Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T15:25:58.816Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The acquisition of a second language phonology: Interaction of transfer and developmental factors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Barbara Frant Hecht  and
Randa Mulford
Barbara Frant Hecht*
Affiliation:
Stanford University
Randa Mulford*
Affiliation:
University of Iceland
*
Barbara Frant Hecht, Graduate School of Education, University of California, 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024.
Randa Mulford, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, 51 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The acquisition of a second language phonology is examined with reference to two hypotheses: (1) the developmental position that second language phonology acquisition parallels first language acquisition versus (2) the transfer position that the learner’s phonological knowledge in the first language directly influences acquisition of a second language phonology. These two hypotheses are evaluated in light of data from a six-year-old Icelandic child learning English in a naturalistic setting, with particular emphasis on fricatives and affricates. This child’s phonological acquisition is best accounted for as a systematic interaction between transfer from the first language and developmental processes. Transfer best predicts the relative difficulty of particular segments, while the developmental hypothesis best predicts which sounds will be substituted for those difficult segments.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 3 , Issue 4 , December 1982 , pp. 313 - 328
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bush, C., Edwards, M., Stoel, C., Macken, M., & Peterson, J. On specifying a system for transcribing consonants in child language. Mimeo, Stanford Child Phonology Project, Stanford University, 1973.Google Scholar
Cancino, H., Rosansky, E. J., & Schumann, J. H. The acquisition of English negatives and interrogatives by native Spanish speakers. In Hatch, E. (Ed.), Second language acquisition: A book of readings. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House, 1978.Google Scholar
Dulay, H. C., & Burt, M. K. Creative construction in second language learning and teaching. In Burt, M. & Dulay, H. (Eds.), New directions in second language learning, leaching, and bilingual education. Washington, D.C.: TESOL, 1975.Google Scholar
Dulay, H. C., Burt, M. K., & Krashen, S.Language two. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.Google Scholar
Dulay, H. C., Hernández-Chávez, E., & Burt, M. K. The process of becoming bilingual. In Singh, S. & Lynch, J. (Eds.), Diagnostic procedures in hearing, speech, and language. Baltimore: University Park Press, 1978.Google Scholar
Edwards, M. L. Patterns and processes in fricative acquisition: Longitudinal evidence from six English-learning children. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University, 1979.Google Scholar
Einarsson, S.Icelandic. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1945.Google Scholar
Ervin-Tripp, S.Is second language learning like the first? TESOL Quarterly, 1974, 8, 111–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farwell, C. B.Some strategies in the early production of fricatives. Papers and Reports on Child Language Development, 1977, 12, 97–104.Google Scholar
Ferguson, C. A. Fricatives in child language acquisition. Proceedings of the Eleventh International Congress of Linguistics. Bologna-Florence, 1975, 647–664.Google Scholar
Ferguson, C. A., & Debose, C. E. Simplified registers, broken language, and pidginization. In Valdman, A. (Ed.), Pidgin and Creole linguistics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1977.Google Scholar
Ferguson, C. A., & Farwell, C. B.Words and sounds in early language acquisition. Language, 1975, 22, 88–122.Google Scholar
Gamica, O. K., & Edwards, M. L.Phonological variation in children’s speech: The trade-off phenomenon. Ohio State Working Papers in Linguistics, 1977, 22, 81–87.Google Scholar
Gregoire, A.L’apprentissage du langage. Paris: Droz (2 vols.), 1947.Google Scholar
Hakuta, K.A case study of a Japanese child learning English as a second language. Language Learning, 1976, 26, 321–351.Google Scholar
Ingram, D. I. The acquisition of fricatives and affricates in normal and linguistically deviant children. In Caramazza, A. & Zurif, E. (Eds.), The acquisition and breakdown of language. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1975.Google Scholar
Lado, R.Linguistics across cultures. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1957.Google Scholar
Leopold, W. F.Speech development of a bilingual child: A linguist’s record. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University (4 vols.), 1939–1949.Google Scholar
Macken, M. A., & Ferguson, C. A. Phonological universals in language acquisition. In Winitz, H. (Ed.), Native language and foreign language acquisition. Annuals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 379, 1981.Google Scholar
Major, R. C.Phonological differentiation of a bilingual child. Ohio State University Working Papers in Linguistics, 1977, 22, 88–122.Google Scholar
McLaughlin, B.Second language acquisition in childhood. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum, 1978.Google Scholar
Menn, L. Transition and variation in child phonology: Modeling a developing system. Paper presented at the Ninth International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Copenhagen, 1979.Google Scholar
Milon, J. P.The development of negation in English by a second language learner. TESOL Quarterly, 1974, 8, 137–143.Google Scholar
Moskowitz, B. A.The acquisition of fricatives: A study in phonetics and phonology. Journal of Phonetics, 1975, 3, 141–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olmsted, D. L.Out of the mouth of babes. The Hague: Mouton, 1971.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ravem, R. The development of wh-questions in first and second language learners. In Richards, J. C. (Ed.), Error analysis: Perspectives on second language acquisition. London: Longmans, 1974.Google Scholar
Scollon, R.Conversations with a one-year old: A case study of the developmental foundation of syntax. Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii, 1976.Google Scholar
Stampe, C. A dissertation on natural phonology. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Chicago, 1973.Google Scholar
Vogel, I.One system or two: An analysis of a two-year-old Romanian-English bilingual’s phonology. Papers and Reports on Child Language Development, 1975, 9, 43–62.Google Scholar
Wode, H.Developmental sequences in naturalistic L2 acquisition. Working Papers in Bilingualism, 1976, 11, 1–31.Google Scholar