The influence of language distance and language status on the acquisition of L3 phonology

Abstract

Research in the field of third language acquisition has consistently identified two key factors which have an effect on the ways in which the two known languages may influence the acquisition of a third. These factors are language distance (typology) and language status (more specifically, second language, L2, or non-native language status). To date, however, the findings have not been conclusive regarding whether one of the two factors has a greater influence than the other. In this study, we investigated whether L2 status or typology would be the stronger predictor in the selection of a source language for phonological influence in L3 acquisition. Two groups of learners of Spanish as an L3, one with English L1 and French L2, the other with French L1 and English L2, were recorded reading word lists containing voiceless stops in onset, stressed position. Paired-samples t-tests were used to compare the rates of presence (English-influenced) or absence (French-influenced) of aspiration (operationalised as voice onset time values). Results point to L2 status as the determining factor in the selection of a source language for the production of voiceless stops in stressed onset position in L3 Spanish for both groups.

Keywords:

• cross-linguistic influence
• L2 status
• phonology
• third language acquisition
• typology

Notes

1. Our participants did not acquire their L1 and their L2 as two native languages. Instead, they learnt either English or French as an L2 and there is a marked difference in proficiency between their L1 and their L2.

2. Note that some of the monosyllabic words selected for the French word list can variably appear followed by an epenthetic schwa (e.g. /tigr/ → ‘tigre’). In these cases, the French words will match the criteria that we followed in the design of the word lists (disyllabic, stressed on the penultimate syllable).

3. As an anonymous reviewer pointed out, VOT values are influenced by tempo and the position of the voiceless plosive in the utterance (Fougeron, 2001). In our study, however, the focus is on aspiration, a feature that can be measured acoustically via VOT values, but whose perception is categorical: a voiceless plosive is either perceived as aspirated or unaspirated, regardless of its tempo or position in the utterance. Interestingly, in her acoustic analysis of VOT values in French, Fougeron (2001) observed that the plosive /k/ displayed no difference in VOT duration, regardless of its position in the utterance. The only consonant that did display variation was the coronal /t/, which had a shorter VOT duration in syllable-initial position.

4. These values have been taken from the literature (see Table 3) for monolinguals of all the languages involved in the study. Values in L1 English and L1 French are used to represent those that our participants may produce if they conformed to their L1 phonology.