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Towards a typology of bilingual phonological systems
... As such, the study of L2 speech has more often than not proceeded under the working assumption that at least some aspects of L2 are shared with L1. Formalizations of structural sharing between L1 and L2 in the domain of phonology have been attempted by researchers such as Flege and Eefting (1988) and Laeufer (1996) using extensions of the bilingual lexical access models alluded to above, and these are discussed in Section 2.3.4. First, we turn to the three frameworks that have been most influential in the study of non-native and L2 speech perception and production: the Perceptual Assimilation Model (Best 1995), the Speech Learning Model (Flege 1995), and the Perceptual Assimilation Model-L2 (Best and Tyler 2007). ...
... This hypothesis also predicts differences between a bilingual's L2 category and a monolingual's due to dissimilation from the bilingual's L1 categories, and evidence of such dissimilation is found in the literature (see Laeufer 1996). The SLM does not make an explicit statement regarding the effect of age on dissimilation, but from the hypothesis that new phonetic categories are more often formed at earlier ages of L2 learning, it follows that this sort of dissimilation should be found more often in early as opposed to late bilinguals, since early bilinguals are more likely to have separate phonetic categories for similar L1 and L2 sounds that can dissimilate from each other. ...
... To account for a range of findings on L1-L2 phonological interaction in bilinguals (see Mack 2003 for an excellent review), Laeufer (1996) laid out a typology of bilingual phonological systems combining aspects of the bilingual lexical/conceptual model of Weinreich (1953) with the speech production model of Keating (1984). Based on findings for VOT production in L1 and L2 voiceless stops, this typology aims to model the variety of bilingual production patterns in terms of differences in the language specificity of a category at a given level of representation (i.e., whether the category instantiates a sound in only one language or in both languages). ...
Despite abundant evidence of malleability in speech production, previous studies of the effects of late second-language learning on first-language production have been limited to advanced learners. This dissertation examines these effects in novice learners, finding that experience in a second language rapidly, and possibly inexorably, affects production of the native language. In a longitudinal study of Korean acquisition, native English-speaking adult learners (n = 19) produced the same English words at weekly intervals over the course of intensive elementary Korean classes. Results of two acoustic case studies indicate that experience with Korean rapidly influences the production of English, and that the effect is one of assimilation to phonetic properties of Korean. In case study 1, experience with Korean stop types is found to influence the production of English stop types in terms of voice onset time (VOT) and/or fundamental frequency (f0) onset as early as the second week of Korean classes, resulting in the lengthening of VOT in English voiceless stops (in approximation to the longer VOT of the perceptually similar Korean aspirated stops) and the raising of f0 onset following English voiced and voiceless stops (in approximation to the higher f0 levels of Korean). Similarly, in case study 2, experience with the Korean vowel space is found to have a significant effect on production of the English vowel space, resulting in a general raising of females’ English vowels in approximation to the overall higher Korean vowel space. These rapid effects of second-language experience on first- language production suggest that cross-language linkages are established from the onset of second-language learning, that they occur at multiple levels, and that they are based not on orthographic equivalence, but on phonetic and/or phonological proximity between languages. The findings are discussed with respect to current notions of cross-linguistic similarity, exemplar models of phonology, and language teaching and research practices.
... While few HL studies have investigated the extent to which HL speakers produce cross-linguistic contrast between similar categories in their two languages, this question has long been a subject of inquiry in research on L2 speech and bilingual phonology (see, e.g., Flege, 1995;Laeufer, 1996), a field which has been informed by two influential models: the Perceptual Assimilation Model (PAM; Best, 1994) and the Speech Learning Model (SLM; Flege, 1995). The PAM is applicable to the process of L2 phonological acquisition at its very beginning stages. ...
... The results of experiments 2 and 3 are more consistent with the former hypothesis, as similar laryngeal and place categories in these experiments were not produced by the HL groups as "too native" with respect to the productions of the NM and L2 groups (e.g., Mandarin unaspirated stops were not produced with VOTs that were even shorter than NM VOTs). On the other hand, the results of experiment 1 showed signs that some HL speakers had dissimilated similar vowel categories, resulting in a "polarized" phonetic space that went past native targets (Laeufer, 1996). In both Figs. 1 and 2, it can be seen that there were HL speakers who went lower in F 2 for their Mandarin vowels than the NM group, as well as HL speakers who went higher in F 2 for their English vowels than the L2 group. ...
Preprint of article (published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America) in the UC Berkeley PhonLab Annual Report, 5.
... Consequently, in addition to reliance on LI transfer, L2 learning may involve a certain degree of "restructuring of the acoustic-phonetic space encompassing both LI and L2" (Leather & James, 1996, p. 279). This restructuring may result-both in perception and productionin LI parameter values that deviate from monolingual norms in the direction of the norms established for L2 (Flege, 1987b;Laeufer, 1997;Leather & James, 1996). Consequently, some L2 users may no longer be perceived as native speakers of their LI. ...
... Some scholars have also identified extralinguistic factors that allow us to understand better which individuals may be subject to L2 influence. Six extralinguistic factors appear important in the study of L2 influence on LI phonology: (a) age at which L2 acquisition began, whereby VOT values of younger learners exhibit more shift effects than those of older learners ; (b) degree of L2 fluency, in particular in casual speech (Major, 1992(Major, , 1993 and, possibly, dominance at the time of testing (Laeufer, 1997); (c) the amount of past and present intensive exposure to the speech of native L2 speakers (Andrews, 1999;Flege, 1987a; strated that after 40 years of residing in the United States, some of the subjects' grammaticality judgments of German sentences were affected by English morphosyntax, in particular with regard to verb usage, especially for phonetically similar verbs such as brechen 'to break. used grammaticality judgments to investigate sentence processing strategies of adult L2 users. ...
The purpose of the present paper is to bring together several studies in an emerging area of inquiry—that of second language (L2) influence on the first language (L1) in adulthood—in order to reconceptualize the findings within a unitary theoretical framework. Previous research has convincingly established that L2 may influence and even overtake L1 in childhood L2 learning (cf. Wong-Fillmore, 1991). In the present paper, evidence is presented that similar processes may take place in adult L2 learning and use, with L2 influencing L1 phonology, morphosyntax, lexis, semantics, pragmatics, rhetoric, and conceptual representations. The processes taking place in these diverse areas are brought together within a single framework as borrowing, convergence, shift, restructuring, and loss. Possible constraints on L2 influence in adulthood are proposed and theoretical implications discussed, in particular with regard to the nature of L1 competence. The purpose of the present paper is to bting together several studies in an emerging area of inquiry — that of second language (L2) influence on the first language (LI) in adulthood — in order to reconceptualize thefindings within a unitary theoreticalframework. Previous research has convincingly established that L2 may influence cmd even overtake LI in childhood L2 learning (cf Wong-Fillmore, 1991). In the present paper, evidence is presented that similar processes may take place in adult L2 learning and use, with L2 influencing LI phonology, morphosyntax, lexis, semantics, pragmatics, rhetoric, and conceptual representations. The processes taking place in these diverse areas are brought together within a single framework as borrowing, convergence, shift, restructuring, and loss. Possible constraints on L2 influence in adulthood are proposed and theoretical implications discussed, in particular with regard to the nature of LI competence.
... While few HL studies have investigated the extent to which HL speakers produce cross-linguistic contrast between similar categories in their two languages, this question has long been a subject of inquiry in research on L2 speech and bilingual phonology (see, e.g., Flege, 1995;Laeufer, 1996), a field which has been informed by two influential models: the Perceptual Assimilation Model (PAM; Best, 1994) and the Speech Learning Model (SLM; Flege, 1995). The PAM is applicable to the process of L2 phonological acquisition at its very beginning stages. ...
... The results of experiments 2 and 3 are more consistent with the former hypothesis, as similar laryngeal and place categories in these experiments were not produced by the HL groups as "too native" with respect to the productions of the NM and L2 groups (e.g., Mandarin unaspirated stops were not produced with VOTs that were even shorter than NM VOTs). On the other hand, the results of experiment 1 showed signs that some HL speakers had dissimilated similar vowel categories, resulting in a "polarized" phonetic space that went past native targets (Laeufer, 1996). In both Figs. 1 and 2, it can be seen that there were HL speakers who went lower in F 2 for their Mandarin vowels than the NM group, as well as HL speakers who went higher in F 2 for their English vowels than the L2 group. ...
This study tested the hypothesis that heritage speakers of a minority language, due to their childhood experience with two languages, would outperform late learners in producing contrast: language-internal phonological contrast, as well as cross-linguistic phonetic contrast between similar, yet acoustically distinct, categories of different languages. To this end, production of Mandarin and English by heritage speakers of Mandarin was compared to that of native Mandarin speakers and native American English-speaking late learners of Mandarin in three experiments. In experiment 1, back vowels in Mandarin and English were produced distinctly by all groups, but the greatest separation between similar vowels was achieved by heritage speakers. In experiment 2, Mandarin aspirated and English voiceless plosives were produced distinctly by native Mandarin speakers and heritage speakers, who both put more distance between them than late learners. In experiment 3, the Mandarin retroflex and English palato-alveolar fricatives were distinguished by more heritage speakers and late learners than native Mandarin speakers. Thus, overall the hypothesis was supported: across experiments, heritage speakers were found to be the most successful at simultaneously maintaining language-internal and cross-linguistic contrasts, a result that may stem from a close approximation of phonetic norms that occurs during early exposure to both languages.
... In the fields of phonetics and phonology, research into L2 learners' perception and learnability has steadily increased. Many researchers have investigated the L1 influence on L2 speech perception and acquisition by examining the roles of L1-L2 similarity, phonotactic rules, and mental lexicon (Major 1987;Flege 1995;Laeufer 1996;Flege et al. 1997;Sebastián-Gallés & Soto-Faraco 1999;Sebastian-Gallés et al. 2006;Best & Tyler 2007;Johnson 2012;Sebastián-Gallés & Díaz 2012;Chang 2015). One of the common findings among the previous literature is the heavy influence of L1 background. ...
Second language acquisition involves readjusting features from one’s L1 onto counterparts in the L2. Learners often face difficulty during this process due to the presence of an already firmly rooted L1 grammar. Furthermore, a learner’s L1 serves to constrain sensitivity to non-native contrasts during the acquisition process. If a learner’s L2 grammar lacks the phonological feature that can differentiate a non-native contrast, then that learner may experience persistent difficulties in representing the L2 sounds as a result. Mandarin learners of English as a second language have to contend with a substantially expanded L2 vowel inventory in the early stages of acquisition, grappling with the addition of pronounced features less prevalent in their L1. In an attempt to account for front vowel acquisition difficulties and possible routes to progress for L1- Mandarin L2-English using a direct transfer approach, this work follows the Toronto School of contrastive phonology which holds that phonological representation is determined primarily through the ordering of contrastive features. We present data from recent phonetic research that catalogues Mandarin learners’ progress in incorporating English front vowels while, at the same time, examining the underlying phonological processes. This serves as the basis for a preliminary model of contrastive hierarchy in language acquisition using elements of a feature geometry paradigm. The model provides a theoretical roadmap showing that, as Mandarin learners progress and gradually incorporate English front vowels into their L2 repository, the learner’s L2 hierarchy evolves through successive stages as contrasts are perceived and categorized.
... As alluded to in Section 1, in the context of a multi-tiered model of speech production (cf. Keating 1984;Flege & Eefting 1988;Laeufer 1996) classifying a new L2 sound as equivalent to an old L1 sound means essentially linking them at the highest level of representation, creating a cross-language connection between the two sounds that allows input in L1 or L2 to affect the sound in the other language as well. However, because levels of representation below the linked level of representation can remain separate, L1 and L2 sounds that have undergone equivalence classification may nevertheless be realized distinctly. ...
Article in the UC Berkeley PhonLab Annual Report, 5.
... In the context of a multi-tiered model of speech production (cf. Keating 1984, Flege and Eefting 1988, Laeufer 1997, classifying a new L2 sound as equivalent to an old L1 sound means essentially linking them at the highest level of representation, creating a cross-language connection between the two sounds that allows input in L1 or L2 to affect the sound in the other language as well. However, because levels of representation below the linked level of representation can remain separate, L1 and L2 sounds that have undergone equivalence classification may nevertheless be realized distinctly. ...
Preprint of article (published in Current Issues in Linguistic Interfaces, vol. 2) in the UC Berkeley PhonLab Annual Report, 5.
... The idea that second language (L2) learners' phonological categories are tightly linked to their native language categories is not a new one (Laeufer, 1996). Typically, the role of L2 phonology has been seen as subordinate to native (L1) phonology, preventing L2 learners from attaining native-like perception (e.g., English /r/ vs. /l/ for Japanese speakers; Bradlow et al., 1999). ...
... At least since the publication of Laeufer's (1997) seminal paper, the characteristics of VOT patterns in the production of speakers who use more than one language regularly cannot be claimed to be an understudied field (cf. Kupisch/Lleó 2017 for a summary of recent research). ...
Pomerano is a scarcely researched variety of Low German, which was brought to Southern Brazil by large groups of immigrants from former Pomerania in the 1850s. Today, the language is still used in situations of informal communication in the respective communities, along with the majority language, Brazilian Portuguese (BP). The long-lasting contact between Pomerano and BP has left several traces in both languages at all linguistic levels, including segmental phonology. Our study examines the Voice Onset Time (VOT) patterns of stop consonants in the two languages spoken by bilinguals. Control data gathered from monolingually raised speakers of BP are taken into account. The language pair under investigation displays the typical Germanic vs. Romance contrast, in that the phonological fortis-lenis opposition is phonetically realized by means of a long vs. short lag distinction in Pomerano, whereas BP exhibits a voicing lead for the lenis stops and a short lag for their fortis counterparts. Based on production data collected using a picture naming task in Pomerode (Santa Catarina, Brazil), it is shown that both elderly and younger speakers show the expected Germanic contrast in Pomerano. Regarding BP, the monolingual speakers present the typical Romance contrast, while the younger bilinguals display a mixed system in that they pre-voice /b d ɡ/, but aspirate the voiceless stops. The older bilinguals, finally, use the same Germanic contrast in both of their languages, thus showing massive transfer from Pom-erano to BP. Referring to Labov's concept of overt vs. covert prestige, we argue that the latter, as becomes manifest in the stressing of a 'Germanic' feature of pronunciation, operates within both generations, although its effect can be felt with less intensity among the younger bilinguals.
... The characteristics of VOT patterns in the speech of individuals who use more than one language on a regular basis can hardly be claimed to be an understudied phenomenon (see Laeufer (1997) for an earlier overview of the field and Kupisch and Lleó (2017) for a summary of recent studies). While simultaneously bilingual children who acquire two languages that differ from one another regarding their VOT patterns (e.g. ...
We analyze the production of [±voiced] stops in French as a foreign language by multilingual learners who speak Russian or Turkish as a heritage language along with their dominant language, German. Control data produced by monolingually raised German learners are taken into account. It is shown that the bilingual learners perform more target-like than the monolinguals for the voiceless stops /p t k/, but not for their voiced counterparts /b d ɡ/. This suggests that the (non-)aspiration of voiceless stops is perceptually more salient for the learners than the presence or absence of pre-voicing in the realization of voiceless stops. We interpret our overall results as an example of an at least partial multilingual advantage in foreign language learning. Résumé : Nous analysons la production d'occlusives (non-)voisées en français langue étrangère par des apprenants plurilingues parlant ou le russe ou le turc comme langue d'origine en plus de leur langue dominante, l'allemand. Les données de contrôle proviennent d'enregistrements réalisés avec des apprenants monolingues allemands. Les résultats montrent que les apprenants plurilingues sont avantagés en comparaison des monolingues par rapport à la production d'occlusives sourdes, ce qui n'est pas valable pour leurs contreparties voisées. Cela suggère que la (non-)aspiration de /p t k/ est perceptivement plus saillante pour les apprenants que la présence ou l'absence du pré-voisement de /b d ɡ/. Nous interprétons nos résultats généraux comme un avantage, du moins partiel, du plurilinguisme lors de l'apprentissage de langues étrangères.
... To close this section, it is worth noting that the diversity of L1 and L2 outcomes in L2 learners has been approached analytically in additional ways, including systems typology and computational modeling. In regard to typology, Laeufer (1996) presents an attempt to schematize the different possible bilingual phonological systems, which each lead to a specific pattern of L1 and L2 speech production. Combining aspects of the bilingual lexical/conceptual model of Weinreich (1953) with the tripartite speech production model of Keating (1984), Laeufer distinguishes among three types of bilingual phonological system (coexistent, merged, and super-subordinate) in terms of the conflation of the L1 and L2 at various levels of representation (for further discussion, see Chang, 2010a, pp. ...
This chapter provides an overview of major theories and findings in the field of second language (L2) phonetics and phonology. Four main conceptual frameworks are discussed and compared: the Perceptual Assimilation Model-L2, the Native Language Magnet Theory, the Automatic Selective Perception Model, and the Speech Learning Model. These frameworks differ in terms of their empirical focus, including the type of learner (e.g., beginner vs. advanced) and target modality (e.g., perception vs. production), and in terms of their theoretical assumptions, such as the basic unit or window of analysis that is relevant (e.g., articulatory gestures, position-specific allophones). Despite the divergences among these theories, three recurring themes emerge from the literature reviewed. First, the learning of a target L2 structure (segment, prosodic pattern, etc.) is influenced by phonetic and/or phonological similarity to structures in the native language (L1). In particular, L1-L2 similarity exists at multiple levels and does not necessarily benefit L2 outcomes. Second, the role played by certain factors, such as acoustic phonetic similarity between close L1 and L2 sounds, changes over the course of learning, such that advanced learners may differ from novice learners with respect to the effect of a specific variable on observed L2 behavior. Third, the connection between L2 perception and production (insofar as the two are hypothesized to be linked) differs significantly from the perception-production links observed in L1 acquisition. In service of elucidating the predictive differences among these theories, this contribution discusses studies that have investigated L2 perception and/or production primarily at a segmental level. In addition to summarizing the areas in which there is broad consensus, the chapter points out a number of questions which remain a source of debate in the field today.
... Alternatively, it may be that when similar categories are acquired early, they interact with each other in a shared phonological system and are dissimilated or "polarized" (cf. Laeufer 1997). Our current data cannot conclusively distinguish between these two hypotheses, but the fact that the size of PAF and centroid differences between categories (e.g. ...
This study investigated the production of five Mandarin and English sibilant fricatives by heritage speakers of Mandarin in comparison to native speakers and late learners. Almost all speakers were found to distinguish the Mandarin retroflex and alveolo-palatal, as well as the Mandarin alveolo-palatal and English palato-alveolar. However, fewer distinguished the Mandarin retroflex and English palato-alveolar or the Mandarin and English alveolars, with the majority of heritage speakers falling into this group of "distinguishers" in both cases. These results indicate that heritage speakers, in addition to most late learners, do not have much trouble with the Mandarin post-alveolar contrast, and furthermore, that while native speakers and late learners of Mandarin tend to merge similar Mandarin and English sounds, heritage speakers tend to keep them apart. Thus, of the three groups heritage speakers appear to be the best at maintaining contrast between categories both within and across languages.
... The idea that second language (L2) learners' phonological categories are tightly linked to their native language categories is not a new one (Laeufer, 1996). Typically, the role of L2 phonology has been seen as subordinate to native (L1) phonology, preventing L2 learners from attaining native-like perception (e.g., English /r/ vs. /l/ for Japanese speakers; Bradlow et al., 1999). ...
A cohort of five beginning learners of French (L1 English) completed perception and production tasks in French and English on a weekly basis for four to six weeks. All participants were enrolled in a French language immersion program in Paris, France for the duration of the study. As controls, we also tested nine native English speakers who were not learning an L2. Participants regularly completed two perception studies over the six week period: phoneme discrimination and semantic priming, both in English. We find that over the testing period, French and English phoneme perception appeared to be tightly linked to L1 behavior. But, in the 3-5 week L2 exposure range, participants learning French begin to show evidence of category confusion for VOT in English (their L1) due to their L2 exposure to French. These early cross-language effects corroborate recent findings of phonetic shift in speech production of VOT, but demonstrate that the shift may also occur in perception. This suggests that second language exposure may have an effect on first language perception earlier than was previously thought.
... The notion of phonological similaritythat is, similarity between two sound structuresis central to much of the literature on spoken language. Phonological similarity is invoked to explain a variety of systematic patterns in word recall (e.g., Copeland and Radvansky 2001; Fournet et al. 2003), lexical and conceptual development (e.g., Sloutskyand Fisher 2012), language games (e.g., Zwicky and Zwicky 1986), first-language (Ll ) and second-language (L2) perception (e.g., Johnson 2003;Best and Tyler 2007), Ll and L2 production (e.g., Major 1987;Page et al. 2007), loanword phonology (e.g., Kang 2003Kang ,2008, and cross-linguistic interaction in bilingualism (e.g., Flege 1995;Laeufer 1996). ...
Although the general notion of “phonological similarity” has figured prominently in linguistic scholarship, the manner in which talkers determine similarity between phonological units is not well understood. Recent research has shown that perceptual similarity does not account for input-output mappings between languages as well as it does within a language. I argue that this disparity arises due to the fact that, unlike phonological similarity within a language, phonological similarity between languages is highly influenced by an abstract, between-system level of analysis that is only relevant cross-linguistically. I review an array of findings in cross-linguistic research to demonstrate, first, a dissociation between acoustic distance and phonemic correspondence and, second, a consistent preference for relating segments and natural classes cross-linguistically on the basis of phonemic correspondence. This type of abstract comparison helps to explain why effects of perceptual similarity are often masked in cross-linguistic circumstances, and I point to possible bases of these comparisons: (1) inventory niches based on contrastive feature oppositions and/or relative phonetics, and (2) distributional parallelisms.
... The last decade has seen a growing interest in aspects of 'bilingual' phonology and phonetics, which has led both to a substantial body of empirical research and to the formulation of a number of theoretical models. In this field, the overlapping of bilingualism and SLA is particularly striking, as can be seen from the reviews of the literature in Laeufer (1997), Yavas (1998: 193-231), Obler and Gjerlow (1999: 123-8) and Guion (2003: 98-102); nevertheless, the useful bibliographies provided by Joaquim Llisterri try to separate the two phenomena (http:// liceu.uab.es/%7 Ejoaquim/). ...
... The vowel and VOT data in the present study also more strongly support the former hypothesis, since there is no clear sign of dissimilation such as a "polarized" phonetic space that goes past native targets (cf. Laeufer 1997). However, it should be noted that we need better estimates of native targets in order to make conclusive statements about how close heritage speakers come to hitting these targets. ...
In two experiments, we investigated the production of Mandarin and English by heritage speakers of Mandarin in comparison to native Mandarin speakers and late learners. In Experiment 1, speakers in all groups made an F2 distinction between Mandarin and English back vowels, with native Mandarin speakers' vowels in both languages having lower F2 values than those of heritage speakers and late learners. In addition, heritage speakers were found to achieve the greatest separation between similar vowel categories. In Experiment 2, few speakers made a VOT distinction between Mandarin unaspirated and English voiced; however, native Mandarin speakers and heritage speakers did distinguish Mandarin aspirated and English voiceless, both groups putting more distance between the two categories than late learners. Thus, we found that heritage speakers maintain not only language-internal contrasts, but also cross-linguistic contrasts, a result which likely stems from an acute approximation of phonetic norms that occurs during early exposure to both languages.
... milar sounds in two languages. First, early exposure to both languages might simply make heritage speakers better able to hit close, but not identical targets accurately. Alternatively, it may be that when similar categories are acquired early , they interact with each other in a shared phonological system and are dissimilated or " polarized " (cf. Laeufer, 1997). Our current data cannot conclusively distinguish between these two hypotheses, but the fact that the size of PAF and centroid differences between categories (e.g. PAF of /ʂ/ – PAF of /ʃ/) is not correlated with speaker rank or group, even when speakers are separated by gender, suggests that the former hypothesis is probably closer to ...
This study investigated the production of five Mandarin and English sibilant fricatives by heritage speakers of Mandarin in comparison to native speakers and late learners. Almost all speakers were found to distinguish the Mandarin retroflex and alveolo-palatal, as well as the Mandarin alveolo-palatal and English palato-alveolar. However, fewer distinguished the Mandarin retroflex and English palato-alveolar or the Mandarin and English alveolars, with the majority of heritage speakers falling into this group of “distinguishers” in both cases. These results indicate that heritage speakers, in addition to most late learners, do not have much trouble with the Mandarin post-alveolar contrast, and furthermore, that while native speakers and late learners of Mandarin tend to merge similar Mandarin and English sounds, heritage speakers tend to keep them apart. Thus, of the three groups heritage speakers appear to be the best at maintaining contrast between categories both within and across languages.
... Dissimilatory VOT drift was also found in Spanish-English and Dutch-English bilinguals, who produced their short-lag L1 voiceless stops with shortened VOT in comparison to the VOT norms of age-matched monolingual controls (Flege and Eefting, 1987a,b). What these findings of dissimilatory drift have in common is an explanation in terms of ''polarization'' (Keating, 1984;Laeufer, 1996): L1 sounds shift to maximize their perceptual distance from other categories in the system of contrasts. Thus, in the case of Spanish and Dutch, the VOT of L1 voiceless stops shortened to dissimilate from the long-lag VOT of L2 voiceless stops. ...
Despite abundant evidence of malleability in speech production, previous studies of the effects of late second-language learning on first-language speech production have been limited to advanced learners. This study examined these effects in novice learners, adult native English speakers enrolled in elementary Korean classes. In two acoustic studies, learners' production of English was found to be influenced by even brief experience with Korean. The effect was consistently one of assimilation to phonetic properties of Korean; moreover, it occurred at segmental, subsegmental, and global levels, often simultaneously. Taken together, the results suggest that cross-language linkages are established from the onset of second-language learning at multiple levels of phonological structure, allowing for pervasive influence of second-language experience on first-language representations. The findings are discussed with respect to current notions of cross-linguistic similarity, language development, and historical sound change.
The present contribution investigates the pronunciation of German plosives by 15-year- old students from the Italian part of Switzerland. In particular, VOT and %Voice (the percentage of duration by which the signal of ‘voiced plosives’ is periodic) are analysed. In a classroom experiment, 10 students received detailed instructions about the phonetic differences between German and Italian plosives and were recorded twice in a reading task (prior and after the instruction). A control group of 10 students without explicit pronunciation training was recorded twice as well. No statistically significant effects of the explicit pronunciation training were found, at least for the group as a whole; only four students showed clearly higher VOT values of the voiceless German plosives in the second recording. Implications for pronunciation teaching and further research are discussed.
In the ever-growing literature dealing with the acquisition by adults of the phonetics and phonology of a foreign language (FL), research has tried to provide an answer to the complex nature of cross-language transfer. The fact that despite idiosyncratic differences and sociolinguistic variation most adults learners of a foreign language (FL) speak with an accent which is a reflection of their native language (NL) and that their progress is impaired at a certain stage prompted a host of questions such as whether adults follow identical or different paths of development in their approach to a foreign language, whether those speaking the same native language are able to identify target language categories in the same way, whether perception and production are interdependent, the nature of the learning abilities and the interplay of transfer with universals. These and other problems relating to foreign language speech have been approached from different angles and theoretical frameworks (see Leather & James (1 99 1) for an overview, and more recently Leather (1999). The research reported here, based on the oral production of sixty-five Spanish adult learners of English as a FL, tries to shed some light on one of well-known problems related to the acquisition of a foreign language by non-native speakers: the analysis of different types of phonological processes shaping the fossilised interlanguage (IL) of adult FL learners in order to see a) whether they are adhered to by those adult learners sharing identical L1; b) whether frozen IL reflects transfer from the leamer's L1 or is the result of developmental (Le. universal) processes. In this connection we(1987) and SimilarityIDifferential Rate Hypothesis (1999) or Ekman's Markedness Differential Hypothesis (1977) and Structural Conformity Hypothesis in connection with some of the processes under analysis. Optimality Theory will be brought in in dealing with some problems encountered under Cluster Simplification. Ultimately, we shall try to explain why adult speakers of a language like Spanish tend to identi@ target categories in much the same way without necessarily having to resort in all cases to language universals as decisive factors shaping their IL. shall examine the extent to which the leamers' IL reflects the alleged tendency to reduce complex syllabic margins to a Universal Canonical Syllable Structure (UCSS). We shall also discuss the explanatory power of some universal phonological models like Major's Ontogeny Model
This study compares phonetic implementation of the stop voicing contrast produced in Arabic by Saudi Arabians and by both Americans and Saudis in English. The English stops produced by Saudis manifested temporal acoustic correlates of stop voicing (VOT, stop closure duration, and vowel duration) similar to those found in Arabic stops. Despite such phonetic interference from Arabic to English, however, American listeners generally had little difficulty identifying the English stops produced by the Saudis, with the exception of /p/. This phoneme, which is absent in Arabic, was frequently produced with glottal pulsing during the stop closure interval. The timing of /p/, however, suggests that the Saudis did grasp the phonological nature of /p/ (i.e., that the contrast between /p—b/ is analogous to that between /t—d/ and /k—g/) but were unable to control all the articulatory dimensions by which this sound is produced.
Children are typically more proficient than adults in learning the phonetic detail of a second language. The purpose of this study was to investigate the acquisition of the English voicing contrast as cued by voice onset time in syllable-initial position and preconsonantal vowel duration in final position in the speech of children whose native language is Arabic. The children, 24 to 135 months in age, were recorded producing minimal pairs differing in the voicing of consonants. Voice onset time and vowel duration were measured from spectrograms. Children were highly variable in their mastery of the voicing contrast. For this sample, neither age nor experience with English could predict phonetic proficiency.
This paper argues for a more structured view of the relation between the phonological feature [voice] and its specific phonetic implementations. Under the theory of universal phonetics proposed here, the implementation of [voice] is sharply constrained: the opposition is defined relatively, as more or less voicing, along a dimension consisting of exactly three discrete, ordered categories, which can be shown to have clear articulatory and acoustic bases. While the phonological feature allows certain rule equivalences across languages to be expressed, the phonetic categories describe possible contrasts within languages, and express markedness relations.
Compared the production of English stops by 2 groups of native Spanish adults (mean age 19 yrs) and native Spanish 8–9 yr olds who began learning English as a 2nd language at 5–6 yrs of age. It was hypothesized that native Spanish speakers of English would be unable to produce English /p, t, k/ authentically and that they would produce these sounds with significantly shorter voice onset time values than would native English Ss. Results confirm this prediction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This study examined imitation of a voice onset time (VOT) continuum ranging from/da/to/ta/by by subjects differing in age and/or linguistic experience. The subjects did not reproduce the incremental increases in VOT linearly, but instead showed abrupt shifts in VOT between two or three VOT response "modes." The location of the response shifts occurred at the same location as phoneme boundaries obtained in a previous identification experiment. This supports the view that the stimuli were categorized before being imitated. Children and adults who spoke just Spanish generally produced only lead and short-lag VOT responses. English monolinguals tended to produce stops with only short-lag and long-lag VOT values. The native Spanish adults and children who spoke English, on the other hand, produced stops with VOT values falling into all three model VOT ranges. This was interpreted to mean that they had established a phonetic category [th] with which to implement the voiceless aspirated realizations of /t/ in English. Their inability to produce English /p,t,k/ with the same values as native speakers of English must therefore be attributed to the information specified in their new English phonetic categories (which might be incorrect as the result of exposure to Spanish-accented English), to partially formed phonetic realization rules, or both.
A numerical model is developed in order to establish the extent to which the principle of maximal perceptual contrast can be used in phonological theory to explain the phonetic structure of vowel systems. Preliminary results obtained with the model indicate that perceptual contrast appears to play an important role as a determinant of such systems. Therefore, it is likely that this principle (along with other factors) should be included among the variables in an explanatory phonological theory. However, the incorporation of numerically stated conditions on phonological structure appears to presuppose a formalism different from that which has developed within current descriptions of phonology. Some refinements and extensions of the present framework are suggested. It is proposed that predictions of phonological facts be derived as consequences of the structure of the mechanisms available for human speech communication and the optimization of their use. Such an extension would constitute a theory that would be different from traditional 'Saussurean' linguistics in several respects; e.g., it would be quantitative, and deliberately substance-based. The research reported represents a preliminary attempt to apply such a program.
This study examined the French syllables /tu/ (‘‘tous’’) and /ty/ (‘‘tu’’) produced in three speaking tasks by native speakers of American English and French talkers living in the U. S. In a paired‐comparison task listeners correctly identified more of the vowels produced by French than American talkers, and more vowels produced by experienced than inexperienced American speakers of French. An acoustic analysis revealed that the American talkers produced /u/ with significantly higher F2 values than the French talkers, but produced /y/ with F2 values equal to those of the French talkers. A labeling task revealed that the /y/ vowels produced by the experienced and inexperienced Americans were identified equally well, but that the experienced Americans produced a more identifiable /u/ than the inexperienced Americans. It is hypothesized that English speakers learn French /y/ rapidly because this vowel is not—like French /u/—judged to be equivalent to a vowel of English. The French and American talkers produced /t/ with equal VOT values of about 55 ms, which is intermediate to values commonly observed for monolingual speakers of French and English. It is hypothesized that the bilingual talkers judged the /t/ of French and English to be equivalent, which affected their perceptual target for French /t/ and ultimately their production of this stop.
This study examines the acquisition of production and perception by adult learners of English. The particular focus is voice onset time of initial /b/'s and /p/'s. The subjects are 10 nonnative speakers of English and six native speakers who provided identification responses to synthesized stimuli varying along a voice onset time continuum. Additionally, they each produced words with initial /b/'s and /p/'s. These measures were repeated at three 1-month intervals for the nonnative speakers. The results show that nonnative speaker perception differs from native speaker perception in two important ways: (1) stop consonants are perceived continuously rather than categorically and (2) nonnative speaker perception is influenced by the location of phoneme boundaries in both the native and target languages. Nonnative speaker production shows a greater amount of similarity to native speaker production, although, where deviations occur, nonnative speakers tend to overcompensate for differences between the native and target languages. Finally, methodological issues are raised relating to the comparison of perception and production.
This paper presents the results of an experiment which examined the temporal characteristics of voiceless plosives in American English. Arabic, and Arabic-accented English. Results showed that the temporal implementation of closure duration and Voice Onset Time delay was different for each of the three groups. surprisingly, however. Arabic-accented English fell not between the norms established by Arabic and English proper, but rather departed from the target language goal (shorter closures, longer VOT delays) with longer closures and shorter VOT delays than is characteristic of Arabic itself This unusual interlanguage phenomenon can be explained in terms ot the Arabic speakers having learned that English displays a constant voiceless interval (Weismer 1980) among all places of articulation, but having mislearned that the distribution internal to this interval varies according to positional factors.
The performance of Spanish-English bilinguals in two perception tasks, using a synthetic speech continuum varying in voice
onset time, was compared with the performance of Spanish and English monolinguals. Voice onset time in speech production was
also compared between these groups. Results in perception of bilinguals differed from that of both monolingual groups. Results
of bilingual production in their two languages conformed with results obtained from each monolingual group. The perceptual
results are interpreted in terms of differences in the use of available acoustic cues by bilingual and monolingual listeners
of English and Spanish.
Seventy-two native Spanish speaking children enrolled in programs to teach English as a second language and 24 monolingual
English children were tested in speech perception and production tasks with the purpose of determining whether or not there
is learning at the phonetic level during second-language acquisition. Performance with the phonetic feature voicing was studied
by means of measuring changes in the perception and production of the acoustic property voice onset time. Variables of interest
across Spanish-speaking subjects were degree of exposure to English and age. Age was the only group variable for the English-speaking
subjects. Results with the Spanish-speaking children showed significant changes in both perception and production of voicing
towards the English monolingual pattern. Age had a significant effect in production, but not in perception. It was concluded
that learning at the phonetic level does occur during second-language acquisition.
Voiceless /p,t,k/ are implemented as aspirated stops in English, but as unaspirated stops in Dutch. We examined identification of a voice onset time (VOT) continuum ranging from /da/ to /ta/ in two language "sets" designed to induce native Dutch subjects to perceive the stimuli as if they were listening to Dutch or English. The effect of language set was highly significant, but the boundary shift was very small (2.1 ms longer in English than in Dutch) for three groups of subjects differing widely in English language proficiency. It nevertheless showed the subjects were aware of acoustic differences distinguishing Dutch and English /t/ and that the procedures were effective in creating differing language sets. Nearly every subject produced a longer mean VOT in English than Dutch /t/. The magnitude of the production shift was significantly greater for proficient than non-proficient subjects. Proficient Dutch speakers of English produced Dutch /t/ with shorter VOT values than non-proficient subjects, suggesting they formed a new category for English /t/. We speculate that the language set effect was small because subjects used their English /t/ category to identify stops in both sets. This was probably due to the fact that the synthetic stimuli, which were modeled on the English /t/-/d/ contrast, differed substantially from their Dutch /t/ category.
