1. Introducing SLA of phonology research: a historical perspective
SLA and contrastive linguistics

2. Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk
THE PAST: FOUNDATIONS
The 20th century contrastive studies, known under the name of Contrastive Analysis, originated out of the need to improve the methods of language teaching and learning.
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3. Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis
strong version (Lado 1957): possibility to predict all errors as a result of transfer from L1(NL) to L2(TL):
similar elements were assumed to be easy
different elements - to be difficult
weak version (Wardhaugh 1970): comparison of L1 and L2 not enough to predict all errors; they can be explained after the fact
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4. Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk
moderate views
Gradually, more moderate views replaced the strong language acquisition hypothesis.
Transfer lost its all-solving status and came to coexist with the dominant notion interlanguage (Selinker 1969, 1972), independent of NL and TL.
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5. Interlanguage Hypothesis
extreme
Creative Construction Hypothesis (Dulay and Burt 1974)
the monitor model by Krashen (e.g. 1981): a distinction between acquisition and learning
moderate
Markedness Differential Hypothesis (Eckman 1977, 1981): difficult areas are those that are
different from L1 and
relatively more marked than L1
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6. transfer acc. to Gass (1988:387)
The notion of language transfer involves the use of native language (or other language) information in the acquisition of a second (or additional) language. A broader definition of this sort allows for observed phenomena such as:
delayed rule restructuring
transfer of typological organization
different paths of acquisition
avoidance
overproduction of certain elements
additional attention paid to the target language resulting in more rapid learning
differential effects of socially prestigious forms.
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7. Weinreich (1953) Languages in Contact
interference: “those instances of deviation from the norms of either language which occur in the speech of bilinguals as a result of their familiarity with more than one language”
bilingualism: “the practice of alternately using two languages”
later: only native-like use of both languages (e.g. Bloomfield) vs. any use of an L2 (e.g. Haugen)
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8. Lado (1957) Linguistics Across Cultures
CA - Contrastive Analysis
transfer: “individuals tend to transfer the forms and the meanings, and the distribution of the forms and meanings of their native language and culture to the foreign language and culture”
differences between the two languages more important - they cause 'negative transfer‘; similarities - 'positive transfer'
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9. behaviourist view of language learning
Bloomfield (1933), Skinner (1957)
grammatical structure as ”system of habits” (Lado 1957)
habits acquired through exposure and practice
stimulus-response
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10. mentalist view of language learning (Chomsky et al.)
Chomsky (1959) – review of Skinner’s (1957) Verbal Behaviour
the independent grammars assumption - children have a system of their own, they are not defective speakers
LAD Language Acquisition Device – children construct linguistic competence by ‘evaluation measure’ (‘hypothesis-testing’ in acquisition research)
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11. independent grammars in L2
approximative system (Nemser 1971)
interlanguage (Selinker 1972)
phonology of interlanguage (Tarone 1978)
the methodology of Error Analysis (Corder 1971):
error (of competence) vs. mistake (of performance)
paradox in Selinker & Corder: the object of description is learner’s knowledge of language (competence) whereas the research method is the analysis of his/her performance
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12. Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk
important:
multi-competence should be treated as a norm: it’s normal for the majority of people to use another language
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13. Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk
SLA of speech
Abramson & Lisker 1970: cross-lg differences in the discrimination ability of VOT (responsible for voicing & aspiration contrasts in initial stops), which agreed with Motor Theory (Liberman et al 1967): perception accomplished via production
the categorical perception (CP) paradigm (tests of discrimination & identification of consonants to discover those lg-specific patterns)
so, the opinion in the 1970s: discrimination of voicing & place contrasts in Cs in L2 determined by the phonemic significance of the stimuli in L1
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14. Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk
SLA of speech cont.
