Introduction to the Special Issue: Learning to Listen from Sounds to Words

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 515-521
Author(s):  
Christine Shea
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Speech Perception ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
University Of Iowa ◽  
Word Forms ◽  
The University ◽  
Learning To Listen ◽  
Speech Perception And Production

The eight articles in this special issue ‘Learning to listen from sounds to words’ were presented at the conference Sound to Word in Bilingual and Second Language Speech Perception held at the University of Iowa in spring 2016. The selected contributions focus on how second language speech perception interacts with orthography, how phonology interacts with speech perception and how listeners use the cues in the input to segment and create the word forms for lexical processing. This collection of papers expands the field of speech perception and production by granting a central role to the lexicon and exploring how listeners and speakers activate representations, from sounds to words.

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.

scholarly journals Communicative focus on second language phonetic form: Teaching Japanese learners to perceive and produce English /ɹ/ without explicit instruction

2013 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 377-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
KAZUYA SAITO
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Speech Perception ◽  
Explicit Instruction ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Target Feature ◽  
Receptive Mode ◽  
Japanese Learners ◽  
Speech Learning ◽  
Speech Perception And Production

ABSTRACTThe current study examines in depth how two types of form-focused instruction (FFI), which are FFI with and without corrective feedback (CF), can facilitate second language speech perception and production of /ɹ/ by 49 Japanese learners in English as a Foreign Langage settings. FFI effectiveness was assessed via three outcome measures (perception, controlled production, and spontaneous production) and also according to two lexical contexts (trained and untrained items). Two experimental groups received 4 hr of FFI treatment to notice and practice the target feature of /ɹ/ (but without any explicit instruction) in meaningful discourse. A control group (n = 14) received comparable instruction in the absence of FFI. During FFI, the instructors provided CF only to students in the FFI + CF group (n = 18) by recasting their mispronunciations of /ɹ/, while no CF was provided to those in the FFI-only group (n = 17). Analyses of pre- and posttests showed that FFI itself can sufficiently promote the development of speech perception and production of /ɹ/ and the acquisitional value of CF in second language speech learning remains unclear. The results suggest that the beginner learners without much phonetic knowledge on how to repair their mispronunciation of /ɹ/ should be encouraged to learn the target sound only through FFI in a receptive mode without much pressure for modified output.

Symposium: Methodologies in SLA

2013 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-431
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Deifell ◽  
Elena Shimanskaya
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Graduate Student ◽  
University Of Iowa ◽  
The University

Two panel discussions presented at the Second Language Acquisition Graduate Student Symposium on 29 and 30 April 2011 at the University of Iowa.

scholarly journals Language-Specific Effects in Cross-Language Research and Their Implications for Second Language Acquisition: A Theoretical Enquiry

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-20
Author(s):  
Enikő Pál
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Speech Perception ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Phonetic Learning ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
Speech Perception And Production

AbstractBoth in the theoretical framework of applied linguistics and empirical studies, second language acquisition is either examined within the universalist postulation of an innate language acquisition device or it is discussed in a pluralist manner featuring the great variety of language-specific influences. The present paper focuses on the latter issue, aiming to review some of the recent studies on the role of the mother tongue in second language speech perception and production. Our main interest is in phonetic learning. Thus, we shall particularly turn our attention to certain theoretical–empirical data regarding second language speech perception and production, such as the perceptual assimilation model, the native language magnet theory, and the articulatory setting theory.

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