Jeffrey Steele

Integrating Articulatory Constraints into Models of Second Language Phonological Acquisition.

Models such as Eckmans markedness differential hypothesis, Fleges speech learning model, and Browns 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.

Second Language Speech: Theory and Practice

Part I. Questions and Frameworks for the Study of Second Language Speech: 1. An introduction to second language speech research 2. Theoretical concepts and frameworks Part II. Research Methodology: 3. Research methodology Part III. Case Studies and Analysis of L2 Speech Perception and Production: 4. Vowels 5. Obstruents 6. Sonorants 7. Sequences 8. Prosody 9. Conclusion.

Synchronic evidence of a diachronic change: Voicing and duration in French and Spanish stop-liquid clusters

This article investigates the role that the phonetic parameters of duration and voicing play in shaping asymmetric patterns of Romance stop-liquid cluster realization. Based on acoustic analysis of experimental data from Quebec French and Argentine Spanish, we demonstrate the existence of an asymmetry in the proportional duration of the stop and a following epenthetic vowel or lateral: sonorants are shorter after voiceless stops in stop–liquid clusters. Rhotics do not participate in this process. The Spanish tap does not vary significantly in length, and the French dorsal fricative is longer in voiceless clusters. We propose that compensatory adjustments of the following sonorant are the result of the interaction of coarticulatory constraints, both universal (shorter sonorants after voiceless stops or fricatives) and language-specific (voicing in dorsal fricatives in French). Parallels are drawn between the synchronic variation attested and well-known patterns of diachronic change in Romance. Le présent article examine le rôle que jouent deux paramètres phonétiques, soit la durée et le voisement, dans la réalisation asymétrique des groupes consonantiques occlusive-liquide dans les langues romanes. À partir d’une analyse acoustique de données expérimentales du français québécois et de l’espagnol argentin, nous démontrons qu’il existe une asymétrie dans la durée proportionnelle des occlusives et de certains segments qui les suivent (voyelles latérales ou épenthétiques) : les sonantes sont plus courtes après les occlusives sourdes. Les rhotiques ne participent pas à ce processus. La durée de la vibrante battue de l’espagnol ne varie pas de façon significative, et la fricative dorsale du français est plus longue lorsqu’elle fait partie d’un groupe consonantique sourd. Nous proposons que l’ajustement compensatoire des sonantes résulte de l’interaction entre des contraintes coarticulatoires tant universelle (sonantes plus courtes après occlusives ou fricatives sourdes) que propre à une seule langue (voisement des fricatives dorsales en français). Enfin, nous dégageons des parallèles entre la variation synchronique observée et certains changements diachroniques bien connus.