title: Do a learner’s L1 and L2 change with increasing L3 exposure? Investigating regressive phonological cross-linguistic influence in adolescent and adult L3 learners
Creators: name: Nelson, Christina
Publisher: name: University of Muenster, Institutional Repository MIAMI
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: 420 English and Old English (Anglo-Saxon)
subject: 400 Language
subject: 410 Linguistics

description: Diese Studie untersucht die phonologische Entwicklung von sieben Jugendlichen und sieben Erwachsenen in ihrer Erst- (L1), Zweit- (L2) und Drittsprache (L3) im Verlauf des ersten Jahres des schulischen Lernens der L3. Ziel war es, Veraenderungen in den bereits vorhandenen Sprachen der Lernenden als Folge des zunehmenden L3-Inputs und -Gebrauchs zu identifizieren. Vier Aussprachemerkmale in allen Sprachen der Lernenden wurden sowohl auditiv als auch akustisch analysiert, um feingranulare Modifikationen aufzuspueren. Diese Studie ist damit die erste, welche die mehrsprachige Entwicklung zweier Altersgruppen longitudinal mit innovativen Methoden zur Verfolgung von phonologischen Veraenderungen untersucht. Bei den meisten Lernenden wurden im Laufe der Zeit Aenderungen der Aussprache sowohl in der L1 als auch der L2 festgestellt. Dies zeigt, dass alle Sprachen einer Person als Teil eines dynamischen Systems betrachtet werden sollten, das sich staendig wandelt. Darueber hinaus waren die individuellen Lernverlaeufe in den verschiedenen Sprachen weitgehend non-linear. Diese Ergebnisse unterstreichen daher die Notwendigkeit, bei der Untersuchung von Phaenomenen im Zusammenhang mit mehrsprachiger Sprachentwicklung vor allem auf prozessorientierte Ansaetze zurueckzugreifen.
description: This study investigates the phonological development of seven adolescents and seven adults in their first (L1), second (L2), and third language (L3) over the course of their first year of L3 learning. It specifically explored modifications to the learners' already existing languages as a result of increasing L3 exposure and use. Four pronunciation features in all of the learners' languages were analyzed auditorily as well as acoustically in order to trace fine-grained changes. As such, this study is the first to explore the multilingual development of two age groups in a longitudinal manner using cutting-edge methodology for investigating phonological developments. For most learners, changes over time in both their L1 and L2 were detected. This shows that all of a speaker's languages should be seen as part of a dynamic system, undergoing continuous change. Moreover, the multilingual learning trajectories encountered in this study were largely non-linear. These findings therefore stress the need to focus on process-oriented approaches when studying phenomena related to multilingual language development.
description: List of abbreviations and definitions ..... vii
List of abbreviations ..... vii
Definitions: Labels for speakers ..... viii
Definitions: Labels for languages ..... ix
1 Introduction ..... 1
2 Individual multilingualism: Terminology and concepts ..... 6
2.1 Justifying L3 research as independent field ..... 6
2.2 Challenges with defining terms and concepts relevant to multilingualism and L3 acquisition ..... 7
2.2.1 Bilingualism and multilingualism ..... 8
2.2.2 Labelling a multilingual’s languages ..... 13
2.2.3 Types of multilinguals ..... 16
3 Cross-linguistic influence in multilingual learners ..... 18
3.1 Discoveries and concepts over time ..... 18
3.2 Types of CLI: Dimensions and terminology ..... 26
3.2.1 Classifying CLI across different dimensions ..... 26
3.2.2 Types of CLI investigated in the present study ..... 29
3.3 Underlying processes of CLI ..... 30
3.4 CLI and other relevant models in the multilingual context ..... 34
3.5 Methodology and findings of previous studies on phonological CLI ..... 39
3.5.1 What language aspects and speakers have been studied? ..... 39
3.5.2 What are the main findings concerning the direction and frequency of phonological and phonetic CLI? ..... 41
