ACQUIRING /[alveolar approximant]/ IN CONTEXT

• Published in: Studies in second language acquisition Vol. 29; no. 3; pp. 381 - 406
• Main Authors: Colantoni, Laura, Steele, Jeffrey
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01-09-2007
• Subjects: Acoustic phonetics; Acoustics; Articulation; Articulatory phonetics; English as a second language learning; English proficiency; French; French as a second language learning; German as a second language learning; Germanic languages; Language; Language Acquisition; Language proficiency; Language Role; Language typology; Markedness; Phonetics; Phonology; Second Language Learning; Studies; Syllables; Voicing; Toronto Ontario Canada; Canada; Montreal Quebec Canada
• ISSN: 0272-2631; 1470-1545
• DOI: 10.1017/S0272263107070258

This article seeks to illuminate the degree of position-based
variation observed in the acquisition of new segments in a second language
and to explain such variability as the consequence of phonetic
constraints; this approach contrasts with much previous research that has
used typological markedness to the same end. Specifically, it is proposed
that learners will have the least difficulty acquiring sounds that involve
novel combinations of voicing and manner in positions that favor the
phonetic implementation of these sounds. Moreover, on the assumption that
not all parameters can be mastered simultaneously, it is predicted that
learners will first acquire aspects of a segment's articulation that
are perceptually salient and articulatorily easier. The data come from a
study of the acquisition of French
by 20 intermediate- and advanced-proficiency English-speaking learners of
French. Acoustic analysis of the data reveals asymmetries that favor
accuracy with manner in onsets versus more targetlike realization of
voicing in codas, in which devoicing exists in the input. Beyond
demonstrating the role of phonetic principles in determining
position-based variation, the findings contribute to our understanding of
the acquisition of new consonantal contrasts by providing empirical
evidence from a non-Germanic language to bear on this line of inquiry.