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Investigating L2 Phonological Acquisition from Different Perspectives
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Investigating L2 Phonological Acquisition from Different Perspectives

A special issue of Languages (ISSN 2226-471X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 September 2023) | Viewed by 9680

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Martha Young-Scholten

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Interests: second language acquisition of morpho-syntax, particularly by adult migrants with little formal education; second language acquisition of phonology and related issues, including first exposure, orthographic exposure and the influence of literary; second language reading development by migrant adults with little home language schooling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Alex Ho-Cheong Leung

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Humanities, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK
Interests: second language acquisition; second language speech and phonology; applied linguistics and TESOL; teacher identity and experience; racialisation of the TESOL profession; language attitudes and variations; lived experience of ethnic minoritised students; English historical linguistics
Dr. Natalia Pavlovskaya

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Interests: language acquisition; second language acquisition; first exposure to naturalistic language acquisition; phonology; speech segmentation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The goal of this Special Issue is to showcase theory-based empirical work on the phonology (as opposed to phonetics) of second language learners, as determined by production and/or perception data (Archibald, Grantham and Sewell 2021; Nagle and Baese-Berk 2021). The Special Issue embraces all sub-domains of phonology, i.e., phonemes and allophones, syllables, stress, and intonation. We encourage contributions on domain interfaces and on external influences such as orthography and literacy.

Given the Special Issue’s constraints as outlined above, we are open to reports of studies on the full range of L2 learner populations, including L3/Lx learners, younger and older learners, heritage language learners, immigrants, and learners in so-called non-WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, and Democratic) contexts. Studies of understudied L2s are especially welcome.

Since the seminal studies of adult L2 phonology in the late 1970s (Elaine Tarone’s (1976) on universals; Fred Eckman’s (1977) on markedness and on evidence for interlanguage phonology), there has been a steady stream of theory-based empirical studies on L2 phonology published. This work has appeared as monographs and in edited volumes, e.g., Archibald (1998), Hannahs and Young-Scholten (1997), Hansen-Edwards and Zampini (2008), Major (2001), Pennington (2007), Piske and Young-Scholten (2008), inter alia. Applications of phonological theory such as underspecification, lexical phonology, and optimality theory enable researchers to investigate and explore wider topics of relevance in SLA in general, including learnability problems, age effects, L1 influence, and interactions with social variables. Researchers have also focused on interfaces across linguistic domains (e.g., Archibald 2023; Goad, White, and Steele 2003; Leal, Shimanskaya, and Isabelli 2022). The proposed Special Issue aims to add to this body of literature by bringing in new empirical research on L2 phonology from diverse settings as well as renewing the discussions of various theoretical accounts.

The projected length of the Special Issue will be 90,000 to 135,000 words, with manuscripts that are between 8000 and 10,000 words in length; that is, between 9 and 12 articles.

Prior to submitting a manuscript, we request that interested authors submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the guest editors, Prof. Dr. Martha Young-Scholten, Dr. Alex Ho-Cheong Leung, and Dr. Natalia Pavlovskaya ([email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]) or to the Languages editorial office ([email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts (8,000–10,000 words) will undergo double-blind peer review.

Tentative completion schedule:

  • Abstract Submission Deadline: 31 March 2023
  • Notification of Abstract Acceptance: 15 April 2023
  • Full Manuscript Deadline: 25 September 2023

References

Archibald, J. (2023). Phonology in Multilingual Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Archibald, J. (1998). Second Language Phonology. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Archibald J., O’Brien M.G., and Sewell A. (2021). Editorial: L2 Phonology Meets L2 Pronunciation. Frontiers in Communication. 6:804062. doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2021.804062.

Eckman, F.R. (1977). Markedness and the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis. Language Learning, 27, 315-330. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1977.tb00124.x.

Goad, H., White, L., and Steele, J. (2003). Missing Inflection in L2 Acquisition: Defective Syntax or L1-Constrained Prosodic Representations? The Canadian Journal of Linguistics / La revue canadienne de linguistique, 48 (3/4), 243-263. doi: 10.1353/cjl.2004.0027.

Hannahs, S.J., and Young-Scholten, M. (1997). Focus on Phonological Acquisition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Hansen-Edwards, J.G., and Zampini, M.L. (2008). Phonology and Second Language Acquisition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Leal, T., Shimanskaya, E., and Isabelli, C.A. (2022). Generative SLA in the Age of Minimalism: Features, Interfaces, and Beyond. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Major, R. (2001). Foreign Accent: The Ontogeny and Phylogeny of Second Language Phonology. London: Routledge.

Nagle, C., and Baese-Berk, M. (2022). Advancing the State of the Art in L2 Speech Perception-Production Research: Revisiting Theoretical Assumptions and Methodological Assumptions and Methodological Practices. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 44(2), 580-605. doi:10.1017/S0272263121000371.

Pennington, M.C. (2007). Phonology in Context. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Piske, T., and Young-Scholten, M. (2008). Input matters in SLA. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Tarone, E. (1976). Some Influences on Interlanguage Phonology. Working Papers on Bilingualism, 8, 87-111.