3.5.3 Operationalizing phonological CLI ..... 42
3.5.4 Interim summary ..... 45
3.6 Regressive CLI as a special phenomenon? ..... 45
3.6.1 Underlying processes – insights from attrition research ..... 46
3.6.2 Regressive phonological CLI in bilingual/SLA research ..... 56
3.6.3 Regressive CLI in L3 research ..... 62
3.6.4 The phonological permeability hypothesis (PPH) ..... 67
3.7 Factors influencing CLI ..... 72
3.7.1 Language status (native vs. non-native) ..... 74
3.7.2 Language distance/cross-linguistic similarity ..... 80
3.7.3 Language proficiency and stage of learning ..... 85
3.7.4 Recency and language use ..... 90
3.7.5 Age ..... 92
4 Age and language learning ..... 93
4.1 The critical period hypothesis ..... 93
4.2 Relevant L2 models: SLM and SLM-r ..... 95
4.3 Influential age-related factors ..... 98
4.3.1 Metalinguistic awareness ..... 99
4.3.2 Language proficiency, use, and (learning) experience ..... 103
5 Methodology ..... 107
5.1 Motivation for the present study and research questions ..... 107
5.2 Design ..... 108
5.3 Participants ..... 109
5.3.1 Adolescents ..... 110
5.3.2 Adults ..... 111
5.4 Elicitation instruments ..... 112
5.4.1 Production tasks ..... 113
5.4.2 Language background interview and other instruments ..... 115
5.5 Features under investigation ..... 118
5.6 Data Analysis ..... 118
5.6.1 Auditory and acoustic analyses ..... 118
5.6.2 Statistical analysis ..... 119
6 Rhotics ..... 121
6.1 Auditory and acoustic analysis ..... 122
6.2 Statistical analysis ..... 124
6.3 Results ..... 125
6.3.1 Actual realizations and accuracy scores ..... 125
6.3.2 F3 ..... 138
6.3.3 Duration ..... 146
6.3.4 Harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR) ..... 154
6.4 Summary ..... 162
7 /v/-/w/ contrast ..... 167
7.1 Auditory and acoustic analysis ..... 168
7.2 Statistical analysis ..... 168
7.3 Results ..... 169
7.3.1 Actual realizations and accuracy scores ..... 169
7.3.2 Center of gravity (CoG) ..... 186
7.3.3 Harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR) ..... 197
7.3.4 F2 ..... 208
7.4 Summary ..... 219
8 Voice-onset time ..... 223
8.1 Acoustic analysis ..... 224
8.2 Statistical analysis ..... 225
8.3 Results ..... 226
8.4 Summary ..... 233
9 Vowel reduction ..... 235
9.1 Acoustic analysis ..... 235
9.2 Statistical analysis ..... 236
9.3 Results ..... 237
9.4 Summary ..... 246
10 Individual differences in multilingual language development ..... 247
10.1 Vignette 1: SYLU08 ..... 250
10.2 Vignette 2: LYBO24 ..... 259
10.3 Vignette 3: SMSC15 ..... 267
10.4 Vignette 4: BISC14 ..... 274
10.5 Summary ..... 281
11 Discussion ..... 286
11.1 Research question 1: Language status ..... 286
11.2 Research question 2: Age ..... 290
11.3 Research question 3: Other influential factors ..... 296
11.4 Research question 4: Group vs. individual results ..... 300
11.5 Limitations ..... 301
12 Conclusions, contributions, and future directions ..... 304
12.1 Significance and contributions to the field ..... 304
12.2 Future directions ..... 305
References ..... 306
Appendices ..... 338
Appendix A: Information on the Language Background Questionnaire (LBQ) ..... 338
Appendix A1: Overview table of item types and scales of the LBQ ..... 339
Appendix A2: LBQ (adolescents/adults) ..... 341
Appendix A3: Summary table of changes over time (acoustic analysis) and individual difference measures ..... 347
Appendix B: Item overview ..... 348
Appendix B1: L1 German features ..... 348
Appendix B2: L2 English features ..... 348
Appendix B3: L3 Polish features ..... 349
Appendix C: Picture naming task ..... 350
Appendix C1: English picture naming task ..... 350
Appendix C2: German picture naming task ..... 351
Appendix C3: Polish picture naming task ..... 352
Appendix D: Picture stories from the story telling tasks ..... 353
Appendix D1: Picnic story ..... 353
Appendix D2: Zoo story ..... 353
Appendix D3: Concert story ..... 353
Appendix D4: Suitcase story ..... 354
Appendix E: Summary of previous CLI studies conducted in the multilingual framework ..... 355
Appendix F: List of digital files ..... 375