Development of second language lexical and

phonetic competence

Part I: phonetics

Part II: lexis

Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018

 Initial discussion
How many years have you been learning English?
When you were a student, were you taught phonetics or
pronunciation?
Do you think it is necessary to explicitly teach pronunciation in a
foreign language classroom?
Which aspects do you think are the most difficult of the English
phonological system?
Do you think it is important to have a native-like accent when
speaking a foreign language?
Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018
 Development of second language lexical and
phonetic competence
1. Introduction:

Human vs. animal communication

L1 acquisition: focus on phonology
L2 acquisition: focus on phonology

2. The English phonological system: An overview

3. Teaching the pronunciation of an L2

Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018

1. Introduction: human vs. animal communication
Can animals talk and use speech like humans?

Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018

1. Introduction: human vs. animal communication

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo6tb6kj8MA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLUz7E5gU2c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDDgJPKuSf0

Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018

 1. Introduction: human vs. animal communication
Animals as diverse as elephants, whales, and parrots can mimic the sounds of human
speech. E.g. an orangutan called Tilda let out a series of deep-throated human-like
sounds, and a grey parrot named Alex could quickly learn and imitate new English words.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldYkFdu5FJk

Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018

 1. Introduction: human vs. animal communication

While many animals (e.g. bees, dolphins, vervet monkeys, etc.) have very complex communication systems, only
humans are endowed with the ability to speak. In fact, it is widely believed that the emergence of language was a
hallmark in human evolution (cf. Givn & Malle 2002; Heine & Kuteva 2007: 121).

The origins of language have given rise to numerous debates and in fact many theories have been put forward
(http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/d/d_10/d_10_s/d_10_s_lan/d_10_s_lan.html):

Vocal theories: about 100 000 years ago, certain changes in the mouth and the pharynx combined with an increased brain volume
to give human beings voluntary control over vocal outputs that up to then had been more like instinctive cries.

Gestural theory: according to this theory, one of the first effects of the transition to walking on two legs was to free the upper
limbs and make them available for gestural communication. Subsequently, vocal language developed, thus freeing the hands for
other uses.

Cf. Arsuaga & Martnez 2001 (ch. 16, pp. 258-275); Bernrdez 1999 (ch. 7: 177-245).

Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018

1. Introduction: human vs. animal communication
The ability to speak, however, came at a very high price, since this development entailed, on the other hand, the
possibility of choking. All the other mammals can breathe and swallow at the same time. Babies can do it too!
"El precio que pag la especie humana a la naturaleza a cambio de conseguir la facultad de hablar fue la
posibilidad de morir atragantado" (Ignacio Martnez)

Two factors were crucial in the development of the language faculty: on the one hand, the size of the brain and
the development of Brocas and Wernickes areas (both in the left hemisphere), and, on the other, the
development of the vocal tract.

Gradual development of language: increasing complexity and automatisation over time (cf. Givn 2002) .

Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018

1. Introduction: human vs. animal communication
First Hominids > Homo sapiens sapiens:

Estimates on when humans began to talk range from between 2,000,000 and 9,000 years ago andunfortunatelynone
of these estimates can really be falsified (Heine & Kuteva 2007: 346).

Lexicon-before-grammar hypothesis (cf. Heine & Kuteva 2007). Initial vocabulary of around 150 vocalisations
(accompanied by gestures)

Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018

1. Introduction: L1 acquisition
Stages of prespeech vocal development (Hoff 2009: 142-144)

Reflexive Crying and Vegetative Sounds: newborns cry. They also burp, sneeze, and make other
sounds. In making these vegetative sounds, the vocal folds vibrate. Even these unpromising sounds
include some features that will later be used to produce speech sounds (Hoff 2009: 142).

Cooing and laughter: at about 6-8 weeks, babies start cooing (sounds made when babies are happy or
contented). Their first coos sound like long vowels. Babies produce their laughter at around the age of
16 weeks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yCSrb26MLc

Vocal play (16-30 weeks): increased variety of vowel and consonant-like sounds. First recognisable
consonant-like sounds appear between 2-3 months of age, and they are typically produced in the
back of the mouth (velar sounds such as /g/ and /k/). At around 6 months, first consonants produced
in the front of the mouth (/b/, /m/, /p/, /d/).

Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018

1. Introduction: L1 acquisition
Stages of prespeech vocal development (Hoff 2009: 142-144)

Reduplicated babbling (6-9 months): presence of true syllables. Reduplication of

same consonant and vowel: /dada/ /tata/. Deaf infants also produced sounds, which
up to this point do not differ from those of hearing children. Reduplicated babbling is
the first development which distinguishes deaf children from hearing infants.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JmA2ClUvUY

Non-reduplicated babbling: the range of consonants and vowels produced by

children is expanded. Prosody becomes particularly noticeable.

Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018

1. Introduction: L1 acquisition
The transition from babbling to words (Hoff 2009: 146)

Many children undergo a transitional phase between babbling and the appearance of the first word,
typically accompanied by pointing gestures. These invented words are sound sequences used with
consistent meanings but which are unlike any word in the target language, typically a word given to a
favourite toy or comforter: tete [chupete](dummy), baba [bottle]

Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018

 1. Introduction: L1 acquisition
First words (Hoff 2009: 164-165; Ohala 2008: 19-39)

Simple words, usually consisting of consonant-vowel (CV) syllables. The inventory of vowels and
consonants is small: stops and nasals first (/b/ /p/ /t/ /m/). The majority of consonants are generally
acquired by the age of 3 or 4, but there are certain sounds, such as //, which are more difficult.
Language-related differences: English /v/ is relatively infrequent, but it is more frequent in Estonian or
Swedish, and is acquired earlier in these languages.

Native language influence manifested in the nature and frequency of sounds produced in babbling and
first words. Thus, as early as 6 months, the sounds produced by babies are influenced by their target
language (Ohala 2008: 35).

Typical processes:

Weak-syllable deletion: omission of unstressed syllables: [nn] for banana, [muka] for msica
Reduplication: production of two identical syllables [sisi] for Sesame Street
Final consonant deletion: [da] for dog

Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018

 1. Introduction: L1 acquisition
L1 research: infant speech perception (Hoff 2009: 149-151)
The HAS (High Amplitude Sucking) technique: used with very young babies (hours or days old): to find
out if babies can tell the difference between two sounds, researchers present one sound until the baby
loses interest, and then they present another. If the baby shows renewed interest, the researchers infer
that the baby can tell that a new sound has been presented.

The HTPP (Head-Turn Preference Procedure): + 4 months. Taking for granted that the child will look into
the direction of the sound.

Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018

 1. Introduction: L1 acquisition
L1 acquisition (summary)
As newborns, we are introduced into a disconcerting and overwhelming world of sound, only some parts of
which are necessary for speech and provide us with the means to communicate with others. We are
fortunate that our first forays into the maelstrom that is speech begin prior to birth and progress with
astonishing rapidity after we are born. Although equipped with a perceptual acuity that allows us to initially
discriminate almost all possible phonetic contrasts in languages, we quickly become attuned to the
specifics of our native language to the exclusion of all else. For this task, we are able to use sophisticated
learning mechanisms that take advantage of statistical information in the language we hear and that allow
us to apply that information at an abstract level to new utterances. [] Although our initial attempts sound
most unlike adult productions, they nevertheless allow us to explore the limits of our articulatory
apparatus. From our first success with adult-like syllables, we continually expand our repertoire, with
sounds present in babbling typically appearing in our first true words as well. [] At around 18 months,
when we have successfully produced at least 50 words, our phonological knowledge coalesces and the
emergence of true phonological organization is apparent. From this point on, our progress towards adult-
like competence in this domain continues to expand, until by the age of six we have completed this first
and most fundamental aspect of language acquisition (Ohala 2008: 36)

Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018

 1. Introduction: L1 acquisition
The role of age in L2 acquisition
(cf. Johnson & Newport 1989; De Keyser 2000; Singleton 2003)

The critical period hypothesis (CPH):

proposed by a neurologist called Wilder Penfield, who suggested that children can re-learn a language
if suffering an injury or a disease which damages the areas specialised in language, while speech
recovery in adults is much more problematic: for the purposes of learning languages, the human brain
becomes progressively stiff and rigid after the age of nine (Penfield & Roberts, 1959: 236).

Lennenberg, however, is usually considered to be the father of the CPH in relation to language
acquisition. For him, the CP coincided with the lateralisation of the brain, that is, the specialisation of
the dominant hemisphere for the language function (2 years into puberty).

Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018

 1. Introduction: L1 acquisition
The CPH:
The CPH states that there is a limited developmental period during which it is possible to acquire a
language be it L1 or L2, to normal, nativelike levels. Once this window of opportunity is passed, however,
the ability to learn language declines (Birdsong 1999: 1)
Automatic acquisition from mere exposure to a given language seems to disappear [after puberty], and
foreign languages have to be taught and learned through a conscious and labored effort. Foreign accents
cannot be overcome easily after puberty (Lennenberg 1967: 176)
The sensitive period hypothesis: prediction of sensitivity after a certain age, but not absolute learning
decline.
Other factors:
Motivation (at both academic & personal levels)
Personality (extroversion vs. introversion)
Anxiety & stress
Learning style
Affect (how we feel about it)
Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018
 1. Introduction: L2 acquisition
What about phonetics? Is phonology, more than any other aspect of language, influenced by the age
at which we first encounter the L2?

Comparing the acoustic properties in the speech of L2 learners with equivalent sounds in the
speech of monolingual native speakers in a well-equipped phonetics lab (Ioup 2008).

Studies measuring the length of the vowel or the Voice Onset Time (VOT) of consonants (length of
time between the release of a stop consonant [/p/ /t/ /k/ /b/ /d/ /g/]) and the onset of voicing, that
is, when the vocal folds vibrate).

Age was a determining factor in the ability to produce native English values in a number of
studies (Oyama 1976; Flege 1991). Even the youngest bilingual learners are not guaranteed
native-like phonetic productions (Ioup 2008: 47).

Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018

1. Introduction: L2 acquisition
However, there are individual differences. In fact, some adults may be rated more
native-like than some children.

