Pushing the positive: encouraging phonological transfer from L2 to L3

Abstract

Compared to monolinguals, multilingual learners possess a larger repertoire of phonetic-phonological parameters, have a higher degree of language and meta-linguistic awareness, and have developed increased phonological knowledge. This, combined with the increased cognitive flexibility that accompanies experienced learners, supports their acquisition of the pronunciation of further foreign languages.

This paper first considers the dearth of research in the field of L3 phonology with respect to transfer phenomena. In a second step, it explores phonetic similarities between English (as L2) and German (as L3) which can be used to promote positive transfer by learners of the target language German, before turning to pedagogical implications of these similarities. Finally, we consider the necessity for further research in the area of L3 phonetics, especially when considering language constellations whereby L2 and L3 are more closely related to each other than to the L1.

Keywords:

• positive transfer
• phonetic-phonological parameters
• tertiary language learning
• pronunciation
• German after English

Notes

1. In most German dictionaries, the vowel of the stressed syllable is either underlined (for a long vowel or a diphthong) or indicated with a dot beneath (short vowel).

2. The German phoneme combinations are usually pronounced as syllabic consonants [n], [m], [l] (Mangold, 2005, p. 37). For spoken English, syllabic consonants are common as well.

3. A further example to stress the importance of signalling information structure by a correct pitch accent placement is given in Grice and Baumann (2007) for Italian.

4. Data from individual language pronunciation coaching show that some learners with tonal L1s (e.g. Thai) believe to hear tones in German, and also produce these tones as in their L1 (cf. Mehlhorn, 2007c, p. 194).