Acquisition of sociophonetic variation

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 309-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Solon ◽  
Bret Linford ◽  
Kimberly L. Geeslin
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Intensity Difference ◽  
Grammatical Category ◽  
Lexical Frequency ◽  
Difference Measure ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Phonetic Context ◽  
Sociophonetic Variation

Abstract This study investigates the acquisition of nativelike variation in the production of Spanish /d/ by English-speaking learners. Specifically, we examine the production of /d/ in word-internal intervocalic position in the speech of 13 highly advanced nonnative speakers (NNSs) and 13 native speakers (NSs) of Spanish in digitally-recorded sociolinguistic interviews. The analysis includes a discrete categorization of /d/ realization based on spectrographic examination (stop vs. spirant vs. deleted) and a continuous intensity difference measure. Tokens were coded for grammatical category, surrounding segments, stress, number of syllables, and lexical frequency. Results indicate that both NNSs and NSs exhibit /d/ spirantization and deletion, but these two processes are affected by different factors both between and across groups: NNS deletion patterns are predicted most significantly by lexical frequency, whereas degree of spirantization is influenced by articulatory/contextual factors of phonetic context and stress. NS patterns for both processes are influenced by most factors in a similar manner.

English as an international language

2008 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 28.1-28.16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Clyne ◽  
Farzad Sharifian
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Rapid Evolution ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Position Paper ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
International Language ◽  
The World ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Key Dimensions

In recent years, there has been a rapid evolution in the demographics of English speaking communities and individuals around the world, with an unprecedented growth in the number of users and learners of English. In the majority of cases, these learners and users are those who would traditionally have been classified as “non-native” speakers. This trend towards non-native speakers far outweighing native speakers in number is projected to pick up speed. The evolving nature of English in this context of its globalisation has called for a reassessment of a number of key dimensions in applied linguistic studies of English. Scholarly debates have surfaced about various political issues including the validity of the old distinction between “native” and “nonnative” speakers, what form English should – or is likely to – take as a language of international/intercultural communication (or lingua franca), and which groups are empowered and which ones disadvantaged by the accelerating prominence of English. Collectively, the essays in this issue of the journal engage with these issues in order to take the debate up to the next level. This article is a position paper which offers to open up the forum and to expand on some of some of these fundamental questions.

English as an international language

2008 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 28.1-28.16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Clyne ◽  
Farzad Sharifian
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Rapid Evolution ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Position Paper ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
International Language ◽  
The World ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Key Dimensions

In recent years, there has been a rapid evolution in the demographics of English speaking communities and individuals around the world, with an unprecedented growth in the number of users and learners of English. In the majority of cases, these learners and users are those who would traditionally have been classified as “non-native” speakers. This trend towards non-native speakers far outweighing native speakers in number is projected to pick up speed. The evolving nature of English in this context of its globalisation has called for a reassessment of a number of key dimensions in applied linguistic studies of English. Scholarly debates have surfaced about various political issues including the validity of the old distinction between “native” and “nonnative” speakers, what form English should – or is likely to – take as a language of international/intercultural communication (or lingua franca), and which groups are empowered and which ones disadvantaged by the accelerating prominence of English. Collectively, the essays in this issue of the journal engage with these issues in order to take the debate up to the next level. This article is a position paper which offers to open up the forum and to expand on some of some of these fundamental questions.

scholarly journals A mare in a pub? Nonnative facilitation in phonological priming

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kira Gor ◽  
Svetlana V Cook
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Unrelated Word ◽  
Phonological Priming ◽  
Lexical Competition ◽  
Sublexical Processing ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Prime Target

A phonological priming experiment reports inhibition for Russian prime-target pairs with onset overlap in native speakers. When preceded by the phonological prime /kabɨla/, the target /kabak/ ( кобыла – КАБАК, mare – PUB) takes longer to respond than the same target preceded by a phonologically unrelated word. English-speaking late learners of Russian also show inhibition, but only for high-frequency prime-target pairs. Conversely, they show facilitation for low-frequency pairs. In semantic priming (e.g. carnation – DAISY), facilitation is observed for the same two lexical frequency ranges both in native speakers and learners of Russian, suggesting that the primes and targets in the low-frequency range are familiar to the nonnative participants. We interpret nonnative phonological facilitation for low-frequency words as evidence for sublexical processing of less familiar words that is accompanied by reduced lexical competition in nonnative lexical access. We posit that low lexical competition is due to unfaithful, or fuzzy phonolexical representations: nonnative speakers are unsure about the exact phonological form of low-frequency words. Such unfaithful representations are not strongly engaged in lexical competition and selection. High reliance on sublexical rather than lexical processing may be a general property of nonnative word recognition in case when the words are less familiar and have a low level of entrenchment.

