Second Language Phonology

This study investigates the participation in the California Vowel Shift by Korean Americans in Los Angeles. Five groups of subjects participated in a picture narrative task: first-, 1.5-, and second-generation Korean Americans, Anglo-Californians, and (non-immigrant) Korean late learners of English. Results showed a clear distinction between early vs. late bilinguals; while the first-generation Korean Americans and the late learners showed apparent signs of Korean influence, the 1.5-and the second-generation Korean Americans participated in most patterns of the California Vowel Shift. However, divergence from the Anglo-Californians was observed in early bilinguals' speech. Similar to the late bilinguals, the 1.5-generation speakers did not systematically distinguish prenasal and non-prenasal /ae/. The second-generation speakers demonstrated a split-/ae/ system, but it was less pronounced than for the Anglo-Californians. These findings suggest that age of arrival has a strong effect on immigrant minority speakers' participation in local sound change. In the case of the second-generation Korean Americans, certain patterns of the California Vowel Shift were even more pronounced than for the Anglo-Californians (i.e., / Languages 2020, 5, x; doi: FOR PEER REVIEW Abstract: This study investigates the participation in the California Vowel Shift by Korean Americans in Los Angeles. Five groups of subjects participated in a picture narrative task: first-, 1.5-, and second-generation Korean Americans, Anglo-Californians, and (non-immigrant) Korean late learners of English. Results showed a clear distinction between early vs. late bilinguals; while the first-generation Korean Americans and the late learners showed apparent signs of Korean influence, the 1.5-and the second-generation Korean Americans participated in most patterns of the California Vowel Shift. However, divergence from the Anglo-Californians was observed in early bilinguals' speech. Similar to the late bilinguals, the 1.5-generation speakers did not systematically distinguish prenasal and non-prenasal /ae/. The second-generation speakers demonstrated a split-/ae/ system, but it was less pronounced than for the Anglo-Californians. These findings suggest that age of arrival has a strong effect on immigrant minority speakers' participation in local sound change. In the case of the second-generation Korean Americans, certain patterns of the California Vowel Shift were even more pronounced than for the Anglo-Californians (i.e., /ɪ/-lowering, /ɑ/-/ɔ/ merger, /ʊ/-and /ʌ/-fronting). Moreover, the entire vowel space of the second-generation Korean Americans, especially female speakers, was more fronted than that of the Anglo-Californians. These findings suggest that second-generation Korean Americans may be in a more advanced stage of the California Vowel Shift than Anglo-Californians or the California Vowel Shift is on a different trajectory for these speakers. Possible explanations in relation to second-generation Korean Americans' intersecting gender, ethnic, and racial identities, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Even though the current issues of pronunciation teaching have shifted significantly from the nativeness principle to the intelligibility principle and from the traditional phonemic-based view to the discourse-based view, the paradigm of pronunciation teaching at the English Education Department of Siliwangi University might still adhere the old-fashioned one. This study was aimed at scrutinizing how the teaching of English pronunciation at the English Education Department of Siliwangi University is. The participants of this study were two English Education Department teachers, namely the Pronunciation Practice 3 and Speaking 3 teachers. The data were collected through the classroom observations, notably focused observations (Hopkins, 2008). The data were analyzed based on the types of pronunciation teaching techniques categorized by Tergujeff (2013). On the one hand, the findings revealed that there were eleven pronunciation teaching techniques commonly used by the Pronunciation Practice 3 teacher during teaching in the classroom, namely imitation and drilling, corrective feedback, reading aloud, awareness-raising tasks, phonetic training, minimal pair drills, contextualized minimal pairs, the use of technology (e.g. LCD projector), the use of tools (e.g. Whiteboard), the use of materials (e.g. Pronunciation Practice 3 module) and ear training. On the other hand, the Speaking 3 teacher tended to employ awareness-raising tasks, imitation and drilling, the use of technology and reading aloud when teaching English pronunciation. These indicate that the teaching of English pronunciation at the English Education Department of Siliwangi University may still hold the traditional pronunciation teaching paradigm, teacher-centered instruction and nativeness principle. For these reasons, promoting intelligibility principle, learner-centered approach, research-based approach and optimal use of technology would be a valuable breakthrough in attaining a more achievable goal in pronunciation teaching and learning, namely intelligibility. Briefly stated, this study suggests that the teaching of English pronunciation at the English Education Department of Siliwangi University should be led to the integration of accuracy-oriented exercises with fluency-building activities as a new direction of pronunciation teaching currently (Celce-Murcia, et. al., 1996).

Research shows that the orthographic forms ('spellings') of second language (L2) words affect speech production in L2 speakers. The present study investigated whether English orthographic forms lead L2 speakers to produce English homophonic word pairs as phonological minimal pairs. Targets were 33 orthographic minimal pairs, that is to say homophonic words that would be pronounced as phonological minimal pairs if orthography affects pronunciation. Word pairs contained the same target sound spelled with one letter or two, such as the /n/ in finish and Finnish (both /ˈfɪnɪʃ/ in Standard British English). To test for effects of length and type of L2 exposure, we compared Italian instructed learners of English, Italian-English late bilinguals with lengthy naturalistic exposure, and English natives. A reading aloud task revealed that Italian speakers of English L2 produce two English homophonic words as a minimal pair distinguished by different consonant or vowel length, for instance producing the target /ˈfɪnɪʃ/ with a short [n] or a long [nː] to reflect the number of consonant letters in the spelling of the words finish and Finnish. Similar effects were found on the pronunciation of vowels, for instance in the orthographic pair scene-seen (both /siːn/). Naturalistic exposure did not reduce orthographic effects, as effects were found both in learners and in late bilinguals living in an English-speaking environment. It appears that the orthographic form of L2 words can result in the establishment of a phonological contrast that does not exist in the target language. Results have implications for models of L2 phonological development.