The effect of short-term study abroad on second language Spanish phonetic development

Abstract

The main aim of the work is to assess physical parameters of forest woodchips and their impact on the prices achieved by the supplier in transactions with a power plant. During fragmentation of logging residue, high content of green matter and contaminants negatively impacts the quality parameters that serve as basis for settlements. The analysis concerns data on the main parameters -water content, fuel value, sulphur and ash content -from 252 days of deliveries of forest chips to a power plant. The deliveries were realised from forested areas on an average about 340 km from the plant. Average water content and the resultant fuel value of forest chips was within 27-47% and 8.7-12.9 GJ×Mg −1 (appropriately), respectively. They depend on the month in which they are delivered to the power plant. The threshold values for the above-mentioned parameters are set by the plant at a real level and the suppliers have no problems with meeting them. The parameter that is most frequently exceeded is ash content (11.5% of cases). The settlement system does not differentiate on the basis of the transport distance but gives possibility to lower the settlement price when the quality parameters are not met but provides no reward for deliveries with parameters better than the average ones. On the basis of results obtained, it was calculated that average annual settlement price is lower than the contract price by about 0.20 PLN×GJ −1 , which in case of the analysed company may translate into an average daily loss of about 700 PLN.

Context of learning and second language development of Spanish vowels

“…Nevertheless, it seems unlikely that such a difference would result in almost entirely opposite findings. One other hypothesis, related to Bongiovanni et al (2015), which found the most obvious improvement and differences between the SA and AH groups was in terms of rhotic production, is that, given the dialectal features of the variety spoken in the region in which the present SA students studied abroad, perhaps more attention was dedicated to the production of consonants with salient regional variation to the potential neglect or even detriment of vowel production. Future research that takes into account the specific exposure to, instruction regarding, and attention to pronunciation features during study abroad (as compared to study at home) would assist in teasing apart the influence of these various factors at play during a sojourn abroad.…”

“…Research examining the role of context of learning (and, in the following cases, specifically, the context of study abroad) in L2 development has explored its impact on, for example, morphosyntax (e.g., Collentine 2004;, pragmatics (e.g., Cohen and Shively 2007), and oral fluency (e.g., Freed et al 2004;O'Brien et al 2007; and has found a generally positive effect for time abroad on these areas of linguistic development (e.g., Collentine 2009). Research on the role of context of learning and study abroad on L2 phonological and phonetic development has been, as previously mentioned, somewhat less researched, although work in this area is growing (e.g., Alvord & Christiansen 2012;Bongiovanni et al 2015;Díaz-Campos 2004Lord 2010), and studies in this vein have reported rather modest and inconsistent benefits for the study abroad environment over the at-home context. For example, with regard to development in the production of word-initial /p t k/, Díaz-Campos (2004 and Bongiovanni et al (2015) found that athome and study abroad learners made statistically similar gains over the respective time periods studied (for Bongiovanni et al 2015 gains were only observed for /p/ and /k/, not /t/); Crane (2011) also reported positive results for the study abroad environment in the production of these sounds, but included no at-home comparison group.…”

“…Research on the role of context of learning and study abroad on L2 phonological and phonetic development has been, as previously mentioned, somewhat less researched, although work in this area is growing (e.g., Alvord & Christiansen 2012;Bongiovanni et al 2015;Díaz-Campos 2004Lord 2010), and studies in this vein have reported rather modest and inconsistent benefits for the study abroad environment over the at-home context. For example, with regard to development in the production of word-initial /p t k/, Díaz-Campos (2004 and Bongiovanni et al (2015) found that athome and study abroad learners made statistically similar gains over the respective time periods studied (for Bongiovanni et al 2015 gains were only observed for /p/ and /k/, not /t/); Crane (2011) also reported positive results for the study abroad environment in the production of these sounds, but included no at-home comparison group. Similarly, in their studies of the development of the spirantized allophones of intervocalic /b d ɡ/, Alvord and Christiansen (2012) and Lord (2010) both reported gains by study abroad learners (but these studies did not include at-home comparison groups), Díaz-Campos (2004 reported no gains by either the study abroad or the at-home group, and Bongiovanni et al 2015showed a positive effect for the study abroad environment but only in the pronunciation of /d/ (not of /b/ or /ɡ/).…”

“…This study examines the same participants and data set asBongiovanni et al (2015), which looked at consonantal development during the same time period. Taken together, we believe these two studies provide a well-rounded picture of segmental development during short-term study abroad.Context of learning and second language vowels…”

Language learning and study abroad

“…The extent to which conclusions can be drawn and compared are limited since the research methods do not ensure that the procedure includes a measure of prior knowledge and maintenance of the features under consideration (George 2014), measuring language contact information abroad (Bongiovanni et al 2015), or learner perceptions of token items (Pope 2016). Müller (2016: 113) reminds her readers that individual learning factors need to be included in the analyses of future studies, which explains why, to date, it has been 'difficult to derive common trends from learner cohorts.…”