scholarly journals Abstraction of phonological representations in adult nonnative speakers

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alia Lancaster ◽  
Kira Gor
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Phonological Acquisition ◽  
Phonological Representations ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Perception Model ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Phonetic Cues ◽  
L2 Perception

Perception of nonnative contrasts by adult second language (L2) learners is affected by native language phonology. The current study contrasted predictions from two models of L2 phonological acquisition that focus on different representational levels as the origin of native language transfer: the abstract categorization level from the Perceptual Assimilation Model for L2 learners (PAM-L2; Best & Tyler, 2007) and the phonetic level from the Automatic Selective Perception model (ASP; Strange, 2011). The target phonemes were pairs of Arabic consonants that were equally similar on the abstract categorization level but unequally similar on the phonetic level—voiced and voiceless pharyngeal fricatives /ʕ/, /ħ/ and uvular fricatives /χ/, /ʁ/. Twenty intermediate-level English-speaking Arabic L2 learners and 10 Arabic native speakers (NS) completed auditory identification and discrimination tasks. We first conducted a discriminant analysis (DA) to quantify ASP predictions based on phonetic variables. L2 learners were generally more accurate when perceiving the pharyngeal consonants compared to the uvulars and when perceiving the voiced phonemes compared to the voiceless. These findings, and L2 learners’ perceptual variation across contexts, predicted by the DA, suggest that L2 speakers were able to track phonetic cues during L2 perception and thus favor the ASP. These results support the interpretation that L2 learners attend to the phonetic detail in nonnative segments; however, they do not build nativelike phonological representations for the segments with weaker phonetic cues. This ability to process low-level phonetic cues opens the possibility for learners to create more robust phonological representations.

scholarly journals Individual and Social-Contextual Factors Affecting the Learning and Use of ESL: A Case Study of a Visiting Korean Physician

2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Su-Ja Kang
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Individual Factors ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
The Social ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Using Data

This case study examined factors that affected a Korean physician's learning and use of ESL in an English-speaking country, using data from interviews, observations, notebook memos and e-mails. The findings indicated that individual factors- personality (perfectionism and extroversion), occupation, beliefs, and motivation-and social-contextual factors-lack of contact with native speakers and insecurity about speaking English in the presence of other Koreans-influenced the participant's learning and use of ESL. The findings also revealed that the participant's motivation and extroversion played a role in overcoming the social-contextual obstacles limiting learning opportunities, which illustrates interactions between individual and social-contextual factors.

scholarly journals First-order politeness in rapprochement and distancing cultures

Pragmatics ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Jesús Barros García ◽  
Marina Terkourafi
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Social Differentiation ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Close Link ◽  
First Order ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
Spanish Norms ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The U.S

The close link between politeness and culture has often been highlighted, with some scholars having proposed taxonomies of cultures based on the diverse uses and conceptions of politeness. Generally, research (Hickey 2005; Ardila 2005) places Spanish-speaking cultures in the group of rapprochement cultures, which relate politeness to positively assessing the addressee and creating bonds of friendship and cooperation; and English-speaking cultures in the group of distancing cultures, which primarily use politeness to generate respect and social differentiation. This means that English politeness is not only supposed to be different from Spanish politeness, but diametrically opposed to it. The main goal of this study is to check these predictions against the understandings and use of politeness by native speakers of Spanish from Spain and nonnative speakers of Spanish from the U.S. Thus, this research is grounded in first-order politeness norms, which are then correlated with the informants’ behavior as reported in written questionnaires. The results confirmed these predictions and further showed that the more advanced learners were able to align themselves better with Spanish norms. Nevertheless, even they found some aspects of Spanish politeness –– such as the turn-taking system –– harder to adapt to, suggesting that certain aspects of native norms may be more difficult to abandon. We propose that firstorder notions of politeness may be prototypically structured, with some aspects being more central to its definition and therefore less easily foregone than others.

