scholarly journals L1 phonological effects on L2 (non-)naïve perception: A cross-language investigation of the oral–nasal vowel contrast in Brazilian Portuguese

2021 ◽  
pp. 026765832110449
Author(s):  
Ruth Maria Martinez ◽  
Heather Goad ◽  
Michael Dow
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
The Status ◽  
Vowel Systems ◽  
Quebec French ◽  
Caribbean Spanish ◽  
Feature Based ◽  
Vowel Contrast ◽  
Cross Language

Feature-based approaches to acquisition principally focus on second language (L2) learners’ ability to perceive non-native consonants when the features required are either contrastively present or entirely absent from the first language (L1) grammar. As features may function contrastively or allophonically in the consonant and/or vowel systems of a language, we expand the scope of this research to address whether features that function contrastively in the L1 vowel system can be recombined to yield new vowels in the L2; whether features that play a contrastive role in the L1 consonant system can be reassigned to build new vowels in the L2; and whether L1 allophonic features can be ‘elevated’ to contrastive status in the L2. We examine perception of the oral–nasal contrast in Brazilian Portuguese listeners from French, English, Caribbean Spanish, and non-Caribbean Spanish backgrounds, languages that differ in the status assigned to [nasal] in their vowel systems. An AXB discrimination task revealed that, although all language groups succeeded in perceiving the non-naïve contrast /e/–/ẽ/ due to their previous exposure to Québec French while living in Montréal, Canada, only French and Caribbean Spanish speakers succeeded in discriminating the naïve contrast /i/–/ĩ/. These findings suggest that feature redeployment at first exposure is only possible if the feature is contrastive in the L1 vowel system (French) or if the feature is allophonic but variably occurs in contrastive contexts in the L1 vowel system (Caribbean Spanish). With more exposure to a non-native contrast, however, feature redeployment from consonant to vowel systems was also supported, as was the possibility that allophonic features may be elevated to contrastive status in the L2.

The L2 perception of initial English /h/ and /ɹ/ by Brazilian Portuguese learners of English

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-180
Author(s):  
Denise Osborne
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Discrimination Test ◽  
Identification Test ◽  
L2 Perception ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
Language Assimilation

This study investigates how speakers who speak Brazilian Portuguese as their first language and English as their second language perceive the English phonemes /h/ and /ɹ/, and how they and monolingual Brazilian Portuguese speakers map these phonemes onto Portuguese sound categories. Participants took part in three experiments: an AXB discrimination test, an identification test, and a cross-language assimilation test, which was also taken by monolinguals. Lower and higher proficiency groups were able to hear the distinction acoustically, but only the higher proficiency group used the distinction to identify English words. Monolingual Brazilian Portuguese speakers and the higher proficiency group assimilated English /h/ primarily to Portuguese /h/. However, the phonological environment had an effect for monolinguals, but not for the higher proficiency group. The lower proficiency group, which one might expect to fall in between these two groups, showed a failure to assimilate English sounds to the Portuguese categories.

Bimodal bilingualism reveals mechanisms of cross-language interaction

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 250-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
JUDITH F. KROLL ◽  
KINSEY BICE
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Second Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
The Brain

In the recent swell of research on bilingualism and its consequences for the mind and the brain, there has been a warning that we need to remember that not all bilinguals are the same (e.g., Green & Abutalebi, 2013; Kroll & Bialystok, 2013; Luk & Bialystok, 2013). There are bilinguals who acquired two languages in early childhood and have used them continuously throughout their lives, bilinguals who acquired one language early and then switched to another language when they entered school or emigrated from one country to another, and others who only acquired a second language (L2) as an adult. Among these forms of bilingualism there are differences in both the context and amount of time spent in each language and differences in the status of the languages themselves. The L2 may be a majority language, spoken by almost everyone in the environment, or a minority language, spoken only by a few. The native or first language (L1) may also be the dominant language or may have been overtaken by the influence of the L2 given the circumstances imposed by the environment. Likewise, the L1 and L2 may vary in how similar they are structurally, whether they share the same written script, or whether one language is spoken and the other signed.

Vowel development in young Mandarin-English bilingual children

Phonetica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Yang
Keyword(s):  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Formant Frequency ◽  
High Group ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
English Vowels ◽  
Vowel Systems ◽  
Phonetic Features ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
L1 And L2

Abstract This study examined the development of vowel categories in young Mandarin -English bilingual children. The participants included 35 children aged between 3 and 4 years old (15 Mandarin-English bilinguals, six English monolinguals, and 14 Mandarin monolinguals). The bilingual children were divided into two groups: one group had a shorter duration (<1 year) of intensive immersion in English (Bi-low group) and one group had a longer duration (>1 year) of intensive immersion in English (Bi-high group). The participants were recorded producing one list of Mandarin words containing the vowels /a, i, u, y, ɤ/ and/or one list of English words containing the vowels /i, ɪ, e, ɛ, æ, u, ʊ, o, ɑ, ʌ/. Formant frequency values were extracted at five equidistant time locations (the 20–35–50–65–80% point) over the course of vowel duration. Cross-language and within-language comparisons were conducted on the midpoint formant values and formant trajectories. The results showed that children in the Bi-low group produced their English vowels into clusters and showed positional deviations from the monolingual targets. However, they maintained the phonetic features of their native vowel sounds well and mainly used an assimilatory process to organize the vowel systems. Children in the Bi-high group separated their English vowels well. They used both assimilatory and dissimilatory processes to construct and refine the two vowel systems. These bilingual children approximated monolingual English children to a better extent than the children in the Bi-low group. However, when compared to the monolingual peers, they demonstrated observable deviations in both L1 and L2.

