Acoustic Correlates of the Spanish Tap-Trill Contrast: Heritage and L2 Spanish Speakers

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Amengual
Keyword(s):  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Apical Constriction ◽  
Acoustic Correlates ◽  
Phonological Contrast ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Sources Of Variation ◽  
L2 Spanish ◽  
English Dominant ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

The present study investigates the acoustic correlates of the Spanish tap-trill phonological contrast (/ɾ/-/r/) in the production of 40 Spanish heritage speakers and 20 L2 Spanish learners in Northern California. The acoustic analyses examined the number of occlusions and overall duration in the production of phonemic trills, while the phonetic variants of the phonemic tap were based on the degree of apical constriction: true tap, approximant tap, and perceptual tap. The results from a reading-aloud task indicate that most speakers produced non-canonical phonemic trills with one or zero occlusions and maintain the Spanish tap-trill phonological contrast largely by means of segmental duration, and that this is especially true for L2 learners and English-dominant heritage speakers. In contrast, Spanish-dominant heritage speakers produced the majority of their trills with two or three brief occlusions between the tongue apex and the alveolar ridge. These data confirm that heritage speakers are a heterogeneous group and that variance in their rhotic production is a result of language dominance: English-dominant heritage speakers and L2 learners are most likely to exhibit a modified system to maintain the rhotic phonological contrast in comparison to Spanish-dominant heritage speakers. The findings of this study add to our understanding of the sources of variation in heritage and L2 pronunciation by investigating a largely understudied bilingual population that has traditionally been ignored in bilingual phonetic research.

scholarly journals Heritage speakers’ use of prosodic strategies in focus marking in Spanish

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 986-1004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji-Young Kim
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Multiple Strategies ◽  
Acoustic Correlates ◽  
Prosodic Cues ◽  
Linguistic Strategies ◽  
Language Research ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Early Peak ◽  
Focus Marking ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

Aims and objectives: The present study investigates how focus is prosodically realized by Spanish heritage speakers, and whether they show different patterns from Spanish monolinguals and English second language (L2) learners of Spanish. Design: Prompt questions were auditorily presented to elicit participants’ production of sentences with different scopes and locations of focus. Data and analysis: Relative prosodic prominence between focused and non-focused constituents, as well as tonal alignment, were acoustically analyzed and compared across the groups. Additional strategies that participants used are also presented. Findings: The results revealed that all three groups used multiple strategies, both prosodic and non-prosodic, to express focus in Spanish. However, the specific cues that were used differed in each group. Monolinguals and L2 learners clearly differed from each other in that the former preferred non-prosodic strategies (e.g., cleft constructions, complementizer que ‘that’), while the latter used various prosodic strategies (e.g., relative prosodic prominence, early peak alignment, post-focal deaccenting). Heritage speakers, on the other hand, used a mix of strategies that were observed in both monolinguals’ and L2 learners’ speech. Originality: Prosody is an understudied area in heritage language research. This is one of few studies that examined Spanish heritage speakers’ use of prosodic cues in the realization of focus in Spanish and the first to extensively analyze various acoustic correlates of focus produced by Spanish heritage speakers. Implication: The findings suggest that heritage speakers are flexible in their use of linguistic strategies as they are able to extract resources from their two language systems.

WHO WAS WALKING ON THE BEACH?

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory D. Keating ◽  
Bill VanPatten ◽  
Jill Jegerski
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Early Exposure ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Complex Sentences ◽  
Overt Pronouns ◽  
Overt Pronoun ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

