Acquisition of French front rounded vowels by Brazilian Portuguese speakers from the perspective of SLM (speech learning model)

Juliana Barbosa
PDF

Abstract

This research investigates the acquisition of the vowel phonemes of French (FR) by Brazilian Portuguese (BP) native speakers. The front rounded vowels of FR /y,ø,œ/, which are not part of the vowel inventory of BP, are commonly confused with non-rounded front vowels of BP /i,e,ɛ/ or with the rounded back /u,o,ɔ/, especially in the early stages of learning of French as a Foreign Language (FFE). This study seeks to understand how children and adults, learners, and non-learners of FFE, distinguish phonetic/phonological differences and whether they can produce French phonemes. This work is based on a theoretical model for second language acquisition: Flege's Speech Learning Model (SLM) (1981, 1995) postulates that the production of sounds of a Foreign Language (L2), absent in Mother Tongue (L1), is preceded by the perception and categorization of these phonemes. In this experimental research, it is observed how the variables age and elementary knowledge of FR act in the distinction and pronunciation of words containing /y,ø,œ/. The results, obtained from a sample of 40 native speakers of BP, point to small significant differences between the groups of informants in the perception test; in general, the learners presented better performance for the distinction of phonemes and the child learners demonstrated better skills in the production of French words, with significant differences between the other groups of informants, composed of non-learner children and adults, both FLE learners and non-learners.

References

ALCÂNTARA, C. C. O processo de aquisição das vogais frontais arredondadas do francês por falantes nativos do português. (dissertação de mestrado). Pelotas, UCP, 1998.

BARBOSA, P. A; MADUREIRA, S. Manual de fonética experimental. São Paulo: Cortez, 2015.

BLEY-VROMAN, R. The logical problem of foreign language learning. Linguistic Analysis 20, 1990, p. 3–49.

BOHN, G. P. Aquisição das vogais tônicas e pretônicas do Português Brasileiro. (tese de doutorado) São Paulo: FFLCH/USP, 2015.

BONGAERTS, T.; SUMMEREN, C.; PLANKEN, B.; SCHILS, E. Age and ultimate attainment in the pronunciation of a foreign language. Studies in Second Language Acquisition. n. 19, 1997, p. 447-465, 1997.

BONGAERTS, T. Ultimate attainment in L2 pronunciation: The case of very advanced late L2 learners. In: BIRDSONG, D. (ed.) Second Language Acquisition and the Critical Period Hypothesis. Mahawah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1999, p. 133-159.

BONGAERTS, T.; MENNEN, S. SLIK, F. Authenticity of pronunciation in naturalistic second language acquisition: The case of very advanced learners of Duch as a second language. Studia Linguistica, n. 54, 2000, p. 298-309.

BRUER, J. T. Points of view: On the implications of neuroscience research for science teaching and learning: Are there any? A skeptical theme and variations: The primacy of psychology in the science of learning. CBE—Life Sciences Education, v. 5, n. 2, p. 104-110, 2006.

BRUM-DE-PAULA, M. R.; ESPINAR, G. S. Coleta, transcrição e análise de produções orais. In: BRUM-DE-PAULA, M.R.; SCHERER, A.E.; PARAENSE, S.C.L. (Org.). Letras, n. 21. Santa Maria: PPGL Editores, 2002.

CÂMARA, Jr., J. M. Estrutura da Língua Portuguesa. 30a. ed. Rio de Janeiro: Vozes, 1999. (1ª ed. 1970).

CARTON, F. Introduction à la phonétique du français. Paris/Bruxelles/Montréal : Bordas, 1974.

CLAHSEN, H.; MUYSKEN, P. The availability of universal grammar to adult and child learners: a study of the acquisition of German word order. Second Language Research, n. 2, 1986, p. 93–119.

CLAHSEN, H.; MUYSKEN, P. The UG paradox in L2 acquisition. Second Language Research, n. 5, 1989, p. 1–29.

COSTA, F. J.; ORSINI, A. C. R.; CARNEIRO, J. S. Variações de mensuração por tipos de escalas de verificação: uma análise do construto de satisfação discente. Revista Gestão. Org, v. 16, n. 2, 2018. p. 132-144.

EUGENIO, M. L.; ESCALDA, J. LEMOS, S. M. A. Desenvolvimento cognitivo, auditivo e linguístico em crianças expostas à música: produção de conhecimento nacional e internacional. Rev. CEFAC. 14(5), 2012, p.992-1003.

FAYER, J.; KRASINKSI, E. Native and non-native judgments of intelligibility and irritation. Language Learning, v. 37, 1987, p. 313-26.

FLEGE, J. E. Phonetic interference in second language acquisition. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Indiana University. 1979.

FLEGE, J. E. Phonetic approximation in second language acquisition. Language Learning, 30, 1980, 117-134.

FLEGE, J. E. The phonological basis of foreign accent: A hypothesis. TESOL Quarterly, nº 15, v. 4, 1981, p. 443–455.

