L1 Influence on Phonemic Perception: A Case Study with Native English and Mandarin Learners of German.

Autor/inn/en	Chang, Daniel; Heift, Trude
Titel	L1 Influence on Phonemic Perception: A Case Study with Native English and Mandarin Learners of German.
Quelle	In: Die Unterrichtspraxis - teaching German, 48 (2015) 1, S. 84-99 PDF als Volltext Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Beigaben	Anhang; Abbildungen 1; Tabellen 3
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1756-1221
DOI	10.1111/tger.10182
Schlagwörter	Empirische Forschung; Fallstudie; Bewusstsein; Deutsch als Fremdsprache; Vergleichende Analyse
Abstract	Crosslinguistic influence in second language acquisition (SLA) has been well established through the notion of Contrastive Analysis (CA). CA claims to predict the kinds of linguistic difficulties a learner may encounter when learning a second/foreign language (L2) based on their linguistic knowledge of the L1: Similarities between the L1 and L2 may incur a positive transfer while dissimilarities between the two languages may inhibit the acquisition of the L2. The effectiveness and/or predictability of CA has been challenged over the years. However, numerous SLA studies have confirmed L1 influence and/or transfer in acquiring the L2 sound system such as the influence of L1 phonological awareness on L2 reading proficiency and L2 prosody. More specifically, research has focused on L2 perceptual difficulties with the English /l-r/ distinction by Japanese speakers, the English lax and tense vowel distinction by Mandarin speakers, and the English stress placement by Spanish speakers during their early L2 learning. Generally, these studies suggest that the L2 speaker's sound perception improves with continuous L2 exposure and the outcome or success of L2 learning is determined by the perceived similarity and dissimilarity between the L1 and L2. Most of these studies, however, have mainly focused on L2 learners' perceptual difficulties while very few studies have examined the perceptual benefits of language similarity for L2 learners, particularly, for Germanic languages such as German and English. Consequently, the goal of our current research is to examine the effect of L1 experience on L2 German perception by comparing L1 English with L1 Mandarin speakers. Twenty-six beginning learners of German with either English or Mandarin as their native language completed several sound-perception exercises throughout the semester by filling in missing sounds in German sentences in a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) environment. Our research questions aim to broaden our understanding in what ways the learner's native language can facilitate or inhibit the auditory perception of another language and whether the perception of certain L2 sounds is more problematic for some L1 language backgrounds than others. We first situate our study in SLA research by examining related models of sound perception and providing a brief description of the different sound inventories of the languages involved in the current research. We then introduce our study by describing its study participants, task, and methodology. The results section provides an examination of sound transfer by our Mandarin and English native speakers. Our discussion of the results focuses on pedagogical implications of the findings. The article concludes with a discussion of the limitations of the study and opportunities for further research. (Verlag).
Erfasst von	Informationszentrum für Fremdsprachenforschung, Marburg
Update	2022/2