The development of coda perception in second language phonology: A variationist perspective

Abstract

Within a variationist approach for data collection and analysis, this study investigates the acquisition in perception of post-vocalic word-final stops (codas) by speakers of Brazilian Portuguese learning English as a foreign language in a classroom environment. Because codas are illicit in this variety of Portuguese, the hypothesis holds that learners will process this foreign structure as followed by an illusory epenthetic vowel, [i], a manifestation of 'perceptual foreign accent'. In a forcedchoice phone identification task, 51 participants listened to series of English pseudowords and then decided on whether each word ended in a consonant or in a vowel. The statistical results of the experiment indicate that codas are more likely to be perceived in the following cases:(1) in more advanced levels of proficiency, (2) in the context of segments that belong to the class of coronals [t d] and labials [p b], and (3) when the coda consonant is preceded by a lax vowel. The latter as well as the non-significant word size factor contradict the results established in the investigation of the production of this syllabic constituent. To some extent, the results obtained show a correlation between speech perception and production, and support the view that perception precedes production in the development of second language codas. Keywords coda perception, variationist second language acquisition, interlanguage perception, interaction of production and perception, perception development, Brazilian Portuguese, English as a foreign language I IntroductionA previous study on the second language (L2) acquisition of singleton word-final stops (codas henceforth) has shown that -in the context of Brazilian Portuguese (BP) native

The perception–production link revisited: The case of Japanese learners' English /ɹ/ performance

“…This suggests that the perception of new L2 sounds activates relevant sensorimotor skills and leads to production ability. Indeed, a number of cross‐sectional studies have noted not only significant correlations between measures of perception and production for both vowels and consonants, but also the tendency for L2 learners to have better perception than production ability (e.g., Baker & Trofimovich, ; Cardoso, ; Flege, ; Flege, Bohn, & Jang, ; Flege, MacKay, & Meador, ).…”

Acoustic Investigation of Production of Clusters by Saudi Second Language Learners of English

“…Most of the studies on the acquisition of consonant clusters considered sonority to be the primary variable; however, as reported in the previous chapter, there seem to be a growing interest in exploring the effect of input frequency. In fact, some studies have reported that input frequency may provide a better explanation for their data (e.g., Cardoso, John and French, 2009). Details on how each of these two approaches was be employed in this study are provided in the following:…”

“…Results from these studies provided support for the predictions based on sonority. However, Cardoso, John and French (2009) argued that input frequency has a stronger influence than sonority on the participants' ability to discriminate consonant clusters, which according to them, provided support for the input frequency explanation for the developmental order of consonant cluster in the L2.…”

“…In the field of second language acquisition (SLA), the role of input frequency is considered relatively new with only few studies in the literature that have looked at the role of input frequency as a factor in explaining the errors produced in the IL (e.g., Cardoso, 2008;Cardoso, John & French, 2009;Cardoso & Liakin, 2009). Therefore, the current study will consider input frequency as a potential factor affecting L2 cluster acquisition in addition to markedness constraints and interlanguage transfer as constrained by the SSP.…”

“…Input frequency has been reported to provide a better explanation for some error patterns found in child language (e.g., Zamuner, Gerken, & Hammond, 2005). Zamuner et al (2005) suggested that children would acquire more frequent but "marked" forms before they would acquire the "infrequent" but unmarked ones.In the field of second language acquisition (SLA), the role of input frequency is considered relatively new with only few studies in the literature that have looked at the 5 role of input frequency as a factor in explaining the errors produced in the IL (e.g., Cardoso, 2008;Cardoso, John & French, 2009;Cardoso & Liakin, 2009). Therefore, the current study will consider input frequency as a potential factor affecting L2 cluster acquisition in addition to markedness constraints and interlanguage transfer as constrained by the SSP.…”