Production and identification of English word-final nasal consonants by Brazilian EFL learners

Abstract

Abstract Abstract AbstractThis preliminary study aims at investigating the production and perception of the English nasals /m/ and /n/ in word-final position by a group of 10 intermediate Brazilian EFL learners. Production data was collected by means of a Sentence Reading Test considering preceding vowel as phonological context. Perception was assessed by means of an identification test contrasting native-like vs. nonnative-like pronunciation of the target nasal consonants. The results from production suggest that the lack of fully realized word-final nasals in Brazilian Portuguese influenced the Brazilian learners' production, as they frequently nasalized the preceding vowel and deleted the following nasal consonant. The results from the identification test revealed that it was easier for the participants to identify the native-like realization of English word-final nasals when it was presented in contrast to the nonnative-like realization.

PL2 production of english word-final consonants: the role of orthography and learner profile variables

“…Another pervasive phonological process is Vocalization of Nasals. Kluge and Baptista (2008) argue that [m] triggers higher Vocalization rates because the word-final m grapheme is highly frequent in BP words (e.g., com 'with'), while n only occurs in few words (e.g., hífen 'hyphen'). Thus, Brazilians tend to associate the m grapheme more often with the L1 phonological process and vocalize the wordfinal nasals in words spelled with m. The findings of the present study challenge this explanation, indicating that the silent -e condition inhibits the occurrence of Vocalization, and that the words that are not spelled with silent -e are vocalized more often when they are spelled with n. Clearly, this issue deserves further investigation, but the present study has confirmed the persistence of Vocalization of Nasals in the interphonology of learners from different proficiency levels and living in an L2 context.…”