Keywords
second language acquisition, perception, production, French, assibilation, vowels, acoustic cues
Abstract
This article examines how a second language (L2) dialect affects how accurately the L2 is perceived and produced. Specifically, the study examined differences between the production and perception of French vowels /i/, /y/, and /u/ by learners of either Quebec French (QF) or European French (EF). These vowels differ across the two varieties, both acoustically and because of assibilation of /t-d/ before /i-y/ for QF versus EF. As a result of these differences, QF has an additional acoustic cue with which to contrast /u/ and /i-y/. Anglophone learners of QF or EF were asked to identify and discriminate both QF and EF vowels and to produce the vowels in several phonetic contexts. Results indicate that QF learners were more accurate at discrimination and identification of these vowels as produced by both QF and EF speakers and that L2 dialect exposure affects how well learners perceive and produce these French vowels.
Original Publication Citation
Baker, W. & Smith, L. (2010). The impact of L2 dialect on L2 learning: Leaning Quebecois versus European French. Canadian Modern Language Review, 66, 711-738.
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Baker-Smemoe, Wendy and Smith, Laura Catherine, "The Impact of L2 Dialect on Learning French Vowels: Native English Speakers Learning Que´be´cois and European French" (2010). Faculty Publications. 5910.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/5910
Document Type
Peer-Reviewed Article
Publication Date
2010
Permanent URL
http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/8639
Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Language
English
College
Humanities
Department
Linguistics
Copyright Status
2010 The Canadian Modern Language Review
Copyright Use Information
https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/