FLEGE, J. E; PORT, R. Cross-language phonetic interference: Arabic to English. Lang. & Speech, v. 24, 1981, 25-146.

FLEGE, J. E; HAMMOND, R. Mimicry of non-distinctive phonetic differences between language varieties, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 5, p. 1-18, 1982.

FLEGE, J. E. A critical period for learning to produce foreign languages? Applied Linguistics, n.8, 1987, p. 162-177.

FLEGE, J. E; MUNRO J. M; MACKAY, I. R. A. Factors affecting strength of perceived foreign accent in a second language. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, n. 97, 1995a, p. 3125-3134.

FLEGE, J. E. Second-language Speech Learning: Theory, Findings, and Problems. In: STRANGE, W. (ed.) Speech Perception and Linguistic Experience. Timonium, MD: York Press, 1995b, p. 233-272.

FLEGE, J. E; YENI-KOMSHIAM, G. H.; LIU, S. Age constraints on second language learning. Journal of Memory and Language. n. 41, 1999, p. 78-104.

FLEGE, J. E; MACKAY, I. R. A. Perceiving vowels in a second language, SSLA, n. 26, 2003, p. 1-34.

GASS, S. M., SELINKER, L. Second language acquisition : An introductory course. New York/London : Routledge, 2008 (1ª ed. 1994).

GENDROT, C., ADDA-DECKER, M., Analyses formantiques automatiques de voyelles orales : évidence de la réduction vocalique en langues française et allemande, Actes du colloque MIDL 2004, Paris, 29-30 novembre, 2004, p. 7-12.

GILES, H. 1970, Evaluational reactions to accents. Educational Review, v. 22, 1970, p. 211- 27.

GUMPERZ, J. Discourse Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982.

HARTSHORNE, J. K.; TENENBAUM, J. B.; PINKER S. A critical period for second language acquisition: Evidence from 2/3 million English speakers. Cognition, 2018.

HOLDEN, K.; HOGAN. J. The emotive impact of foreign intonation: An experiment in switching English and Russian intonation, Language and Speech, v. 36, 1993, p. 67-88.

JOHNSON, K. Speaker normalization. In : REMEZ, R., PISONI, D. B. (Eds.), The Handbook of Speech Perception, Google Scholar, 2005.

KLEIN, W. L’acquisition de langue étrangère. Traduction: NOYAU, Colette. Paris: Armand Colin, 1989.

LADEFOGED, P. A course in phonetics. 5th ed. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2006. (1ª ed. 1967).

LAMBERT, W. E., HODGSON, R. C., GARDNER, R. C., FILLENBAUM, S. Evaluational reactions to spoken languages. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 60(1), 44–51. 1960. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0044430

LANE, Harlan. Foreign accent and speech distortion. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, v. 35, n. 4, p. 451-453, 1963.

LENNEBERG, E. H. Biological Foundations of Language. New York: John Wiley, 1967.

LIKERT, R. A technique for the measurement of attitudes. Archives of Psychology, 22(140), 1-55, 1932.

LONG, M. H. Maturational constraints on language development. Studies in Language Acquisition, n. 12, v. 3, 1990, p. 251-285.

LONG, M. H. Stabilization and fossilization in interlanguage development. In C. Doughty & M. Long (Eds.), The handbook of second language acquisition. Oxford, England: Blackwell, 2003, p. 487–536.

LONG, M. H. Some implications of research findings on sensitive periods in language learning for educational policy and practice, In: GRANENA, G., LONG, M. (Orgs.) Sensitive periods, language aptitude, and ultimate L2 attainment. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2013. p. 259-272.

MATZENAUER, C.; MIRANDA, A. R. Traços distintivos e a aquisição das vogais do PB. In: HORA, D. da. (org). Vogais no ponto mais oriental das Américas. João Pessoa: Idéia/UFPB, 2009.

MATZENAUER, C.; COSTA, T. Aquisição da fonologia em língua materna: os segmentos. In: FREITAS, M. J.; SANTOS, A. L. (eds.), Aquisição de língua materna e não materna: Questões gerais e dados do português, 51–70. Berlin: Language Science Press. 2017.

MOTA, M. B. Aquisição de segunda língua. Florianópolis: CCE/UFSC, 2008.

RANGEL, G. A. Aquisição do Sistema Vocálico do Português Brasileiro. (Tese de doutorado) – Faculdade de Letras, PUCRS, Porto Alegre, 2002.

ROSE, Yvan; WAUQUIER, Sophie. French speech acquisition. In: McLEOD, S. (org.) The International Guide to Speech Acquisition. New York: Delmar Cengage Learning, 2007.

STRANGE, W; SHAFER, Valerie. Speech perception in second language learners. In.: EDWARDS, Hansen Jett; ZAMPINI, Mary. Phonology and Second Language Acquisition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2008.

TRANEL, Bernard. Les sons du français. In: YAGUELLO, Marina. Le grand livre de la langue française. Paris: Les Éditions du Seuil, 2003.

VILMOS, B. Cours de phonétique française. Budapeste: Bölcsész Konzorcium, 2006.