Transferability and productivity of L1 Rules in Catalan-English interlanguage

This paper examines the interference of L1 neutralization rules in the acquisition of a marked L2 phonological feature. More specifically, it presents results from a study of the acquisition of the voicing contrast in English word-final obstruents by native speakers of Catalan. The voicing contrast in final position in Catalan is neutralized by voicing or devoicing rules, depending on the environment. The results of an experiment testing the production of target final obstruents in different environments indicate a very high incidence of devoicing, which confirms the prevalence of final devoicing in second language acquisition and points to the joint effect of transfer and universal tendencies. In contrast with devoicing, the results reveal a more limited effect of the L1 voicing rules. It is argued that this difference is due to an effect of word integrity in the interlanguage that restricts the domain of application of the transferred rules

Perceptual assimilation of British English vowels to Spanish monophthongs and diphthongs

This study examined the perceived similarity between Standard British English vowels and Spanish vowels, including Spanish diphthongs, not usually considered in studies on cross-language categorization. Twenty-nine Spanish speakers performed two perceptual assimilation tasks that differed in the number of response alternatives provided, that is, including or excluding diphthongs. The participants also performed an L1 vowel identification task. The results showed that Spanish listeners consistently perceived English diphthongs as closer to Spanish diphthongs than to Spanish monophthongs, with comparatively high assimilation scores. These results emphasize the need to include diphthongs in cross-language comparisons and second-language acquisition studies involving languages like Spanish

The acquisition of L2 voiced stops by English learners of Spanish and Spanish learners of English

Previous studies investigating the acquisition of L2 stops have found a positive effect of L2 experience, but few have focused on voiced stops, particularly on prevoicing. This study investigates the acquisition of /b/ and /g/ by two populations, English learners of Spanish and Spanish learners of English. Three groups varying in amount of L2 experience (mainly length of residence, but also L2 use and L2 instruction) were investigated for each L1 population. Participants completed a carrier sentence reading task in their L1 and L2. Results showed that amount of L2 experience had a positive effect on L2 stop production, as the least experienced groups were outperformed by the experienced ones. No clear effect of L2 experience was observed on the L1, as learners did not differ from monolingual controls, but some differences between learner groups emerged. Moreover, overall, L2 learners were able to produce L1 and L2 stops differently, which indicates that their L1 and L2 categories were not merged. Still, the L1-English L2-Spanish speakers produced L2 stops more accurately than the L1-Spanish L2-English groups, suggesting that learning to rely on an existing L1 cue may be easier than learning to use a cue associated with a different L1 category

La similitud perceptiva entre vocals angleses i castellanes

Perceptual assimilation between Englishand Spanish vowelsL'estudi que ha realitzat l'investigador Juli Cebrián del departament de filologia anglesa i germanística de la UAB ha examinat si els diftongs de llengües com el castellà juguen un paper en la percepció dels sons d'una llengua estrangera. El treball, emmarcat dins l'àrea de l'adquisició del sistema fonològic d'una segona llengua o llengua estrangera, mostra com algunes vocals de l'anglès són perceptivament molt semblants a alguns diftongs del castellà, subratllant així la importància dels diftongs en la percepció interlingüística.El estudio que ha realizado el investigador Juli Cebrián del departamento de filología inglesa y germanística de la UAB ha examinado si los diptongos de lenguas como el castellano juegan un papel en la percepción de los sonidos de una lengua extranjera. El trabajo, enmarcado dentro del área de la adquisición del sistema fonológico de una segunda lengua o lengua extranjera, muestra cómo algunas vocales del inglés son perceptivamente muy similares a algunos diptongos del castellano, subrayando así la importancia de los diptongos en la percepción interlingüística.The study carried out by the researcher Juli Cebrián from theDepartment of English and Germanic Philology of the UAB has examined if sequences like Spanish diphthongs play a role in cross-linguistic perception, that is, when speakers perceive the sounds of a second or foreign language. The study, which is representative of research in the field of second language acquisition of phonology (i.e., acquisition of a language's sound system), shows how some English vowels are perceived to be closer to some Spanish diphthongs than to Spanish vowels, highlighting the importance of diphthongs in cross-linguistic perception

When the Easy Becomes Difficult: Factors Affecting the Acquisition of the English /iː/-/ɪ/ Contrast

