an underlying consonant length contrast, but Korean has non-contrastive lengthening of tense obstruents with corresponding shorter preceding vowels, which may be beneficial in perceiving consonant length in an FL. We have taken a novel, two-stage approach. First, we compared the perception of Japanese long/geminate and short/singleton consonants by the two groups of NNJ learners. Second, we investigated whether FL Japanese learning by the two groups transfers to the processing of consonant length in an unknown language, Italian. Native speakers of Japanese (NJ) and Italian (NI) were included as controls. They were familiar with contrastive consonant length in their L1, but were naïve to the other language. The NJ and NI groups accurately identified the consonant length category in their L1 but were slightly less accurate in the unknown language. The two NNJ groups were generally accurate (> 80%) in perceiving consonant length not only in Japanese, but also in Italian. However, the direction of NNJ learners’ misperception (i.e. singleton as geminate or geminate as singleton) varied, suggesting that some learners, according to their L1, may categorize length in Japanese and Italian differently rather than uniformly applying the concept of [±long].

Transfer and developmental processes in adult foreign language speech production

1984 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 323-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Emil Flege ◽  
Richard D. Davidian
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
The United States ◽  
English Learning ◽  
Developmental Processes ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Transfer Processes ◽  
L1 Acquisition

ABSTRACTThis study tested the hypothesis that factors that shape children’s production of their native language (L1) will also influence adults’ pronunciation of sounds in a foreign language (L2). The final stops in CVC English words produced by 12 adult native speakers each of English, Polish, Spanish, and Chinese were phonetically transcribed. The frequency with which these stops were devoiced, deleted, or fricativized was tabulated. The Spanish subjects (unlike the Chinese or Poles) showed the effect of a transfer process, producing word-final /b, d, g/as fricatives. Subjects in all three non-native groups (but not the native English subjects) resembled English-learning children in devoicing word-final /b, d, g/. Subjects whose L1 does not have word-final stops (i.e., the native speakers of Chinese and Spanish) showed another process commonly observed in English L1 acquisition: final stop deletion. A number of language background variables (e.g., age of arrival in the United States) were found not to be significantly correlated with the accuracy of final stop production. These findings suggest that, in addition to transfer processes arising from L1/L2 phonetic and phonological differences, developmental processes similar to those affecting child L1 speech production also influence adult L2 speech production.

Features of low functional load in mono- and bilinguals’ lexical access: evidence from Swedish tonal accent

Phonetica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadja Althaus ◽  
Allison Wetterlin ◽  
Aditi Lahiri
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Priming ◽  
Lexical Access ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Lexical Competition ◽  
Tonal Language ◽  
Functional Load ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Regional Dialects ◽  
Minimal Pairs ◽  
Multiple Input

Abstract Swedish makes use of tonal accents (Accents 1 and 2) to contrast words, but the functional load is very low, with some regional dialects not even exhibiting the contrast. In particular given the low number of minimal pairs, the question is whether tonal word accent is used in lexical access. Here we present two cross-modal fragment semantic priming studies in order to address this question. Both experiments use first syllable fragments in order to prime semantically related targets. Experiment 1 utilises words whose first syllable occurs with both accent patterns, creating a situation in which there is lexical competition between words that differ solely in terms of accent. Experiment 2 removes this competition by using words that have no such accent competitors. Our results show that native speakers of Swedish use tonal word accent in lexical access: Accent mispronunciations failed to prime semantically related targets, regardless of whether primes had accent competitors or not. Results for a group of early bilingual speakers (who grew up with one Swedish-speaking parent and one other non-tonal language) showed no differences in processing compared to the monolinguals. This indicates that the extraction of accent features during acquisition and their use in lexical access is robust, even in a scenario where multiple input languages lead to tonal word accent being a useful feature for only some of the lexical items that are being acquired. There is no doubt that the accent system is well entrenched into the bilinguals’ phonological system.

