L2 phonological development in speech production during study abroad

The present study investigates the impact of a 3-month study abroad (SA) period on second language (L2) phonological development in speech production by means of acoustic-phonetic measures, as well as listeners’ assessment of perceived foreign accent (FA). Speech samples were collected from 23 bilin...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Avello, Pilar
Tipo de recurso: tesis doctoral
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2013
País:España
Institución:CBUC, CESCA
Repositorio:TDR. Tesis Doctorales en Red
OAI Identifier:oai:www.tdx.cat:10803/128624
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10803/128624
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Phonetics
Phonology
Second language acquisition
Study abroad
English
Spanish
Catalan
English as a Second Language (ESL)
English as a Foreign Language (EFL)
Speech production
Bilingualism
Multilingualism
Fonética
Fonología
Adquisición de segundas lenguas
Estancias en el extranjero
Inglés
Español
Catalán
Inglés como segunda lengua
Inglés como lengua extranjera
Producción del habla
Bilingüismo
Multilingüismo
81
Descripción
Sumario:The present study investigates the impact of a 3-month study abroad (SA) period on second language (L2) phonological development in speech production by means of acoustic-phonetic measures, as well as listeners’ assessment of perceived foreign accent (FA). Speech samples were collected from 23 bilingual Spanish/Catalan learners of English before (Pre-test) and after (Post-test) SA. Acoustic-phonetic measures consisted of measurements for voice onset time (VOT) in voiceless plosives and for vowel duration and quality, together with error rate scores resulting from the computation of pronunciation errors. Perceived FA measures were obtained from a group of native listeners (n=20) and another group of non-native listeners (n=37) who performed a rating task. Results failed to yield a large effect of SA in VOT and vowel measures, although they indicated a slight decrease in perceived FA and a significant improvement in error rate scores after SA. High correlations were found between the acoustic-phonetic measures and the FA ratings.