Categorias fonéticas na aprendizagem de língua estrangeira

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is, through a brief revision of crosslanguage research on the phonetic perception and production of native and foreign/second languages, to propose an extension, in two directions, to Flege's (1995) Speech Learning Model (SLM) and to discuss the implications for Best's (1995) Perceptual Assimilation Model (PAM) of a broader view of phonetic category. The two directions for an extension of the SLM are (a) to include, among the phonetic categories to be learned/acquired, units larger than the segment, such as the syllable, onset, or coda; and (b) to incorporate the idea that many of the segments are acquired as part of a natural class rather than in isolation. The discussion of the PAM deals with the effect that the consideration of larger phonetic categories and natural classes would have on Best's proposed patterns of assimilation.