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L2 DEVELOPMENT OF PERCEPTUAL CATEGORIZATION OF DIALECTAL SOUNDS

A STUDY IN SPANISH

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 June 2018

Lauren B. Schmidt
Lauren B. Schmidt*
Affiliation:
San Diego State University
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Lauren B. Schmidt, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92182-6010, USA. E-mail: lschmidt@sdsu.edu
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Abstract

The present study examined second language (L2) development in the perceptual identification of a dialectal sound of the target language, through an investigation of the role of individual learner experiences in L2 phonological development. A total of 213 English-speaking learners of Spanish across five levels of study and with varying dialect contact experiences completed an identification task, which tested perceptual categorization of Spanish dialectal aspirated-s (e.g., siesta [ˈsi̯eh-ta]). In accordance with postulates of L2 speech perception models (PAM-L2, SLM, L2LP), findings revealed influence of the first language phonology on categorization at early levels shifting toward nativelike, dialect-specific categorizations of aspirated-s for more experienced learners. Dialect contact factors of prior study abroad location, native speaker social contacts, and metalinguistic training were found to be predictors of the dialectal perceptual targets toward which the L2 learners developed—for those learners past intermediate-level language courses—highlighting how individual experiences shape L2 perceptual abilities.

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Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 40 , Issue 4 , December 2018 , pp. 857 - 882
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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Footnotes

The author would like to thank Kimberly Geeslin, Isabelle Darcy, Erik Willis, and Manuel Díaz-Campos for their mentorship and support in the development of this project, as well as the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on versions of the manuscript. She would also like to acknowledge Sandra Ortiz in her assistance in the creation of the speech stimuli as well as Andy Johns and colleagues in the Masters Program in Applied Linguistics at the Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas for their assistance in obtaining participants.

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