The position of antecedent strategy (Carminati, 2002) claims that speakers of null-subject languages prefer to resolve intrasentential anaphora by linkingproto an antecedent in the specifier of the inflection phrase and the overt pronoun to an antecedent lower in the clause. The present study has two aims: (a) to determine whether adult early Spanish-English bilinguals (Spanish heritage speakers) and late English-Spanish bilinguals (adult second language [L2] learners of Spanish) utilize the same antecedent assignment strategies as monolingually raised Spanish speakers, and (b) to determine whether early exposure to and use of Spanish confers advantages to Spanish heritage speakers relative to L2 learners. Spanish speakers raised without English contact (n= 19), Spanish heritage speakers (n= 25), and L2 learners of Spanish (n= 19) completed an offline questionnaire that comprised complex sentences such asJuan vio a Carlos mientraspro/él caminaba en la playa“John saw Charles while he was walking on the beach.” Comprehension questions probed participants’ preferences regarding the antecedent of null and overt pronouns. The results indicate that the monolingually raised Spanish speakers showed an antecedent bias, but the heritage speakers and the L2 learners did not. Furthermore, the two groups of bilinguals differed from the controls in different ways: The heritage speakers displayed a stronger subject bias for the overt pronoun, whereas the L2 learners did not exhibit any clear antecedent biases.

scholarly journals Early versus Extended Exposure in Speech Perception Learning: Evidence from Switched-Dominance Bilinguals

Languages ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Michael Blasingame ◽  
Ann R. Bradlow
Keyword(s):  
Speech Recognition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Recognition Accuracy ◽  
Late Onset ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
English Dominant ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

Both the timing (i.e., when) and amount (i.e., how much) of language exposure affect language-learning outcomes. We compared speech recognition accuracy across three listener groups for whom the order (first versus second) and dominance (dominant versus non-dominant) of two languages, English and Spanish, varied: one group of Spanish heritage speakers (SHS; L2-English dominant; L1-Spanish non-dominant) and two groups of late onset L2 learners (L1-dominant English/Spanish learners and L1-dominant Spanish/English learners). Sentence-final word recognition accuracy in both English and Spanish was assessed across three “easy” versus “difficult” listening conditions: (1) signal-to-noise ratio (SNR; +5 dB SNR versus 0 dB SNR), (2) sentence predictability (high versus low sentence predictability), and (3) speech style (clear versus plain speech style). Overall, SHS English recognition accuracy was equivalent to that of the L1-dominant English Spanish learners, whereas SHS Spanish recognition accuracy was substantially lower than that of the L1-dominant Spanish English learners. Moreover, while SHS benefitted in both languages from the “easy” listening conditions, they were more adversely affected by (i.e., they recognized fewer words) the presence of higher noise and lower predictability in their non-dominant L1 Spanish compared to their dominant L2 English. These results identify both a benefit and limit on the influence of early exposure. Specifically, the L2-dominant heritage speakers displayed L1-like speech recognition in their dominant-L2, as well as generally better recognition in their non-dominant L1 than late onset L2 learners. Yet, subtle recognition accuracy differences between SHS and L1-dominant listeners emerged under relatively difficult communicative conditions.

Type of early bilingualism and its effect on the acoustic realization of allophonic variants: Early sequential and simultaneous bilinguals

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 954-970 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Amengual
Keyword(s):  
Intensity Difference ◽  
Acoustic Measurements ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Phonological Processes ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Acoustic Analyses ◽  
L2 Spanish ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions:This study examines the acoustic realization of phrase-initial voiced stops (/b, d, g/) and intervocalic voiced approximants ([β, ð, ɣ]) in Spanish by three groups of Spanish–English bilinguals: simultaneous bilinguals, early sequential bilinguals, and late second language (L2) Spanish learners to investigate if the type of early bilingualism has an effect on the acoustic realization of language-specific phonological processes.Design/Methodology/Approach:Early bilinguals were divided into two groups (simultaneous and sequential bilinguals), and together with late learners (L2 Spanish learners) they were recorded producing words eliciting phrase-initial and intervocalic voiced stops.Data and Analysis:The acoustic analyses examined the difference between the intensity minimum during the consonant and the intensity maximum of the following tautosyllabic vowel (intensity difference). The dataset comprised a total of 3,569 acoustic measurements.Findings/Conclusions:The group of early sequential bilinguals shows a significantly stronger tendency to produce a more lenited intervocalic segment than simultaneous bilinguals and L2 learners, who produce a more constricted realization. These data indicate that simultaneous bilinguals and L2 learners, who were exposed to English since birth, differ from early bilinguals who were exclusively exposed to Spanish for the first years of their life when applying the Spanish allophonic rule governing the distribution of voiced stops and spirants.Originality:This is one of the first studies that investigates the effects of the type of early bilingualism on bilingual phonetic performance in adulthood, especially in terms of bilingual phonetic production. These novel data examine the acoustic realization of Spanish heritage speakers, a largely understudied bilingual population.Significance/Implications:The findings suggest that the type of early bilingualism in language development, even at a very early age, still has consequences on the acoustic realization of allophonic variants in adulthood.