BUT 2 to 6-month-old infants COULD discriminate such contrasts independent of their exposure to the language in which they occurred
THUS loss in discrimination ability (age; progress in L1)
adults Japanese learners of English could produce /r/ & /l/, but not perceive the contrast: production preceded & exceeded perception in L2 learning
training to improve perception was unsuccessful - support for the strong Critical Period Hypothesis (Lenneberg 1967): from 2 years to puberty
the above conclusions were premature → detailed studies demonstrated that…
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15. perceptual difficulty in L2 is relative
as to voicing, place, context, experience with L2, but also different acoustic cues used by L2 learners than by natives for the same contrasts (e.g. for /r-l/ contrast native speakers use F3, while Japanese learners use temporal differences and F2)
native lg patterns of phonetic perception are formed in the first year of life (works by Werker et al., Polka)
no consistent answer as to children b-n 2 & 13: whether they have any advantage over adolescents & adults in the perception of non-native contrasts (Flege et al. vs. Werker & others)
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16. perception vs. production
perception causal for production: e.g. Portuguese speakers assimilated Fr. /y/ to their /i/ category while English speakers - to their /u/ category
however, prod & perc may proceed independently (in Japanese learners of English perc lagged behind prod)
"earlier is better" to learn production; no convincing evidence for perc (comment: adults have heard incomparably more signals than children)
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17. perceptual training of L2 contrasts
in the s it was demonstrated that short-term intensive training improves perc; voicing easier than place; but longer training even more
importance of context, e.g. vd/vless <th> contrast trained in CV context improved Fr. speakers' perc of natural CV stimuli, but there was NO TRANSFER to VCV or VC contexts: "subjects learn to differentiate position-specific allophones of phonetic categories, rather than context-free phoneme categories"
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18. Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk
THE PRESENT
both children & adults have some perc difficulties; they are not due to a loss of sensory capabilities, but reflect perceptual attunement
sensitive period > critical period
since non-native contrasts are not equally difficult, contrastive analysis of phoneme inventories cannot accurately predict perceptual problems of L2 learners
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19. Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk
THE PRESENT cont.
selective perceptual patterns are modified in adults (& children) through immersion or conversational instruction; some perc difficulties may persist even after production mastered, so perc & prod may be uncorrelated in more experienced learners
short-term training emphasizing equivalence classification transfers to novel talkers and stimuli, but whether it generalizes to all phonotactic contexts - has not been demonstrated
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20. Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk
Extended References
Cook, V Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition. London: Macmillan.
Dziubalska-Kołaczyk, Katarzyna Conscious competence of performance as a key to teaching English. In Waniek-Klimczak, E. and Melia, P.J. (eds.) Accents and Speech in English. Frankfurt: Peter Lang
Dziubalska-Kołaczyk, Katarzyna How learners ‘repair’ second language phonology and whether they may become native speakers. In Waniek-Klimczak, Ewa and Włodzimierz Sobkowiak (eds.). Dydaktyka fonetyki języka obcego. Neofilologia, tom V. Płock: Zeszyty Naukowe PWSZ w Płocku.
Dziubalska-Kołaczyk, Katarzyna Speech is in the ear of the listener: Some remarks on the acquisition of second language sounds. In Hales, Kimberli and Angela Terveen (main editors), Aurélie Capron, Marion Correnoz and Théo Garneau, under the direction of Marie-Christine Garneau (eds.). Selected Papers from the Sixth College-wide Conference for Students in Languages, Linguistics and Literature Honolulu: College of Languages, Linguistics, and Literature. University of Hawai`i at Mānoa
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21. Extended References cont.
Eckman, Fred R Markedness and the contrstive analysis hypothesis. Language Learning
Eckman, Fred R On predicting phonological difficulty in second language acquisition. SSLA
Eckman, Fred R The structural conformity hypothesis and the acquisition of consonant clusters in the interlanguage of ESL learners. . SSLA
Eckman, Fred R. and Gregory K. Iverson Sonority and markedness among onset clusters in the interlanguage of ESL learners. Second Language Research 9,
Fisiak, J. (1993) Contrastive linguistics and foreign/second language acquisition. In Seeber, H.U. and W. Göbel (eds.) Anglistentag 1992 Stuttgart. Proceedings. vol.XIV. Max Niemeyer Verlag
Flege, James Emil Second language speech learning: Theory, findings, and problems. In Strange, W. (ed.). Speech Perception and Linguistic Experience: Theoretical and Methodological Issues. Timonium, MD: York Press.
Flege, James Emil The relation between L2 production and perception. ICPhS99, San Francisco
Jassem, Wiktor Polish. JIPA 33,
Leather, J. and A.R. James The acquisition of second language speech. SSLA
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22. Extended References cont.
Major, Roy C Foreign Accent: The Ontogeny and Philogeny of Second Language Acquisition. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Proceedings of the 14th 1999 and 15th 2003 ICPhS (on CDRoms).
Shockey, Linda Sound Patterns of Spoken English. Oxford: Blackwell.
Sobkowiak, W English Phonetics for Poles. Poznań: Bene Nati.
Strange, Winifred Phonetics of Second-Language Acquisition: Past, Present, Future. 13th ICPhS, 4:
Strange, Winifred Levels of abstraction in characterizing cross-language phonetic similarity. ICPhS99, San Francisco
Tarone, Elaine E The phonology of interlanguage. In Richards, J. (ed.). Understanding second and foreigh language learning. Rowley, MA: Newbury House
Wardhaugh, Ronald The contrastive analysis hypothesis. TESOL Quaterly
Weinreich, Uriel Languages in contact. The Hague: Mouton.
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