Production and perception in the acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese

2018 ◽  
pp. 367-380
Author(s):  
Jaydene Elvin ◽  
Polina Vasiliev ◽  
Paola Escudero
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Speech Perception ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Speakers Of Other Languages ◽  
Large Corpus ◽  
Learning To Listen

Learning to listen to and produce the sounds of a new language is a difficult task for many second-language learners. While there is a large corpus of literature that investigates Spanish and Portuguese learners’ perception and production of an L;2, particularly English, there is relatively little research available for the opposite scenario, namely, how speakers of other languages learn to perceive and produce the sounds of Spanish and Portuguese. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a critical review of the available literature in this less studied area. First some general facts relating to non-native and L;2 speech perception and production are presented, including the theoretical models that aim at explaining these phenomena. A review follows of the empirical findings currently available for L;2 speech production and perception in Spanish and Portuguese, and how these two abilities relate in the process of acquiring the sounds of these languages.

Second Language Phonetics

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ocke-Schwen Bohn
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Speech Perception ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Second Language Speech Production

The study of second language phonetics is concerned with three broad and overlapping research areas: the characteristics of second language speech production and perception, the consequences of perceiving and producing nonnative speech sounds with a foreign accent, and the causes and factors that shape second language phonetics. Second language learners and bilinguals typically produce and perceive the sounds of a nonnative language in ways that are different from native speakers. These deviations from native norms can be attributed largely, but not exclusively, to the phonetic system of the native language. Non-nativelike speech perception and production may have both social consequences (e.g., stereotyping) and linguistic–communicative consequences (e.g., reduced intelligibility). Research on second language phonetics over the past ca. 30 years has resulted in a fairly good understanding of causes of nonnative speech production and perception, and these insights have to a large extent been driven by tests of the predictions of models of second language speech learning and of cross-language speech perception. It is generally accepted that the characteristics of second language speech are predominantly due to how second language learners map the sounds of the nonnative to the native language. This mapping cannot be entirely predicted from theoretical or acoustic comparisons of the sound systems of the languages involved, but has to be determined empirically through tests of perceptual assimilation. The most influential learner factors which shape how a second language is perceived and produced are the age of learning and the amount and quality of exposure to the second language. A very important and far-reaching finding from research on second language phonetics is that age effects are not due to neurological maturation which could result in the attrition of phonetic learning ability, but to the way phonetic categories develop as a function of experience with surrounding sound systems.

Noticing in second language acquisition: a critical review

1998 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Truscott
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Cognitive Psychology ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Theory Of Language ◽  
Indirect Tests ◽  
Metalinguistic Knowledge

This article examines the Noticing Hypothesis – the claim that second language learners must consciously notice the grammatical form of their input in order to acquire grammar. I argue, first, that the foundations of the hypothesis in cognitive psychology are weak; research in this area does not support it, or even provide a clear interpretation for it. The problem of interpreting the hypothesis is much more acute in the area of language acquisition. Partly because the hypothesis is not based on any coherent theory of language, it is very difficult to determine exactly what it means in this context,or to draw testable predictions from it.In the absence of specific predictions, research on form-focused instruction and feedback provide indirect tests, the results of which create additional problems for the hypothesis. The various problems can be eliminated or greatly reduced if the Noticing Hypothesis is reformulated as a claim that noticing is necessary for the acquisition of metalinguistic knowledge but not competence.

scholarly journals Fluency-dependent cortical activation associated with speech production and comprehension in second language learners

Neuroscience ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 300 ◽  
pp. 474-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Shimada ◽  
M. Hirotani ◽  
H. Yokokawa ◽  
H. Yoshida ◽  
K. Makita ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Cortical Activation

scholarly journals Teaching Adult Immigrants with Limited Formal Education: Theory, Research, and Practice. 2020. Edited by Peyton, Joy K. and Young-Scholten Martha. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, 208p; ISBN: 978-1-78309-996-2

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Vanesa Alonso González
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Pedagogical Issues ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Education Theory ◽  
Speakers Of Other Languages ◽  
Adult Immigrants ◽  
Theory Research

Teaching Adult Immigrants with Limited Formal Education: Theory, Research, and Practice is a compendium of the six modules that were the result of the third phase of the EU-Speak Project, European Speakers of Other Languages: Teaching Adult Migrants and Training Their Teachers, an ambitious collaborative research project carried out by several European and American universities with the purpose of orienting second language educators whose target pupils are immigrant second language learners with limited education and literacy. Each chapter covers different linguistic, psycholinguistic, sociolinguistic, and pedagogical issues in order to offer a complete guide to those interested in teaching a second language to this particular group of learners. As a result, the book presents itself as a link between researchers, teachers, policy-makers, and administrators with the common aim of integrating these learners as active members of their new countries through the acquisition of their new languages.

scholarly journals Syllable Structure Effects in Word Recognition by Spanish- and German-Speaking Second Language Learners of English

2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Maria Teresa Martinez-Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Speech Perception ◽  
Word Recognition ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Clear Effect ◽  
Monitoring Task ◽  
German Speaking

Previous findings in the literature point to the influence that speech perception has on word recognition. However, which specific aspects of the first (L1) and second language (L2) mapping play the most important role is still not fully understood. This study explores whether, and if so, how, L1-L2 syllable-structure differences affect word recognition. Spanish- and German-speaking English learners completed an AXB and a word-monitoring task in English that manipulated the presence of a vowel in words with /s/-initial consonant clusters—e.g., especially versus specially. The results show a clear effect of L1 on L2 learners’ perception and word recognition, with the German group outperforming the Spanish one. These results indicate that the similarity in the syllable structure between English and German fosters positive transfer in both perception and word recognition despite the inexact segmental mapping.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document