Why is this so? Importance of other variables:

Phonological structure of the L1 (similarity with the L2)

Amount of L1 & L2 use
Amount of native-speaker input
Instruction/training
Length of residence
Aptitude (Sprachtalent)
Motivation

Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018

 1. Introduction: L2 acquisition
Language transfer (cf. Ellis 1994)
It refers to the incorporation of features of the L1 into the knowledge systems of the L2 which the
learner is trying to build (Ellis 1994: 28). Transfer errors are more frequent in the phonological and
lexical level, rather than in the grammatical level (Ellis 1994: 62).
Behaviourist theorists on language learning: underlying assumption that language learning, like any
other kind of learning, took the form of habit formation. The main impediment to learning, according to
these theories, was prior knowledge.

In L2 leaning, difficulty correlates with the degree of similarity/difference of an L1 pattern with an

L2 pattern.
Positive transfer (facilitation): it would be easy for an L1 Portuguese speaker leaning French to
produce the nasal vowel [], which is present in Portuguese (Pt. corao [] heart = French
envers against []).

Negative transfer (errors): it would be difficult for a L1 Spanish speaker to distinguish /v/ from
/b/ in English: van /b/ vs. ban /b/, given that /v/ does not exist in Spanish.
Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018
 1. Introduction: L2 acquisition
Language transfer (Ellis 1994)
The Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH):
Developed by Robert Lado in the 1950s, influenced by Skinner. Pedagogical aim: reinforcing the
learning process. It was a question of habit formation. It had its heyday in the 1960s and then it was
clearly disfavoured in the 1970s. Why?

In its strongest formulation, it claimed that all the errors made in the L2 could be attributed to
an interference of the L1.

However, many errors predicted by the CAH were not observed in learners' language, and some
errors were made by learners irrespective of their L1.
The 1960s witnessed a major shift in thinking in psychology and linguistics. From a preoccupation with
the role of nurture (i.e. how environmental factors shape learning), researchers switched their
attention to nature (how the innate properties of the human mind shape learning). This new
paradigm gave rise to the mentalist theory of L1 acquisition (Ellis 2003: 33).

Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018

 1. Introduction: L2 acquisition
The Interlanguage (Selinker 1972):

Learners construct a linguistic system that draws, in part, on the learner's L1 but is also
different from it and also from the target language. A learner's interlanguage is, therefore,
a unique linguistic system (Ellis 2003: 33)

The learner's grammar is permeable. That is, the grammar is open to influence
from the outside (i.e. through the input). lt is also influenced from the inside. For
example, the transfer errors constitute evidence of internal processing.

The learner's grammar is transitional. Learners change their grammar from one
time to another by adding rules, deleting rules, and restructuring the whole
system. This results in an interlanguage continuum.

Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018

 References
Arsuaga, Juan Luis & Ignacio Martnez. 2002. La especie elegida: La larga marcha de la evolucin humana. Madrid: Temas de Hoy.

Bernrdez, Enrique. 1999. Qu son las lenguas? Madrid: Alianza.

Birdsong, David (ed). 1999. Second language acquisition and the Critical Period Hypothesis. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

De Keyser, Robert M. 2000. The robustness of critical period effects in second language acquisition. Studies in second language acquisition 22: 499-
533.

Ellis, Rod. 1994. The study of second language acquisition. Oxford: OUP.

Ellis, Rod. 2003. Second language acquisition. Oxford: OUP.

Flege, James E. 1991. Age of learning affects the authenticity of voice-onset time (VOT) in stop consonants produced in a second language. Journal of
the acoustic society of America 89: 395-411.

Givn, Talmy & Bertram F. Malle (eds.). 2002. The evolution of language out of pre-language. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Heine, Bernd & Tania Kuteva. 2007. The genesis of grammar: A reconstruction. Oxford: OUP.

Hoff, Erikka. 2009. Language development (4th ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth.

Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018

 References
Ioup, Georgette. 2008. Exploring the role of age in L2 phonology. In Hansen Edwards, Jette G. & Mary L. Zampini (eds.), Phonology and second
language acquisition. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Johnson, Jacqueline S. & Elissa L. Newport. 1989. Critical period effects in second language learning: The influence of maturational state on the
acquisition of English as a second language. Cognitive psychology 21: 60-99.

Lenneberg, Eric H. 1967. Biological foundations of language. New York: Wiley.

Ohala, Diane K. 2008. Phonological acquisition in a first language. In Hansen Edwards, Jette G. & Mary L. Zampini (eds.), Phonology and second
language acquisition. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Oyama, Susan. 1976. A sensitive period of the acqusition of a nonnative phonological system. Journal of psycholinguistic research 5: 261-283.

Penfield, Wilder, & Lamar Roberts. 1959. Speech and Brain Mechanisms. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Selinker, Larry. 1972. Interlanguage. International review of applied linguistics 10: 209-232.

Singleton, David. 2003. Critical period or general age factor(s)?. In Garca Mayo, Mara del Pilar & Mara Luisa Garca Lecumberri (eds.), Age and the
acquisition of English as a foreign language. Clevedon: Multilingual matters.

Master's Degree in the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages 2017/2018