Many modern theories of second language acquisition approach the issue acquisition through the lens of perceptual acquisition. While this is an important aspect of the acquisition process, there is a missing link between the perception and production of novel second language segments and how learners acquire the representation required to articulate novel segments. As such, in this project, I am examining the second language acquisition of novel segments with respect to the acquisition of speech production. This project makes an important contribution to understanding how second languages are acquired, which is becoming increasingly important in an increasingly globalized and multicultural society. It is also becoming increasingly important for the economic success of individuals to master more than one language. Thus, understanding how people acquire a second language and specifically how individuals learn to speak is becoming important for the well-being and health of society as a whole. To this end, my project has three objectives:
(1) examine how second language learners acquire acoustic and articulatory speech patterns
(2) examine the connection between speech perception and speech production in language acquisition
(3) model patterns of acquisitional patterns to improve models of second language acquisition
To achieve these objectives, I am examining second language acquisition of multiple languages (Lower Sorbian, German, and Polish) using acoustic, ultrasound, and perceptual measurements. I am examining learners at different stages of acquisition (A [beginner], B [intermediate], and C [advanced]) to better understand to what strategies learners use when the are acquiring new speech segments. Acoustic and ultrasound data will be leveraged to understand how learners acquire novel speech patterns and the perceptual data is being leveraged to better understand what the connection between speech perception and speech production are.
The results implicate that language learning mechanisms active in L1 acquistion are also involved in L2 acquisition. However, many factors influence ultimate attainment of L2 acquisition. I additionally found that while typical acquisition in the absence of instruction involves naturalistic mechanisms retuning sensitivity to different phonetic correlates to language specific phonological contrasts, followed by adjusting articulatory configurations until contrasts between novel segments are learned. I also found that in learners can acquire novel segments for which they are not particularily discriminating between the target L2 segment and an acoustic-phonetically similar L1 segment (e.g. German uvular /R/ and Polish /r/). Some metalinguistic knowledge, however, likely contributes to acquisition in this case.
This research stands to benefit the way L2 acquisition is approached by language educators and also documents difficulties faced by communities who speak endangered languages.
