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Integrating articulatory constraints into models of second language phonological acquisition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2008

LAURA COLANTONI  and
JEFFREY STEELE
LAURA COLANTONI*
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
JEFFREY STEELE
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
*
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE Laura Colantoni, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Northrop Frye Hall, Room 304, Victoria College, University of Toronto, 73 Queen's Park Crescent East, Toronto, ON M5S 1K7, Canada. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Models such as Eckman's markedness differential hypothesis, Flege's speech learning model, and Brown's feature-based theory of perception seek to explain and predict the relative difficulty second language (L2) learners face when acquiring new or similar sounds. In this paper, we test their predictive adequacy as concerns native English speakers’ mastery of French /ʁ/ and Spanish /ɾ/. Based on an acoustic analysis of the learner data, we demonstrate that these three models do not account for the full range of variability nor for the developmental sequences attested, because they do not consider the degree of difficulty involved in the simultaneous mastery of multiple phonetic parameters across prosodic positions. Consequently, models of L2 phonological acquisition must not only integrate findings from markedness theory and speech perception but also incorporate phonetic constraints on production.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , July 2008 , pp. 489 - 534
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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