Syllable Structure Effects in Word Recognition by Spanish- and German-Speaking Second Language Learners of English

  1. Maria Teresa Martinez-Garcia 1
  1. 1 University of Utah
    info

    University of Utah

    Salt Lake City, Estados Unidos

    ROR https://ror.org/03r0ha626

Revista:
Atlantis: Revista de la Asociación Española de Estudios Anglo-Norteamericanos

ISSN: 0210-6124

Año de publicación: 2021

Volumen: 43

Número: 2

Páginas: 1-21

Tipo: Artículo

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Otras publicaciones en: Atlantis: Revista de la Asociación Española de Estudios Anglo-Norteamericanos

Resumen

Previous findings in the literature point to the influence that speech perception has on word recognition. However, which specific aspects of the first (L1) and second language (L2) mapping play the most important role is still not fully understood. This study explores whether, and if so, how, L1-L2 syllable-structure differences affect word recognition. Spanish- and German-speaking English learners completed an AXB and a word-monitoring task in English that manipulated the presence of a vowel in words with /s/-initial consonant clusters—e.g., especially versus specially. The results show a clear effect of L1 on L2 learners’ perception and word recognition, with the German group outperforming the Spanish one. These results indicate that the similarity in the syllable structure between English and German fosters positive transfer in both perception and word recognition despite the inexact segmental mapping.

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Fuente de los datos: Dialnet