<OT> New Posting: ROA-743

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ROA 743-0505

Differential Difficulty in the Acquisition of Second Language Phonology

Ellen Broselow <ellen.broselow at sunysb.edu>
Zheng Xu <xuz1014 at yahoo.com>

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=743


Abstract:
Differential Difficulty in the Acquisition of Second Language
Phonology

This paper reports on Mandarin speakers' acquisition of
English final voiced and voiceless obstruents and final
labial nasals, none of which occurs in Mandarin codas. 
The  learners' production patterns are compared with a simulation
using the Gradual Learning Algorithm (Boersma & Hayes 2001).
We demonstrate that by assuming the Mandarin Chinese rankings
as the initial state and providing this system with representativ
e English input, the GLA correctly models the order of acquisitio
n of obstruent codas (voiceless before voiced), as well
as the variation seen in the data between deletion of coda
obstruents, insertion of a vowel after coda obstruents,
devoicing of voiced final obstruents, and correct production
of obstruent codas.


However, the GLA fails to correctly model the relative order
of acquisition of obstruents and labial nasals.  Because
coda labials are relatively infrequent in the English input,
the GLA predicts they should be acquired after coda obstruents,
which are more frequent in the input.  Yet speakers made
many fewer errors with final labial nasals than with final
obstruents.  We outline several possible explanations of
the differential acquisition of coda labial nasals and coda
obstruents: (i) an articulatory account (e.g., Ussishkin
and Wedel 2003): learners have a gestural program for producing
nasal codas in their repertoire, so that production of [m]
in coda position requires only superimposition of a labial
closure on this gestural score, but their repertoire lacks
a program for producing either voiced obstruents or obstruent
closures not followed by a vowel; (ii) a perceptual account
(e.g., Silverman 1992): nasal codas are more salient than
obstruent codas; (iii) an account based on constraint induction
(e.g., Hayes 1999): if we assume that the constraints banning
obstruent codas and voiced obstruent codas are universal
and innate, while the constraint banning [m] in coda is
language-specific and learned, then we can build into the
model a preference for demoting language specific constraints
over universal ones.

Comments: 
Keywords: Mandarin, codas, acquisition
Areas: Language Acquisition
Type: Journal Article

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=743