Prof. Dr. Martha Young-Scholten
Dr. Alex Ho-Cheong Leung
Dr. Natalia Pavlovskaya
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Languages is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • second language phonology
  • production
  • perception
  • interface
  • non-WEIRD

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 595 KiB  
Article
Word-Final /s/-/z/ Omission in Vietnamese English
by Stephen J. Disney and Le Nu Cam Le
Languages 2024, 9(10), 327; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9100327 - 14 Oct 2024
Viewed by 688
Abstract
Southeast Asian learners of English, including those from Vietnam, frequently omit word-final consonants in their English speech. Previous work on Vietnamese learners of English is limited, and errors are typically usually attributed to first-language transfer effects. No large-scale empirical study on Vietnamese learners [...] Read more.
Southeast Asian learners of English, including those from Vietnam, frequently omit word-final consonants in their English speech. Previous work on Vietnamese learners of English is limited, and errors are typically usually attributed to first-language transfer effects. No large-scale empirical study on Vietnamese learners has been carried out to aid the development of an evidence-based pedagogy. This study uses authentic spoken data to compare lexical and morphological word-final /s/ and /z/ in the speech of sixteen Vietnamese adult learners of English. We discuss the relative impact of frequency of use, whether the instance of a target /s/ or /z/ is in a root or bound morpheme, and whether the preceding phoneme is a consonant or vowel. An overall omission rate of 28.4% of expected instances was found. Morphological {-s} when it is preceded by a consonant has the highest error rate (50.7%). A multilevel binary logistic regression was performed to ascertain the relative effects. Morphological words containing /s/ or /z/ were significantly more likely to be pronounced with the /s/ or /z/ absent than lexical words containing a /s/ or /z/, as were those in clusters compared to those with a preceding vowel. The results indicate that phonological effects and morphological effects are stacked and not multiplicative and that the observed omission rates are not solely attributable to L1 transfer effects. Frequency of use is also highly correlated with accuracy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Investigating L2 Phonological Acquisition from Different Perspectives)
21 pages, 2021 KiB  
Article
Compactness of Native Vowel Categories in Monolingual, Bilingual, and Multilingual Speakers: Is Category Compactness Affected by the Number of Languages Spoken?
by Vita V. Kogan
Languages 2024, 9(7), 238; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9070238 - 30 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1044
Abstract
Phonetic category compactness pertains to the degree of variation or dispersion within a specific category. Previous research has shown that more compact native (L1) categories in production have been related to the discrimination of non-native sounds in perception and production. The understanding of [...] Read more.
Phonetic category compactness pertains to the degree of variation or dispersion within a specific category. Previous research has shown that more compact native (L1) categories in production have been related to the discrimination of non-native sounds in perception and production. The understanding of the factors influencing L1 category compactness remains limited. Some proposals suggest that compactness may be influenced by individual differences in cognitive processes. Alternatively, category compactness could be linked to linguistic factors, such as the number of languages spoken or the density of the phonological system. This study investigates the latter hypothesis. This study examined category compactness in perception for three L1 Spanish vowels /i/, /e/, and /a/ across four participant groups: 12 monolinguals, 31 functional monolinguals, 24 bilinguals, and 19 multilinguals. To measure compactness in perception, the study employed a perceptual categorization task consisting of synthesized variants of /i/, /e/, and /a/. Participants were asked to label these variants as either acceptable or unacceptable members of their L1 /i/, /e/, and /a/ categories. The findings revealed significant differences in category compactness between monolingual and bi/multilingual speakers. More specifically, bilingual and multilingual speakers had larger/less compact L1 vowel categories than monolinguals. The substantial variability in compactness across all groups suggests that compactness may be influenced by a range of other individual differences, besides the number of languages spoken. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Investigating L2 Phonological Acquisition from Different Perspectives)
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23 pages, 3309 KiB  
Article
Pronunciation Features of Indonesian-Accented English
by Abdi Rahmat Syam, Sheena Gardner and Michael Cribb
Languages 2024, 9(6), 222; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9060222 - 18 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1343
Abstract
English as a Lingua Franca is emerging in Indonesia, but it is not a well-documented variety. This paper aims to describe the pronunciation features of Indonesian-Accented English (IAE). Fifty educated Indonesians who were regular users of English were recorded reading two texts. The [...] Read more.
English as a Lingua Franca is emerging in Indonesia, but it is not a well-documented variety. This paper aims to describe the pronunciation features of Indonesian-Accented English (IAE). Fifty educated Indonesians who were regular users of English were recorded reading two texts. The phonological features of consonants, clusters, and vowels were investigated through acoustic analysis and spectrographic observation. The results show that IAE is not predictable from contrastive Indonesian English analyses; that IAE may confuse listeners (e.g., if ‘she’ is realised as [si:]); and that speakers may regularly produce sounds at the beginning of words that they do not produce at the ends of words. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Investigating L2 Phonological Acquisition from Different Perspectives)
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28 pages, 3552 KiB  
Article
Cross-Scriptal Orthographic Influence on Second Language Phonology
by Louise Shepperd