scholarly journals Auditory Processing of Gender Agreement across Relative Clauses by Spanish Heritage Speakers

Languages ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Daniel Vergara ◽  
Gilda Socarrás
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
Auditory Task ◽  
Auditory Modality ◽  
Gender Agreement ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

Processing research on Spanish gender agreement has focused on L2 learners’ and—to a lesser extent—heritage speakers’ sensitivity to gender agreement violations. This research has been mostly carried out in the written modality, which places heritage speakers at a disadvantage as they are more frequently exposed to Spanish auditorily. This study contributes to the understanding of the differences between heritage and L2 grammars by examining the processing of gender agreement in the auditory modality and its impact on comprehension. Twenty Spanish heritage speakers and 20 intermediate L2 learners listened to stimuli containing two nouns with gender mismatches in the main clause, and an adjective in the relative clause that only agreed in gender with one of the nouns. We measured noun-adjective agreement accuracy through participants’ responses to an auditory task. Our results show that heritage speakers are more accurate than L2 learners in the auditory processing of gender agreement information for comprehension. Additionally, heritage speakers’ accuracy is modulated by their Spanish language proficiency and age of onset. Participants also exhibit higher accuracies in cases in which the adjective agrees with the first noun. We argue that this is an ambiguity resolution strategy influenced by the experimental task.

Written Narrative by Spanish Heritage Language Speakers

2017 ◽  
pp. 70-93
Author(s):  
Verónica Sánchez Abchi ◽  
Audrey Bonvin ◽  
Amelia Lambelet ◽  
Carlos Pestana
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Comparison Group ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Story Grammar ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
French Speaking ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Heritage Language Speakers ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

This article aims to study narrative complexity in written texts produced by Spanish heritage speakers growing up in two linguistic regions of Switzerland. Texts produced in their heritage language by children living either in French- or German-speaking parts of Switzerland were analyzed and compared to texts written by Spanish speaking children growing up in a mostly monolingual context in Argentina. According to the literature, it was expected that children’s heritage language command and literacy abilities would mask their narrative competence in Spanish (i.e., that heritage speakers would show lower narrative complexity than their monolingual peers). The participants were 138 pupils aged between 9 and 12;5 (twelve years and five months), distributed in three groups: Spanish heritage language speakers living in German-speaking Switzerland (n=66), Spanish heritage language speakers living in French-speaking Switzerland (n=25), and a comparison Group made up of Spanish speakers growing up in a monolingual context (n=47). Heritage speakers’ parents also completed a questionnaire describing the children’s linguistic background. We did not find significant differences between groups in terms of story grammar components, suggesting that command of language and writing constraints do not affect narrative complexity development in heritage language speakers.

