Orthographic interference in the acquisition of English /h/ by Francophones
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Susan Jackson
Abstract
A number of studies have demonstrated the effect of orthographic input on L2 perception and production. While some evidence points to its ability to facilitate the acquisition of L2 phonological contrasts (Escudero, Hayes- Harb, and Mitterer 2008; Weber and Cutler 2004), other evidence suggests L1 orthographic transfer can have a negative effect depending on the congruency of the grapheme-to-phoneme correspondence (GPC) between the L1 and the L2 (Escudero 2015; Hayes-Harb, Nicol, and Barker 2010). This pilot study looks at Francophone L2 learners of English who are known to have difficulty acquiring the English phoneme /h/, often either deleting it from the beginning of a word or stressed syllable (e.g. ‘owever) or inserting it where it does not belong (e.g. [h]after). While the grapheme <h> in French is consistently silent, its pronunciation in English is inconsistent: it is articulated only in onset position and with certain lexical and rule-governed exceptions. Participants were taught English pseudo-words by associating auditorily presented stimuli with non-objects and were placed into one of three learning conditions: auditory + congruent spelling, auditory + congruent/incongruent (inconsistent) spelling, and auditory only. Accuracy rates in a subsequent word-picture matching task suggest that the acquisition of a novel phoneme is more difficult when the GPC of the target language is inconsistent. This may inform the approach to teaching this difficult phoneme.
Abstract
A number of studies have demonstrated the effect of orthographic input on L2 perception and production. While some evidence points to its ability to facilitate the acquisition of L2 phonological contrasts (Escudero, Hayes- Harb, and Mitterer 2008; Weber and Cutler 2004), other evidence suggests L1 orthographic transfer can have a negative effect depending on the congruency of the grapheme-to-phoneme correspondence (GPC) between the L1 and the L2 (Escudero 2015; Hayes-Harb, Nicol, and Barker 2010). This pilot study looks at Francophone L2 learners of English who are known to have difficulty acquiring the English phoneme /h/, often either deleting it from the beginning of a word or stressed syllable (e.g. ‘owever) or inserting it where it does not belong (e.g. [h]after). While the grapheme <h> in French is consistently silent, its pronunciation in English is inconsistent: it is articulated only in onset position and with certain lexical and rule-governed exceptions. Participants were taught English pseudo-words by associating auditorily presented stimuli with non-objects and were placed into one of three learning conditions: auditory + congruent spelling, auditory + congruent/incongruent (inconsistent) spelling, and auditory only. Accuracy rates in a subsequent word-picture matching task suggest that the acquisition of a novel phoneme is more difficult when the GPC of the target language is inconsistent. This may inform the approach to teaching this difficult phoneme.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- About the Authors V
- Contents XI
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: Pronunciation development and intelligibility: Implications for teaching and training studies
- Plural formation in English: A Brazilian Portuguese case study 13
- Effect of task, word length and frequency on speech perception in L2 English: Implications for L2 pronunciation teaching and training 41
- L2 accented speech measured by Argentinian pre-service teachers 85
- Dynamic paths of intelligibility and comprehensibility: Implications for pronunciation teaching from a longitudinal study with Haitian learners of Brazilian Portuguese 107
-
Part II: L2 pronunciation teaching
- A dynamic account of the development of English (L2) vowels by Brazilian learners through communicative teaching and through explicit instruction 147
- An extra layer of support: Developing an English-speaking consultation program 167
- Putting participation first: The use of the ICF-model in the assessment and instruction of L2 pronunciation 197
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Part III: L2 pronunciation training: Implications for the classroom
- Orthographic interference in the acquisition of English /h/ by Francophones 229
- Improving fossilized English pronunciation by simultaneously viewing a video footage of oneself on an ICT self-learning system 249
- Speech technologies and pronunciation training: What is the potential for efficient corrective feedback? 287
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Part IV: Pronunciation in the laboratory: High variability phonetic training
- On the robustness of high variability phonetic training effects: A study on the perception of non-native Dutch contrasts by French-speaking learners 315
- Effects of perceptual training in the perception and production of heterotonics by Brazilian learners of Spanish 345
- Assessing the robustness of L2 perceptual training: A closer look at generalization and retention of learning 369
-
Conclusion
- An overview of pronunciation teaching and training 399
- Index 413
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- About the Authors V
- Contents XI
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: Pronunciation development and intelligibility: Implications for teaching and training studies
- Plural formation in English: A Brazilian Portuguese case study 13
- Effect of task, word length and frequency on speech perception in L2 English: Implications for L2 pronunciation teaching and training 41
- L2 accented speech measured by Argentinian pre-service teachers 85
- Dynamic paths of intelligibility and comprehensibility: Implications for pronunciation teaching from a longitudinal study with Haitian learners of Brazilian Portuguese 107
-
Part II: L2 pronunciation teaching
- A dynamic account of the development of English (L2) vowels by Brazilian learners through communicative teaching and through explicit instruction 147
- An extra layer of support: Developing an English-speaking consultation program 167
- Putting participation first: The use of the ICF-model in the assessment and instruction of L2 pronunciation 197
-
Part III: L2 pronunciation training: Implications for the classroom
- Orthographic interference in the acquisition of English /h/ by Francophones 229
- Improving fossilized English pronunciation by simultaneously viewing a video footage of oneself on an ICT self-learning system 249
- Speech technologies and pronunciation training: What is the potential for efficient corrective feedback? 287
-
Part IV: Pronunciation in the laboratory: High variability phonetic training
- On the robustness of high variability phonetic training effects: A study on the perception of non-native Dutch contrasts by French-speaking learners 315
- Effects of perceptual training in the perception and production of heterotonics by Brazilian learners of Spanish 345
- Assessing the robustness of L2 perceptual training: A closer look at generalization and retention of learning 369
-
Conclusion
- An overview of pronunciation teaching and training 399
- Index 413