Languages 2024, 9(6), 210; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9060210 - 7 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1365
Abstract
Learners of additional languages, particularly in adulthood and instructed settings, are typically exposed to large quantities of written input from the earliest stages of learning, with varied and far-reaching effects on L2 phonology. Most research investigating this topic focuses on learning across languages [...] Read more.
Learners of additional languages, particularly in adulthood and instructed settings, are typically exposed to large quantities of written input from the earliest stages of learning, with varied and far-reaching effects on L2 phonology. Most research investigating this topic focuses on learning across languages that share the same orthographic script, often involving the Latin alphabet and English. Without exploring phonological learning over a greater diversity of spoken and written language combinations, our understanding of orthographic effects on L2 phonology remains narrow and unrepresentative of the many individuals acquiring languages across writing systems, globally. This paper draws together preliminary research relating to the influence of written input, in a distinct script from known languages, on L2 phonology. Studies are grouped into those with naïve participants, where the written forms are entirely unfamiliar to the participant, and those with experienced learners, who have varying levels of proficiency and familiarity with the target orthography. While there is great scope and need for further investigation, initial evidence suggests that even entirely unfamiliar written input impacts phonological learning and is certainly influential with growing proficiency in the spoken and written language. The article concludes with theoretical and methodological considerations for future research in this emerging field. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Investigating L2 Phonological Acquisition from Different Perspectives)
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27 pages, 6021 KiB  
Article
Is the Suppliance of L2 Inflectional Morphology Subject to Covert Contrasts? An Analysis of the Production of L2 English Third Person Singular Agreement by L1 Bengali Speakers
by Jacqueline Ingham
Languages 2024, 9(5), 165; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9050165 - 1 May 2024
Viewed by 1048
Abstract
The cause(s) of missing inflectional morphology in obligatory contexts by adult speakers of second language (L2) English is subject to ongoing discussion. Whatever the specific theory, however, the apparent asymmetrical production of the morpheme ‘-s’ in the marking of number on plural nouns [...] Read more.
The cause(s) of missing inflectional morphology in obligatory contexts by adult speakers of second language (L2) English is subject to ongoing discussion. Whatever the specific theory, however, the apparent asymmetrical production of the morpheme ‘-s’ in the marking of number on plural nouns versus that on third person singular agreement has to be accounted for. This study adopts the theoretical approach put forward by the Prosodic Transfer Hypothesis, whereby the prosodic representation of inflectional morphology in the first language (L1) can, to some extent, account for differences in the suppliance of inflectional morphology in L2 English within and across L1s. It is in this context that the production of third person singular agreement, and, for contrastive purposes, number on plural nouns, by L1 Bengali speakers of L2 English, is considered in relation to available prosodic representation in the L1, as well as against phonological processes attested in L1 acquisition. More specifically, with respect to covert contrasts. An inspection of spectrograms from instances of the apparent omission of inflection by L1 Bengali speakers of L2 English at Beginner to Intermediate proficiency levels does not, however, indicate that learners are covertly supplying agreement on the third person singular (or plural number on nouns). This finding does not necessarily rule out the occurrence of covert contrasts in L2 production of inflectional morphology; alternative techniques may detect a systematic difference between bare verbs and non-audible (to the listener) inflection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Investigating L2 Phonological Acquisition from Different Perspectives)
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18 pages, 7204 KiB  
Article
Full Transfer and Segmental Emergence in the L2 Acquisition of Phonology: A Case Study
by Anaer Nulahan and Yvan Rose
Languages 2024, 9(4), 149; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9040149 - 18 Apr 2024
Viewed by 1414
Abstract
In this paper, we discuss a child Kazakh speaker’s acquisition of English as her second language. In particular, we focus on this child’s development of the English segments |f, v, θ, ð, ɹ, ʃ, ʧ|, which are not part of the Kazakh phonological [...] Read more.
In this paper, we discuss a child Kazakh speaker’s acquisition of English as her second language. In particular, we focus on this child’s development of the English segments |f, v, θ, ð, ɹ, ʃ, ʧ|, which are not part of the Kazakh phonological inventory of consonants. We begin with a longitudinal description of the patterns that the child displayed through her acquisition of each of these segments. The data reveal patterns that range from extremely rapid to rather slow and progressive acquisition. The data also reveal patterns that were unexpected at first, for example, the slow development of |ʧ| in syllable onsets, an affricate that occurs as a contextual allophone in syllable onsets in Kazakh. We analyze these patterns through the Phonological Interference hypothesis, which was recently extended into the Feature Redistribution and Recombination hypothesis. These models predict the transfer into the L2 of all of the relevant phonological features present within the learner’s first language and their recombination to represent segments present in the L2. We also discuss contexts where feature-based approaches to L2 acquisition fail to capture the full range of observations. In all such contexts, we show that the facts are modulated by phonetic characteristics of the speech sounds present in either the child’s L1 or her L2. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Investigating L2 Phonological Acquisition from Different Perspectives)
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