The Acquisition of L2 Phonology

The Acquisition of L2 Phonology is a wide-ranging new collection which focuses on various aspects of the acquisition of an L2 phonological system. The authors are researchers and practitioners from five different countries. The volume has been divided into three major sections. Phonetic Analysis presents five studies of language learners in both naturalistic and formal-educational settings, which illustrate aspects of L2 production and perception. In Phonological Analysis a more abstract and comparative perspective is taken, in order to use recent theories modeling the route of L1/L2 pronunciation and reading ability development to account for observable tendencies in learner behavior. Pedagogical Perspectives consists of four contributions of high practical value, which look at the mastery of native-like or highly intelligible pronunciation as an important component of L2 education.

Auteur

Janusz Arabski and Adam Wojtaszek both work at the University of Silesia, Poland. Their research interests include psycholinguistics, language acquisition and linguistic pragmatics. They are the editors of Neurolinguistic and Psycholinguistic Perspectives on SLA and The Acquisition of L2 Phonology, both recently published by Multilingual Matters. The editors and the contributing authors are active members of many scientific committees and organizations devoted to the investigation of language acquisition processes, and they regularly participate in many conferences and publish extensively. The author list comprises experienced scholars as well as young and promising researchers.

Adam Wojtaszek is Associate Professor and the Deputy Director at the Institute of English, University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland. His major field of interest is linguistic pragmatics, psycholinguistics and language of persuasion. He has published two books on advertising language, Deciphering Radio Commercials - A Pragmatic Perspective (2002) and Theoretical Frameworks in the Study of Press Advertisements - Polish, British and Chinese Perspective (2011), as well as a number of articles on the topic. Within the area of psycholinguistics and second language acquisition studies, he has co-edited a number of volumes reporting on recent studies and developments, such as Neurolinguistic and Psycholinguistic Perspectives on SLA (2010), The Acquisition of L2 Phonology (2011a), Individual Learner Differences in SLA (2011b), Aspects of Culture in Second Language Acquisition and Foreign Language Learning (2011c), and recently Studying Second Language Acquisition from a Qualitative Perspective (2014). He is also the author of a chapter on morphosyntactic development in the volume edited by Danuta Gabrys-Barker, Readings in Second Language Acquisition (2012). He is also one of the organizers of the annual international SLA conference held in Szczyrk, Poland, a major event of international recognition, initiated in the mid 1980's by Janusz Arabski.

Contenu

Janusz Arabski and Adam Wojtaszek: Introduction to the volume

Part 1: Phonetic analysis

1. Abeer Nasser Eddine: Second language acquisition: the articulation of vowels and the importance of tools in the learning process

2. Luo Xiaorong and Gao Jian: On phonetic negative transfer from Chinese to English

3. Linda Shockey: Understanding L2 and the perspicacious Pole

4. Arkadiusz Rojczyk: Perception of the English Voice Onset Time continuum by Polish learners

5. Marta Nowacka: The productive and receptive acquisition of consonants and connected speech by Polish students of English

Part II: Phonological analysis

6. Monika Kusiak: The role of phonological awareness in beginning reading: a cross-linguistic perspective

7. Anna Bloch-Rozmej: Aspects of phonological strength: evidence from language acquisition

8. Liliana Piasecka: The role of phonemic awareness in the development of L1 and L2 reading

Part III: Pedagogical perspectives

9. Danuta Gabrys-Barker: Phonological issues in second language acquisition studies: focus areas and implications for FL instructional practices

10. Wieslawa Ferlacka and Wlodzimierz Sobkowiak: PDI as a tool of phonetic enhancements to graded e-readers

11. Tammy Gregersen: Suprasegmentals: tools for increased language teacher effectiveness

12. Miroslaw Pawlak: Students' successes and failures in learning foreign language pronunciation: insights from diary data