The Concept of Wife in Russian and English Linguistic Consciousness

2020 ◽  
pp. 39-46
Author(s):  
Tat’yana V. Borisenko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mutual Understanding ◽  
Common Response ◽  
Assimilation Process ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
World Image

This paper aimed to study the content of the concept of wife in Russian and English-speaking linguocultures. The research will broaden the understanding of linguistic consciousness of Russian and English native speakers as well as identify some peculiarities of their world image. It is important to study the national world image today, as it can help to improve mutual understanding between cultures and simplify the assimilation process for those who decide to immigrate for some reason or other. The author utilized the methods of linguocultural and comparative analysis, as well as of associative-verbal nets study suggested by Yu.N. Karaulov. They include comparing associative-verbal nets by respondents’ first two reactions, identifying the most frequent types of answers, and grouping the responses into semantic zones. Further, the article analyses the synonymic chains of the word wife and explains the significance of this concept in Russian and English-speaking linguocultures, as well as identifies common semantic groups for the concept (wedding, household) and determines a common response to the stimulus in the two linguocultures. In addition, the paper traces differences in the perception of the concept of wife and singles out various semantic zones and their key elements. The research found that for many Russian native speakers, this concept contains such features as faith and belonging to someone, while in English linguistic consciousness it includes gender and partnership.

A Variationist Analysis of Second Language Spanish Trill Production

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-37
Author(s):  
Danielle Daidone ◽  
Sara Zahler
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Opposite Direction ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Phonetic Context

Abstract The current study examines the production of the Spanish trill by advanced second language (L2) learners using a variationist approach. Findings indicate that learners produced less multiple occlusion trills than native speakers and their variation was not constrained by the same factors as native speakers. Phonetic context conditioned the use of the multiple occlusion variant for native speakers, whereas frequency and speaker sex conditioned this variation for learners, and in the opposite direction of effect as expected from previous native speaker research. Nevertheless, the majority of tokens produced by learners were other variants also produced by native speakers, and when the variation between native and non-native variants was examined, learners’ variation was conditioned not only by frequency, but also phonetic context. Some of the phonetic contexts in which learners produced non-native variants were comparable to those in which native speakers were least likely to produce the multiple occlusion trill, indicating that articulatory constraints governed variation in trill production similarly for both groups. Thus, although L2 learners do not exhibit native-like trill variation, they appear to be developing toward a more native-like norm. These insights provide support for adopting a multifaceted variationist approach to the study of L2 phonological variable structures.

Study abroad and the SLA of variable structures: A look at the present perfect, the copula contrast, and the present progressive in Mexico and Spain

Probus ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Kanwit ◽  
Kimberly L. Geeslin ◽  
Stephen Fafulas
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Present Perfect ◽  
Immersion Programs ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Grammatical Structures

AbstractThe present study connects research on the L2 acquisition of variable structures to the ever-growing body of research on the role of study abroad in the language learning process. The data come from a group of 46 English-speaking learners of Spanish who participated in immersion programs in two distinct locations, Valencia, Spain and San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Simultaneously, we tested a group of native speakers from each region to create an appropriate target model for each learner group. Learners completed a written contextualized questionnaire at the beginning and end of their seven-week stay abroad. Our instrument examines three variable grammatical structures: (1) the copulas

scholarly journals The Speech Act of Complimenting as Part of the Ukrainian, Russian and English-Speaking Communities: Ukraine and the USA

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anzhelika Solodka ◽  
Luis Perea
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Personal Appearance ◽  
The Usa ◽  
On Line ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Language Context

Compliments as speech acts have the reflection and expression of cultural values. Many of the values reflected through compliments are personal appearance, new acquisitions, possessions, talents and skills. It is especially important in linguistic interaction between people. This research aims to analyze the speech acts of complimenting in Ukrainian and American cultures in order to use them for teaching pragmatics second language (L2) students. Defining the ways of complimenting in Ukrainian, Russian and American English help to avoid misunderstandings and pragmatic failures. This study uses a method of ethnomethodology. Speach acts are studied in their natural contexts. To carry out this research native speakers of English in the United States and native speakers of Russian and Ukrainian from all over Ukraine were interviewed on-line. The analysis was made on the data that included: 445 Russian, 231 Ukrainian and 245 English compliments. Results of this study show how native speakers tend to compliment people: syntactical structure of expressions, cultural lexicon, attributes praised and language context. It has implications for teaching English to Ukrainians and for teaching Russian and Ukrainian to speakers of English. Knowing how to use speech acts allows the speaker to have pragmatic competence. Upon completion of the data analysis on the current study, further information on deeper analysis in terms of semantics and metaphorical language can be provided.

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