How similar are adult second language learners and Spanish heritage speakers? Spanish clitics and word order

2009 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
SILVINA MONTRUL
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Family Language ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

ABSTRACTRecent studies of heritage speakers, many of whom possess incomplete knowledge of their family language, suggest that these speakers may be linguistically superior to second language (L2) learners only in phonology but not in morphosyntax. This study reexamines this claim by focusing on knowledge of clitic pronouns and word order in 24 L2 learners and 24 Spanish heritage speakers. Results of an oral production task, a written grammaticality judgment task, and a speeded comprehension task showed that, overall, heritage speakers seem to possess more nativelike knowledge of Spanish than their L2 counterparts. Implications for theories that stress the role of age and experience in L2 ultimate attainment and for the field of heritage language acquisition and teaching are discussed.

Online processing of subject pronouns in monolingual and heritage bilingual speakers of Mexican Spanish

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
GREGORY D. KEATING ◽  
JILL JEGERSKI ◽  
BILL VANPATTEN
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Mexican Spanish ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Subject Pronouns ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
Overt Pronouns ◽  
English Dominant ◽  
Reading Study ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

In this self-paced reading study, we first tested the cross-linguistic validity of the position of antecedent strategy proposed for anaphora resolution in Italian (Carminati, 2002) in a Latin American variety of Spanish. We then examined the application of this strategy by Spanish heritage speakers of the same dialect who were largely English dominant. Forty-five monolingual speakers of Mexican Spanish and 28 Spanish heritage speakers of Mexican descent read sentences in which null and overt subject pronouns were biased for and against expected antecedent biases. Our results suggest that Mexican monolinguals display distinct antecedent biases for null and overt pronouns. Furthermore, the Spanish heritage speakers, though not monolingual-like, did not violate discourse constraints on the resolution of overt pronouns, contra the findings of offline research (see Keating, VanPatten & Jegerski, 2011). We discuss the findings in terms of a processing-based account.

scholarly journals Second language acquisition and first language loss in adult early bilinguals: exploring some differences and similarities

2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvina Montrul
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
The Usa ◽  
English Dominant

This study compares the linguistic knowledge of adult second language (L2) learners, who learned the L2 after puberty, with the potentially ‘eroded’ first language (L1) grammars of adult early bilinguals who were exposed to the target language since birth and learned the other language simultaneously, or early in childhood (before age 5). I make two main claims: (1) that the L1 grammar of bilinguals at a given stabilized state (probably endstate) resembles the incomplete (either developing or stabilized) grammars typical of intermediate and advanced stages in L2 acquisition; and (2) that despite similar patterns of performance, when language proficiency is factored in, early bilinguals are better than the L2 learners, probably due to exposure to primary linguistic input early in childhood. I offer empirical evidence from an experimental study testing knowledge of the syntax and semantics of unaccusativity in Spanish, conducted with English-speaking L2 learners and English-dominant Spanish heritage speakers living in the USA. I consider recent treatments of unaccusativity and language attrition within the generative framework (Sorace, 1999; 2000a; 2000b), that offer a unifying account of the formal parallels observed between these two populations I discuss how input, use and age may explain differences and similarities in the linguistic attainment of the two groups.

Discrepancy between heritage speakers' use of suprasegmental cues in the perception and production of Spanish lexical stress

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji Young Kim
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Lexical Stress ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Early Exposure ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Minimal Pairs ◽  
Production Experiment ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Suprasegmental Cues ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

AbstractThis study investigates Spanish heritage speakers' perception and production of Spanish lexical stress. Stress minimal pairs in various prosodic contexts were used to examine whether heritage speakers successfully identify the stress location despite varying suprasegmental cues (Experiment 1) and whether they use these cues in their production (Experiment 2). Heritage speakers' performance was compared to that of Spanish monolinguals and English L2 learners. In Experiment 1, the heritage speakers showed a clear advantage over the L2 learners and their performance was comparable to that of the monolinguals. In Experiment 2, both the heritage speakers and the L2 learners showed deviating patterns from the monolinguals; they produced a large overlap between paroxytones and oxytones, especially in duration. The discrepancy between heritage speakers' perception and production suggests that, while early exposure to heritage language is beneficial for the perception of heritage language speech sounds, this factor alone does not guarantee target-like production.

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