Constructing two phonological systems: A phonetic analysis of /p/, /t/, /k/ among early Spanish–English bilingual speakers

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-68
Author(s):  
Earl K. Brown ◽  
Mary T. Copple
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
First Language ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Center Of Gravity ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
The Usa

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: Many early Spanish-English bilingual speakers in the USA learn Spanish as their first language at home and English in school. This paper seeks to elucidate whether these speakers develop a separate phonological system for English and, if so, the role of primary and secondary cues in the development of the second language (L2) system. Design/methodology/approach: The phonetic realization of the voiceless stops /p/, /t/, /k/ is analyzed among three groups: early Spanish-English bilinguals; L1 English speakers who are late learners of Spanish; and L1 Spanish speakers who are late learners of English. The participants ( N = 15) engaged in a reading task and a conversation task in each language during a single recording session. Data and analysis: 1578 tokens of /p/, /t/, /k/ were extracted and analyzed using acoustic software. Voice onset time in milliseconds and center of gravity in Hertz were analyzed, and monofactorial and multifactorial analyses were performed to determine the role of linguistic background. Findings/conclusions: Evidence is found of two phonological systems among early bilingual speakers, with varying degrees of assimilation to the phonological systems of the native speakers of each language. Originality: We argue that early bilinguals construct their L2 system of /p/, /t/, /k/ in English based on the primary cue of voice onset time rather than the secondary cue of center of gravity, as they are accustomed to noticing differences in voice onset time in Spanish and because the center of gravity of /p/, /t/, /k/ in English is more variable than voice onset time, and therefore represents a more variable and less predictable cue for early bilinguals as they construct their L2 system. Significance/implications: This paper contributes to the literature on the construction of phonological systems and to research detailing the speech of early Spanish-English bilinguals.

A sparkling apéritif or old wine in new bags?

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 748-750
Author(s):  
PIETER MUYSKEN
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Language Change ◽  
First Language ◽  
List Type ◽  
Type Number ◽  
Dominant Language ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Communicative Strategies

In the keynote article “Language contact outcomes as the result of bilingual optimization strategies” (Muysken, published online May 31, 2013; henceforth KA), I have tried to accomplish three things: (a)linking a number of fields of language contact research (code-switching, Creole studies, contact-induced language change, bilingual production), by(b)assuming four roles that the contributing languages may play ((i) first language dominant, (ii) second language dominant, (iii) neither language dominant – patterns common to the two languages, and (iv) neither language dominant – language-neutral communicative strategies), and(c)modeling these four roles in terms of bilingual optimization strategies, which may be implemented in an Optimality Theoretic (OT) framework. Bilingual strategies are conditioned by social factors, processing constraints of speakers’ bilingual competence, and perceived language distance. Different language contact outcomes correspond to different interactions of these strategies in bilingual speakers and their communities.

When alphabets collide: Alphabetic first-language speakers’ approach to speech production in an alphabetic second language

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Vokic
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Phonological Awareness ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Visual Code ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Distributional Properties ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
L2 Speech Production

This study analysed the extent to which literate native speakers of a language with a phonemic alphabetic orthography rely on their first language (L1) orthography during second language (L2) speech production of a language that has a morphophonemic alphabetic orthography. The production of the English flapping rule by 15 adult native speakers of Spanish (NSS) was analysed. Flap production should not be problematic for NSS learning English as L2, since the flap [ ] exists in the Spanish phonemic inventory and it has similar acoustic, articluatory, and distributional properties in English and Spanish. However, this study hypothesizes that access to the flap is blocked by NSS participants’ lack of phonological awareness in English, which is brought about by the participants’ reliance on the Spanish orthographic system, since the graphs used to represent the English flap intervocalically have either different surface realizations in Spanish (such as <t> and <d>) or have no equivalents in the Spanish orthographic system (such as <tt> and <dd>). It was found that NSS relied on the Spanish orthographic system at a statistically significant level, despite both languages having alphabetic orthographies and sharing the same visual code. Less reliance on L1 orthography was observed in frequent L2 lexical items, demonstrating that negative effects of L1 orthography are inversely correlated to familiarity with L2 lexical items and that frequent lexical items promote L2 phonological awareness.

scholarly journals The influence of L1 on auditory perception of Spanish/L2

Loquens ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 028
Author(s):  
Ana Blanco Canales
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Auditory Perception ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Foreign Language Acquisition ◽  
Production Processes ◽  
Perceptual Test ◽  
Language Influence

The objective of this paper is to examine first language influence on phonic perception capabilities by non-native speakers of Spanish and subsequently analyze some of the existing links between perception and production processes in foreign language acquisition. The assumption is made that both processes are interlinked, and that they develop in line with each other, as the phonological categorization of new units—whereby proper speech production is achieved—starts from complex perceptual processes wherein the first language (L1) plays a crucial role. In order to conduct the study, a perceptual test was taken by 300 students (both men and women) from 20 different countries. Spanish levels ranged from A2 to C1. Data collected (61,200 responses) has been analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Our results show that first language influence on perception is low. They also suggest that, although dependent on each other, production and perception are developed differently.

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