“Identical” vowels in L1 and L2? Criteria and implications for L2 phonetics teaching and learning

Researchers in the field of the teaching and learning of phonetics agree that learners of a foreign/second language (L2) acquire identical vowels by positive transfer from their first language (L1). This statement prompted us to examine whether the French and Czech languages, differing in the size of their vowel inventories, possess any identical vowels that could thus be omitted from French as a Foreign Language (FFL) phonetic curricula intended for Czech learners. The quantification of the vowels’ phonetic similarity is based on the comparison of their (1) phonetic symbols, (2) formant values (F-patterns), and (3) perceptual characteristics. The combined results show that strictly identical vowels between the two languages do not exist, but some French vowels can be defined as highly similar to some Czech vowels. Different coarticulatory effects of vowels produced in isolation and in labial, dental and palato-velar symmetrical environments point to a very strong influence of phonetic contexts on vowel similarity. Indeed, no French vowel is highly similar to any Czech vowel in all of the contexts studied. The findings suggest that phonetic exercises designed for Czech learners should focus on allophonic variations of all French vowels.

Motivation, ideal self and willingness to communicate as the predictors of observed L2 use in the classroom

Willingness to Communicate (WTC), the most immediate antecedent of actual communication behavior in an L2, is widely believed to facilitate the acquisition of the target language. Higher WTC is generally associated with higher L2 use (MacIntyre, Clément, Dörnyei & Noels 1998), though it has not been empirically tested. This article reports on an attempt to fill this gap by investigating to what degree learners’ self-reported L2 WTC predicts actual L2 use in the classroom. A group of 372 Japanese university EFL learners majoring in science and human arts subjects participated in the study. Students’ oral performance data were collected three times during the group discussions in one academic semester. The number of words each student produced during each discussion was counted. The results of structural equation modelling analyses suggested that self-reported L2 WTC predicted actual L2 use in the classroom. Second, gender differences in L2 use in the language classroom has not been empirically explored in the quantitative studies, therefore, whether L2 WTC would predict observed L2 use equally among males and females, and whether males and females produce equal amount of L2 in the classroom will be explored. Implications of the research findings will be discussed.

Language processing in bilinguals

In this paper we integrate and reinterpret new data from a set of experiments in our lab in order to tease apart many of the factors thought to influence bilingual processing. Specifically we combine data from studies investigating age of immersion (AoI), manner of acquisition (MoA), proficiency and context of bilingualism to (1) investigate the organization of the bilingual mental lexicon and (2) determine the nature of the interaction between bilingualism and cognitive control. We suggest that a naturalistic MoA promotes the integration of the bilingual lexicon, and that an early AoI per se is somewhat less important (though it tends to lead to a more naturalistic MoA). Further, bilinguals with an integrated bilingual lexicon (i.e., naturalistic learners) only develop cognitive control advantages if they are in a dual-language environment.

Testing aptitude

Meara (2005) developed the LLAMA tests as a free, language-neutral, user-friendly suite of aptitude tests incorporating four separate elements: vocabulary learning (LLAMA_B), phonetic (implicit) memory (LLAMA_D), sound-symbol correspondence (LLAMA_E) and grammatical inferencing (LLAMA_F) based on the standardised MLAT tests (Carroll & Sapon 1959). Recently, they have become increasingly popular in L2 acquisition research (Grañena & Long 2013b). However, Meara has expressed concern about the wide use of these tests without validity testing (cf. Grañena 2013a). To this end, we investigated several areas relating to the LLAMA tests, i.e. (1) the role of gender in LLAMA test performance; (2) language neutrality; (3) the role of age; (4) the role of formal education qualifications; (5) the effect of playing logic puzzles on LLAMA scores and (6) the effect of changing the test timings to scores. 229 participants from a range of language backgrounds, aged 10–75 with various education levels, typologically distinct L1s, and varying levels of multilingualism were tested. A subset of participants was also tested with varying timings for the tests. The results showed that the LLAMA tests are gender and language neutral. The younger learners (10–11s) performed significantly worse than the adults in the sound/symbol correspondence task (LLAMA_E). Formal education qualifications show a significant advantage in 3 of the LLAMA subcomponents (B, E, F) but not the implicit measure (LLAMA_D). Playing logic puzzles did not improve LLAMA test scores. The timings appear to be optimal apart from LLAMA_F, which could be shortened. We suggest that the LLAMA aptitude tests are not significantly affected by these factors although researchers using these tests should be aware of the possible impact of education level on some components of the tests.

The role of language proficiency in the perception of L2 taboo words by late bilingual speakers

Cognitive research has established that there exists a significant difference between L1 and L2 with regard to emotional speech processing. Harris, Ayçiçeĝi and Gleason (2003) and Dewaele (2004) have shown that L1 taboo words evoke greater emotional arousal than their L2 counterparts. According to Harris (2004), an L2 acquired early and in a naturalistic setting gains the features of L1 in terms of emotional interference. However, the data from one of the areas of emotional speech processing in bilinguals, i.e. the experimental data about late bilinguals, is still scarce. The present study aims to trace the effects of proficiency and language exposure on the perceived emotional charge of L2 taboo and curse words by late bilinguals. 106 highly proficient Polish-English bilinguals, who were students on an English Studies program at the time of testing, took part in the Emotional Stroop task (Williams, Mathews & MacLeod 1996) and their reaction times were measured. The results discussed with reference to previous findings in the literature suggest that the emotional input provided during second language acquisition is too weak to effectively form affective connotations to L2 utterances.

A study on explicit instruction and its relation to knowing/using linguistic forms and individual learner readiness

This paper reports the results of a study on the effects of explicit instruction, which examined the L2 development of the German case system. The study investigated to what extent the effects of instruction, if any, depend on (i) the type of linguistic performance (knowledge vs. use) and (ii) the developmental readiness of the learners. The pretest-posttest study involved 18 first-year university students of German (L1 Dutch), who were administered a grammatical judgment task (which examined their knowledge of the case rule) and an oral production task (which examined their case use). The findings uncover differences between pretest and posttests, which shows that explicit instruction improves linguistic performance in general. Further analysis reveals that the effect does not depend on ‘type of performance’, but that it does depend on ‘developmental readiness’.

Promoting self-regulation through collaborative work

There is plenty of evidence both from classrooms and from research literature suggesting that the teacher can help monitor learners’ minds, seeing beyond their surface behaviour, and can thereby help them deal with learning issues more appropriately. Self-regulation is one of the key factors determining success in foreign language learning, and self-regulated language learning should be seen as an important aspect of L2 study. This paper reports on a multiple case study of two graduate students who took part in a hands-on workshop on self-regulated language learning. It asks what is going on in their minds to account for success or lack of success in performance. A qualitative analysis of multiple data sources revealed that through the hands-on workshop and the focus-group interview, the participants came to be able to monitor what was impeding their language learning and decide what they needed to do to make the flow of the self-regulation cycle smoother. The qualitative analysis also highlighted the reciprocal and cyclical relations between self-regulation and co-regulation, suggesting need of the social aspect in explaining the cyclical phases of self-regulation.