Second Language Speech

This textbook focuses on second language speech - how individuals perceive and produce the sounds of their second language.

A state-of-the-art survey of second language speech research, presenting revision of an influential model alongside new empirical studies.

A fresh, comprehensive perspective on L2 speech fluency, making cutting-edge research and methods approachable and useful in practice.

This extremely up-to-date book, Speech Production and Second Language Acquisition, is the first volume in the exciting new series, Cognitive Science and Second Language Acquisition. This new volume provides a thorough overview of the field and proposes a new integrative model of how L2 speech is produced. The study of speech production is its own subfield within cognitive science. One of the aims of this new book, as is true of the series, is to make cognitive science theory accessible to second language acquisition. Speech Production and Second Language Acquisition examines how research on second language and bilingual speech production can be grounded in L1 research conducted in cognitive science and in psycholinguistics. Highlighted is a coherent and straightforward introduction to the bilingual lexicon and its role in spoken language performance. Like the rest of the series, Speech Production and Second Language Acquisition is tutorial in style, intended as a supplementary textbook for undergraduates and graduate students in programs of cognitive science, second language acquisition, applied linguistics, and language pedagogy.

Deals with the language experience in second language speech learning

This volume explores a variety of aspects of second language speech, with special focus on contributions to the field made by (primarely) generative linguists looking at the sounds and sound systems of second language learners. Second Language Phonology starts off with an overview of second language acquisition research in order to place the study of L2 speech in context. This introductory chapter is followed by an outline of traditional approaches to investigating interlanguage phonology. The third chapter consists of a discussion of relevant aspects of a learning theory that must be included in a treatment of how people learn sound systems. The next three chapters focus on particular aspects of the mental represenation of phonological competence; segments, syllables, and stress, respectively. The penultimate chapter deals with issues related to the mechanisms that govern the changing of interlanguage grammars over time. The volume ends with a summary of the issues raised throughout the text.

For millions of individuals all over the world, speaking in a second language is a daily activity. It is therefore important that research in applied linguistics should contribute empirically to the study of second language spoken interaction. The aim of this volume is to make such a contribution by providing research-based insights into current approaches to the teaching and learning of this skill. Two key dimensions define the papers included here−their novelty and scope. First, the book provides a novel approach to the study of speaking in a second language by combining recent findings in usage-based linguistics with current issues in teaching. Second, the chapters cover a range of theoretical perspectives, including sociolinguistic and interactional competence, gestures, dynamic systems theory and code-switching. The volume offers a contemporary analysis of research in second language speaking that will be of interest to researchers, graduate students, teachers and other professionals working in the fields of communication and applied linguistics.

Second Language Acquisition and the Critical Period Hypothesis is the only book on the market to provide a diverse collection of perspectives, from experienced researchers, on the role of the Critical Period Hypothesis in second language acquisition. It is widely believed that age effects in both first and second language acquisition are developmental in nature, with native levels of attainment in both to be though possible only if learning began before the closure of a "window of opportunity" – a critical or sensitive period. These seven chapters explore this idea at length, with each contribution acting as an authoritative look at various domains of inquiry in second language acquisition, including syntax, morphology, phonetics/phonology, Universal Grammar, and neurofunctional factors. By presenting readers with an evenly-balanced take on the topic with viewpoints both for and against the Critical Period Hypothesis, this book is the ideal guide to understanding this critical body of research in SLA, for students and researchers in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition.