Listening for Region: Phonetic Cue Sensitivity and Sociolinguistic Development in L2 Spanish
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Dialect Identification
2.1. Regional Variation and Dialect Recognition
2.2. Second Language Dialect Identification
2.3. Current Study and Research Questions
3. Materials and Methods
3.1. Experimental Tasks
3.1.1. Dialect Identification Task
3.1.2. Language Background Questionnaire and Grammar Task
3.2. Participants
3.3. Analysis
4. Results
4.1. Dialect Identification
4.2. L2 Development of Dialect Identification
4.3. Phonetic Cue Use in Spanish Dialect Identification
4.4. L2 Development in Phonetic Cue Use
5. Discussion
5.1. L2 Dialect Identification in Spanish
5.2. L2 Use of Sociphonetic Cues in Dialect Identification in Spanish
6. Conclusions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
1 | The term country is used throughout for consistency and simplicity, including Puerto Rico, which, while an unincorporated U.S. territory and not a sovereign nation, is treated here as a distinct geopolitical entity due to its unique sociolinguistic profile. |
2 | Mexico and Spain each represent both an individual country and a macrodialect in this analysis. Unlike the Caribbean and Rioplatense groups, where a nearby variety could still be counted as correct at the macrodialect level, no such overlap applies to Mexico or Spain, which creates an asymmetry in scoring that may contribute to lower macrodialect identification rates for these varieties. |
3 | L2 proficiency and cue use were analyzed separately from NS to isolate developmental patterns. NS perceptual patterns are expected to vary across native speech communities. |
4 | Certainly, other types of linguistic features are unique and distinctive to Mexico, such as the use of the pronoun le for affective/emphatic purposes (e.g., échale ganas ‘give it your best’), and may similarly ‘linguistically mark’ Mexican Spanish. |
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# (No.) | Stimulus |
---|---|
1 (POSTRE) | Pablo pidió un postre de chocolate para la fiesta. ‘Pablo ordered a chocolate dessert for the party.’ |
2 (PELÍCULA) | La nueva película de acción glorificó a la nación. ‘The new action film glorified the nation.’ |
3 (POLLO) | Comí pollo y carne en la calle del norte. ‘I ate chicken and meat on north street.’ |
Dialect | Macrodialect | POSTRE | PELÍCULA | POLLO |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mexico a | Mexican | (maintained-) laminal-/s/ postre [ˈpos-tɾe] | seseo acción [ak-ˈsi̯on] | yeísmo pollo [ˈpo-ʝo] |
Puerto Rico | Caribbean | lenited-/s/ b postre [ˈpo-tɾe] | seseo; velar-/n/ acción [ak-ˈsi̯oŋ] | yeísmo; lambdacism pollo [ˈpo-ʝo]; carne [ˈkal-ne] |
Argentina | Rioplatense | aspirated-/s/ postre [ˈpoh-tɾe] | seseo acción [ak-ˈsi̯on] | assibilated palatal pollo [ˈpo-ʃo] |
Spain | Castilian | apical-/s/ postre [ˈpos̪-tɾe] | interdental fricative acción [ak-ˈθi̯on] | yeísmo pollo [ˈpo-ʝo] |
Group | n | M Age (SD) | Grammar Score M (SD, Range) | % Span Majors (n), Minors (n) | N Hours Span × Week | % Study Abroad (n) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
L2 Level 1 | 27 | 19.7 (1.34) | 6.9 (1.27; 3–8) | 7% (0, 2) | 1 (1.35) | 4% (1) |
L2 Level 2 | 59 | 19.8 (1.39) | 11.2 (1.54; 9–14) | 49% (11, 18) | 2 (2.50) | 19% (11) |
L2 Level 3 | 25 | 20.0 (1.35) | 17.6 (2.49; 15–23) | 92% (14, 9) | 2 (2.43) | 68% (17) |
NS (Spain) | 19 | 22.8 (5.10) | 23.1 (1.23; 19–24) | - | - | - |
Group | n | Mexico Contact | Puerto Rico Contact | Argentina Contact | Spain Contact |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
L2 Level 1 | 27 | 30% (8) | 11% (3) | 4% (1) | 15% (4) |
L2 Level 2 | 59 | 49% (29) | 19% (11) | 9% (5) | 32% (19) |
L2 Level 3 | 25 | 68% (17) | 12% (3) | 24% (6) | 72% (18) |
NS (Spain) | 19 | 5% (1) | 0% (0) | 37% (7) | 100% (19) |
Dialect (Country/Macrodialect) | L2 Accuracy Country 1 | L2 Accuracy Macrodialect 2 | NS Accuracy Country 1 | NS Accuracy Macrodialect 2 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mexico/Mexico | 19.7% (39.6) | 19.7% (39.6) | 28.9% (45.6) | 28.9% (45.6) |
Puerto Rico/Caribbean | 5.3% (22.2) | 17.5% (38.0) | 8.8% (28.4) | 46.5% (50.1) |
Argentina/Rioplatense | 12.2% (32.5) | 18.8% (39.1) | 45.6% (50.0) | 57.0% (49.7) |
Spain/Spain | 22.7% (41.9) | 22.7% (41.9) | 93.0% (25.7) | 93.0% (25.7) |
Total | 14.9% (35.6) | 19.6% (39.7) | 44.1% (49.7) | 56.4% (49.6) |
Dialect | Sentence | Targeted Feature | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mexico | POSTRE | laminal-s | 22% (42.0) | 16% (36.9) | 12% (32.8) |
PELÍCULA | seseo | 22% (42.0) | 27% (44.6) | 22% (41.8) | |
POLLO | yeísmo | 13% (33.9) | 18% (38.4) | 22% (41.8) | |
Puerto Rico | POSTRE | lenited-s | 0% (0.0) | 7% (25.2) | 8% (27.3) |
PELÍCULA | velarized-n | 7% (26.3) | 6% (23.7) | 4% (19.8) | |
POLLO | lambdacism | 6% (23.0) | 4% (19.2) | 4% (19.7) | |
Argentina | POSTRE | aspirated-s | 4% (19.0) | 4% (20.2) | 10% (30.4) |
PELÍCULA | seseo | 7% (26.3) | 7% (25.2) | 2% (14.1) | |
POLLO | assib. palatal /ʃ/ | 11% (31.6) | 15% (36.0) | 62% (48.8) | |
Spain | POSTRE | apical-s | 4% (19.0) | 3% (18.1) | 6% (24.0) |
PELÍCULA | inter. fric. /θ/ | 43% (49.7) | 46% (49.9) | 88% (32.7) | |
POLLO | yeísmo | 4% (19.0) | 13% (33.4) | 8% (27.3) |
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Schmidt, L.B. Listening for Region: Phonetic Cue Sensitivity and Sociolinguistic Development in L2 Spanish. Languages 2025, 10, 198. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages10080198
Schmidt LB. Listening for Region: Phonetic Cue Sensitivity and Sociolinguistic Development in L2 Spanish. Languages. 2025; 10(8):198. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages10080198
Chicago/Turabian StyleSchmidt, Lauren B. 2025. "Listening for Region: Phonetic Cue Sensitivity and Sociolinguistic Development in L2 Spanish" Languages 10, no. 8: 198. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages10080198
APA StyleSchmidt, L. B. (2025). Listening for Region: Phonetic Cue Sensitivity and Sociolinguistic Development in L2 Spanish. Languages, 10(8), 198. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages10080198