scholarly journals Developmental perspectives on the expression of motion in speech and gesture

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maya Hickmann ◽  
Henriette Hendriks ◽  
Marianne Gullberg
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
First Language ◽  
First Language Acquisition ◽  
Complementary Information ◽  
Linguistic Differences ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
French And English ◽  
Gesture Studies ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Do So

Recent research shows that adult speakers of verb- vs. satellite-framed languages (Talmy, 2000) express motion events in language-specific ways in speech (Slobin 1996, 2004) and co-verbal gestures (Duncan 2005; Kita & Özyurek 2003; McNeill 1992). Although such findings suggest cross-linguistic differences in the expression of events, little is still known about their implications for first language acquisition. This paper examines how French and English adults and children (ages four and six) express Path and Manner in speech and gesture when describing voluntary motion presented in animated cartoons. The results show that English adults conflate Manner+Path in speech more often than French adults who frequently talk about Path only. Both groups gesture mainly about Path only, but English adults also conflate Manner+Path into single gestures, whereas French adults never do so. Children in both languages are predominantly adult-like in speech and gesture from age four on, but also display developmental progressions with increasing age. Finally, speech and gestures are predominantly co-expressive in both language groups and at all ages. When modalities differ, English adults typically provide less information in gesture (Path) than in speech (Manner+Path; ‘Manner modulation’ phenomenon), whereas French adults express complementary information in speech (Manner) and gesture (Path). The discussion highlights theoretical implications of such bi-modal analyses for acquisition and gesture studies

Beyond Common Sense in Bilingual Education

1975 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 3-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen G. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Bilingual Education ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Vernacular Language ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
The Status ◽  
Vernacular Literacy ◽  
Theoretical Issues ◽  
Initial Literacy ◽  
Single Statement

It is assumed that by now the widely known UNESCO statement about the value of vernacular literacy has achieved the status of “common sense” knowledge among those interested in the schooling of minority language groups. The term “common sense” here implies that although there is much that is sound in a common sense view, there is also the danger of oversimplification. Although strongly in favour of bilingual education, both educationally and in terms of the ethics of racial contact, I see a number of areas where an oversimplified approach to it can bring either some harm with the good or at least lessen the effectiveness of the use of the vernacular language in education. The “initial literacy in the vernacular” approach is not a panacea for all minority group educational problems. The article by Joy Kinslow-Harris (1968), probably the best single statement made on the value of vernacular education for Australian Aboriginals, was a profound call for a basic change in attitude towards the education of Aboriginals, and outlined sound starting procedures. While this paper strongly supports Kinslow-Harris’s statement, it wishes also to extend understanding of some important theoretical issues.

scholarly journals Die Evaluering Van ‘N Eentalige Toelatingstoets Wat Vir Toelating Tot Hoër Onderwys In ’N Veeltalige Konteks Gebruik Word

2007 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elize Koch
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South African ◽  
First Language ◽  
Item Bias ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Admissions Test ◽  
English Second Language ◽  
Structural Differences ◽  
African Context ◽  
English Students

The evaluation of monolingual admissions test used for admission to higher education in a plurilingual context. This study aims to critically evaluate the practice to use monolingual admissions tests across diverse language groups. The specific aim of the study was, accordingly, to evaluate the bias, across language groups, of a reading comprehension test used for admission to higher education. The subsequent aim was to decide about the scalar equivalence of the test across three language groups, namely Afrikaans and English students and students who are first language speakers of an African language. Item bias and structural differences between the English first and English second language groups were found, while structural differences continued to be found after deleting the DIF items from the test. Implications for fair admissions testing in the South African context are discussed. Opsomming: Hierdie stukkie het dit ten doel om die praktyk om eentalige toelatingstoetse oor taalgroepe heen te gebruik, krities te evalueer. Die oogmerk van die studie was gevolglik om ’n toets van leesbegrip wat vir toelating tot universiteit gebruik word en wat slegs in Engels beskikbaar is, te evalueer vir sydigheid. Die uiteindelike oogmerk was om oor die skaalekwivalensie van die toets ten opsigte van drie taalgroepe te besluit, naamlik Afrikaanse en Engelse studente en studente met ’n Afrika taal as eerste taal. Item sydigheid en strukturele verskille tussen Engels eerstetaal sprekers en Engels tweedetaal sprekers is gevind, terwyl strukturele verskille na die verwydering van die DIF items voorgeduur het. Implikasies vir billike toelatingstoetsing in Suid-Afrika word bespreek.

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