The degree of similarity between the sounds of a speaker’s first and second language (L1 and L2) is believed to determine the likelihood of accurate perception and production of the L2 sounds. This paper explores the relationship between cross-linguistic similarity and the perception and production of a subset of English vowels, including the highly productive /iː/-/ɪ/ contrast (as in “beat” vs. “bit”), by a group of Spanish/Catalan native speakers learning English as an L2. The learners’ ability to identify, discriminate and produce the English vowels accurately was contrasted with their cross-linguistic perceived similarity judgements. The results showed that L2 perception and production accuracy was not always predicted from patterns of cross-language similarity, particularly regarding the difficulty distinguishing /iː/ and /ɪ/. Possible explanations may involve the way the L2 /iː/ and /ɪ/ categories interact, the effect of non-native acoustic cue reliance, and the roles of orthography and language instruction.Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidade

Perceptual training affects L2 perception but not cross-linguistic similarity

L2 learners need to detect differences between native and target language sounds in order to categorize them, and thus perceive and produce them, accurately. The current high variability perceptual training study explored the effect of identification and discrimination training on the perceived similarity between Spanish and English vowels and on the ability to identify and discriminate target English sounds. Cross-linguistic similarity was assessed by means of perceptual assimilation tasks. The results showed that a 6-session perceptual training regime was insufficient to affect crosslinguistic similarity relations, as no consistent change in perceived similarity between L1 and L2 vowels was observed from pretest to posttest. Despite this, training was effective in improving identification and discrimination of L2 vowels. Further, posttest scores were replicated four months later, showing long-term effects of perceptual training on L2 perception. Results are discussed interms of the relationship between cross-linguistic similarity and categorization of L2 sounds

The effect of foreign language experience on the categorization and production of native and non-native stops by Spanish learners of English

Previous research has assessed the effect of L1 experience on the categorization and production of L2 stops. However, the effect of L2 experience on the L1 has received much less attention. In addition, no previous studies have tested the same population on both perception and production and using modified natural stimuli. The present paper attempts to determine the effect of L2 experience on the perception and production of L1 Spanish and L2 English bilabial stops. A categorization task as well as a production task in each language was completed by experienced and inexperienced Spanish learners of English. Experienced learners were found to perceive and produce L2 bilabial stops more accurately than inexperienced learners, although such difference reached significance only in perception. As for L2 influence on the L1, experienced learners differed from inexperienced learners in the Spanish identification task. Nevertheless, no significant effect of experience was found in production. Moreover, experienced learners were found to categorize bilabials differently in each language, whereas inexperienced learners were not. Further, both groups seemed to produce L1 and L2 /p/ differently yet English and Spanish /b/ were produced with Spanish-like values. Finally, no relation between individual perception and production was observed

A Sound Approach to Language Matters: In Honor of Ocke-Schwen Bohn

The contributions in this Festschrift were written by Ocke’s current and former PhD-students, colleagues and research collaborators. The Festschrift is divided into six sections, moving from the smallest building blocks of language, through gradually expanding objects of linguistic inquiry to the highest levels of description - all of which have formed a part of Ocke’s career, in connection with his teaching and/or his academic productions: “Segments”, “Perception of Accent”, “Between Sounds and Graphemes”, “Prosody”, “Morphology and Syntax” and “Second Language Acquisition”. Each one of these illustrates a sound approach to language matters

Perception of English and Catalan vowels by English and Catalan listeners. Part II. Perceptual vs ecphoric similarity

Although crosslinguistic similarity is a crucial concept for many disciplines in the speech sciences, there is no clear consensus as to the most appropriate method to measure it. This paper assessed the perceived similarity between English and Catalan vowels by means of an overt direct task evaluating perceptual similarity. The extent to which perceptual similarity is reciprocal is also explored by comparing perceptual judgements obtained by speakers of the two languages involved. Twenty-seven native Catalan speakers and 27 native English speakers rated the perceived dissimilarity between two aurally presented vowel stimuli. Trials included native-non-native pairs as well as native-native pairs to serve as baseline data. Some native-non-native pairs were perceived to be as similar as same-category native pairs, illustrating cases of very high crosslinguistic perceptual similarity. Further, in terms of reciprocity, the results showed a bidirectionality in similarity relationships that point to some cases of near-identical or shared categories and also illustrate the role of language-specific cue weighting in determining perceptual similarity. Finally, a comparison with the outcome of a previous study [Cebrian (2021). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 149(4), 2671-2685], involving the same participants and languages but exploring ecphoric similarity, shows a generally high degree of agreement and a close relationship between the two types of similarity