Exploring L1 Transfer in German Learners of English: High Front Vowels, High Back Vowels and the BED/BAD Distinction

Kautzsch, Alexander

doi:10.2478/v10015-010-0003-8

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…For instance, Turkish learners of English often struggle with the production of diphthongs (Demircioglu, 2013). In contrast, the elaborate and often fine-grained differences between the German vs. English vowel inventories result in inaccurate transfer or assimilation (e.g., Bohn & Flege, 1992;Kautzsch, 2010;Wode, 1983).…”

Section: English Phonology Features and Learnabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Bilingual advantage in early EFL pronunciation accuracy of German 4th-graders

Kieseier

2021

International Journal of Bilingualism

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Aims and Objectives: We compared speech accuracy and pronunciation patterns between early learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) with different language backgrounds. We asked (1) whether linguistic background predicts pronunciation outcomes, and (2) if error sources and substitution patterns differ between monolinguals and heterogeneous bilinguals. Methodology: Monolingual and bilingual 4th-graders ( N = 183) at German public primary schools participated in an English picture-naming task. We further collected linguistic, cognitive and social background measures to control for individual differences. Data and Analysis: Productions were transcribed and rated for accuracy and error types by three independent raters. We compared monolingual and bilingual pronunciation accuracy in a linear mixed-effects regression analysis controlling for background factors at the individual and institutional level. We further categorized all error types and compared their relative frequency as well as substitution patterns between different language groups. Findings: After background factors were controlled for, bilinguals (irrespective of specific L1) significantly outperformed their monolingual peers on overall pronunciation accuracy. Irrespective of language background, the most frequent error sources overlapped, affecting English sounds which are considered marked, are absent from the German phoneme inventory, or differ phonetically from a German equivalent. Originality: This study extends previous work on bilingual advantages in other domains of EFL to less researched phonological skills. It focuses on overall productive skills in young FL learners with limited proficiency and provides an overview over the most common error sources and substitution patterns in connection to language background. Significance/Implications: The study highlights that bilingual learners may deploy additional resources in the acquisition of target language phonology that should be addressed in the foreign language classroom.

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Section: English Phonology Features and Learnabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Bilingual advantage in early EFL pronunciation accuracy of German 4th-graders

Kieseier

2021

International Journal of Bilingualism

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“…That is, recent research focuses on learning languages beyond the second one, which is widely investigated. Research on third or additional language learning draws different conclusions on different contexts and shows that languages influence each other (e.g., Hermas, 2014;Dewaele, 1998;Hammarberg, 2001;Bardel & Falk, 2007;Kautzsch, 2010;Falk & Bardel, 2010;Talebi, 2013;Tápainé Balla, 2008 and2009;T. Balla, 2013).…”

Section: Multilingualism and Multilingualism In Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examples of cross-linguistic influence in learning German as a foreign language

Sadouki

2020

EduLingua

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The present study sheds light on cross-linguistic influence and language transfer in third or additional language learning and explores the factors affecting the learning of third or additional language in a multilingual context. It aims at investigating the extent to which the typologically more similar language influences the language being learned. This study was carried out with the participation of 30 third-year students in the foreign languages stream at Al-Kawakibi Secondary School-Touggourt in Algeria. The participants had Arabic as L1, French as L2, English as L3 and they were learning L4 German. The instruments included two translation tasks and a paragraph writing in German, in addition to a questionnaire about learners' self-rated language proficiency of their non-native languages. The findings show that students tend to translate into the language which is typologically more similar to German, in this case English, that influences learning L4 German the most.

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“…It has been shown elsewhere (Kautzsch 2010a) that in the case of the English mid and low front vowels [] and [] in bed and bad (i.e in the lexical sets DRESS and TRAP) German has only one short vowel counterpart [] as in BETTEN, which is then -due to equivalence classification -used in both English contexts. The distinction between [] and [] develops quite late in German learners.…”

Section: Sla Theory: L1 Transfer Similarity and Awarenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transfer, Similarity or Lack of Awareness? Inconsistencies of German Learners in the Pronunciation of LOT, THOUGHT, STRUT, PALM and BATH

Kautzsch¹

2012

RiL

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The current study presents acoustic analyses of non-high back vowels and low central vowels in the lexical sets LOT, THOUGHT, STRUT, PALM and BATH as pronounced by German learners of English. The main objective is to show that learners of English at university level are highly inconsistent in approximating the vowels of their self-chosen target accents British English (BrE) and American English (AmE). To that end, the acoustic qualities of the English vowels of learners are compared to their native German vowels and to the vowels of native speakers of BrE and AmE. In order to facilitate statements about the effect of increased experience, the study differentiates between students in their first year at university and in their third year or later. The results obtained are highly variable: In some cases the learners transfer their L1 vowels to English, other cases show clear approximations to the target vowels, while other cases again document the production of new vowels neither found in German nor in English. However, close approximation to the target vowels only sometimes correlates with higher proficiency. This might be an indicator of a low level of awareness of systematic differences between the BrE and AmE vowel systems. But the data also indicate that the more advanced learners produce more distinct AmE BATH vowels and BrE THOUGHT vowels than the less advanced learners, which points to a partial increase of awareness resulting from increased experience. All in all it seems that raising the awareness of differences between target accents in L2 instruction is necessary if the envisage goal is for learners to reach near-native pronunciation.

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Exploring L1 Transfer in German Learners of English: High Front Vowels, High Back Vowels and the BED/BAD Distinction

Cited by 8 publications

References 5 publications

Bilingual advantage in early EFL pronunciation accuracy of German 4th-graders

Bilingual advantage in early EFL pronunciation accuracy of German 4th-graders

Examples of cross-linguistic influence in learning German as a foreign language

Transfer, Similarity or Lack of Awareness? Inconsistencies of German Learners in the Pronunciation of LOT, THOUGHT, STRUT, PALM and BATH

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