Joan C. Mora

L2 effects on the perception and production of a native vowel contrast in early bilinguals

This study investigates the effect of L2 (Spanish) use on Catalan–Spanish bilinguals’ ability to accurately perceive and produce two contrastive native Catalan vowel categories, /e/ and /ε/. Participants were L1 Catalan highly proficient Catalan–Spanish bilinguals differing in amount of daily exposure/use of Catalan (low: 40%–70% vs. high: 80%–100%). Perceptual accuracy was assessed through speeded categorization and AXB discrimination tasks based on a 10-step vowel continuum (/e/–/ε/). Production accuracy was assessed by eliciting /ε/ tokens in Catalan cognate and noncognate words. The results indicated that participants using Spanish more frequently discriminated Catalan vowels /e/ and /ε/ less accurately and significantly more slowly and had a more Spanish-like acoustic target in the production of Catalan /ε/, particularly in cognate words. These results are consistent with the view that, in a language contact context, extensive L2 experience affects L1 sound categories.

L2 speech learning in adulthood and phonological short-term memory

Abstract The aim of the present study is to extend research on individual differences in cognitive ability and second language acquisition by exploring the relationship between PSTM and L2 speech learning in advanced EFL learners. The participants (N=60) were a subset of a larger group of Catalan-Spanish bilingual EFL learners participating in 10 60-minute high-variability phonetic training sessions on the perception of the 11 British English monophthongs. Perceptual accuracy was assessed at pre- and post-test through categorization and discrimination tasks based on 5 monophthongal vowels (/i: ɪ æ ʌ ɑ:/). PSTM capacity measures were obtained at post-test using a SNWR task consisting of CVC Catalan nonwords on the basis of which participants were assigned to either low or high PSTM capacity groups The high PSTM group was found to obtain higher accuracy scores and greater perceptual accuracy gains than the low PSTM group. These results suggest that PSTM may play a role in L2 speech learning and may be involved in learners’ ability to successfully form phonetic categories for L2 sounds.

How long is long enough? L2 English development through study abroad programmes varying in duration

The current study analyzes the oral production of advanced learners of English who have Catalan and Spanish as their first languages. Subjects participated in study abroad (SA) programmes in English-speaking countries as part of their undergraduate studies. A role-play task was used to elicit speech from learners prior to SA and upon arrival from SA. We analyze two groups of learners who participated in a three-month stay (N = 33) and a six-month stay (N = 14). Their oral production is measured on the basis of syntactic complexity, and overall accuracy and fluency. Native speakers of English (N = 24) performed the same role-play task so as to provide a baseline. Statistical analyses show a significant advantage of the three-month stay in the target language country over the six-month stay in terms of accuracy and fluency, areas in which, nevertheless, native speakers outperformed both groups at pre- and post-test, regardless of length of stay (LoS).

Experience effects on the categorization of a native vowel contrast in highly proficient Catalan‐Spanish bilinguals.

The present study investigated the effect of experience on highly proficient adult Catalan‐Spanish bilinguals’ ability to categorize two contrastive native vowel categories, /e/ and /e/. Experience was operationalized as self‐reported amount of use of Catalan on a daily basis. Because Spanish has a single mid front vowel /e/ in the area of the perceptual vowel space of the Catalan mid vowels /e/ and /e/, categorization and discrimination speed and accuracy was hypothesized to vary as a function of amount of use of Catalan and Spanish, more experienced Catalan speakers performing faster and perceiving the contrast more categorically. All participants (N=43) were L1‐Catalan bilinguals, but differed as regards the amount of use of Catalan (N=14, M=62.1, range 40–70 vs N=29, M=91.4, range 80–100). Experience effects were assessed through the categorical perception paradigm: categorization and AXB discrimination tasks based on stimuli drawn from a 10‐step vowel continuum (/e/‐/e/). Response latency data reveal...