Age, Accent, and Experience in Second Language Acquisition


Book Description

This work critically addresses the age debate in second language acquisition studies, presenting an in-depth study of factors that predict foreign accent. Quantitative and qualitative analyses confirm that cognitive, social, and psychological factors contribute to attainment, and that biological influences must therefore be considered alongside these essential aspects of learner experience.




Foreign Accent


Book Description

Even though second-language learners may master the grammar and vocabulary of the new languages, they almost never achieve a native phonology (accent). Scholars and professionals dealing with second-language learners would agree that this is one of the most persistent challenges they face. Now, for the first time, Roy Major's Foreign Accent covers the exploding scholarship in this area and lays out the issues specifically for audiences in the second language acquisition and applied linguistics community.




Language Acquisition


Book Description

The authors examine the evidence relative to the idea that there is an age factor in first & second language acquisition & goes on to explore the various explanations that have been advanced to account for such evidence. Finally, it looks at educational ramifications of the age question.




Foreign Accent


Book Description

To what extent do our accents determine the way we are perceived by others? Is a foreign accent inevitably associated with social stigma? Accent is a matter of great public interest given the impact of migration on national and global affairs, but until now, applied linguistics research has treated accent largely as a theoretical puzzle. In this fascinating account, Alene Moyer examines the social, psychological, educational and legal ramifications of sounding 'foreign'. She explores how accent operates contextually through analysis of issues such as: the neuro-cognitive constraints on phonological acquisition, individual factors that contribute to the 'intractability' of accent, foreign accent as a criterion for workplace discrimination, and the efficacy of instruction for improving pronunciation. This holistic treatment of second language accent is an essential resource for graduate students and researchers interested in applied linguistics, bilingualism and foreign language education.




The Age Factor in Second Language Acquisition


Book Description

This book takes a hard look at some of the assumptions that are customarily made concerning the role of age in second language acquisition. The evidence and arguments the contributors present run counter to the notion that an early start in second language learning is of itself either absolutely sufficient or necessary for the attainment of native-like mastery of a second language. Another theme of the book is a doubt that there is a particular stage of maturity beyond which language learning is no longer fully possible. In short, the book presents a challenge to those who take it as given that second language learning is inevitably different in its essential nature from language acquisition in the childhood years and that second language knowledge acquired beyond the critical period is in all circumstances and in all respects doomed to fossilize at a non-native-like level.




Phonology and Second Language Acquisition


Book Description

This volume is a collection of 13 chapters, each devoted to a particular issue that is crucial to our understanding of the way learners acquire, learn, and use an L2 sound system. In addition, it spans both theory and application in L2 phonology. The book is divided into three parts, with each section unified by broad thematic content: Part I, “Theoretical Issues and Frameworks in L2 Phonology,” lays the groundwork for examining L2 phonological acquisition. Part II, “Second Language Speech Perception and Production,” examines these two aspects of L2 speech in more detail. Finally, Part III, “Technology, Training, and Curriculum,” bridges the gap between theory and practice. Each chapter examines theoretical frameworks, major research findings (both classic and recent), methodological issues and choices for conducting research in a particular area of L2 phonology, and major implications of the research findings for more general models of language acquisition and/or pedagogy.




The Accent Handbook


Book Description

Need to learn an accent for an audition? Got the part but can't quite grasp the sounds? Want to expand your repertoire? The Accent Handbook is a novel approach to accent-learning, providing a practical, digestible and customisable way of learning any accent of your choosing. Drawing on the authors' extensive experience coaching students and leading stage and screen actors, the book offers more than 200 empowering exercises to actively explore and hone accent features. You can dip in and out or go from cover to cover, depending on your aims, what you're learning or how much time you have. The book is accompanied by a wide-ranging and diverse library of contemporary accent recordings from across the globe. Uniquely, it also offers a guide to finding accent samples and getting more out of your listening. A section devoted to accent and acting delves into the powerful interplay between dialect, character and performance. Approachable and encouraging, this book is an essential companion to keep by your side as you take on an accent, from first listen to performance.




Second Dialect Acquisition


Book Description

What is involved in acquiring a new dialect - for example, when Canadian English speakers move to Australia or African American English-speaking children go to school? How is such learning different from second language acquisition (SLA), and why is it in some ways more difficult? These are some of the questions Jeff Siegel examines in this book, which focuses specifically on second dialect acquisition (SDA). Siegel surveys a wide range of studies that throw light on SDA. These concern dialects of English as well as those of other languages, including Dutch, German, Greek, Norwegian, Portuguese and Spanish. He also describes the individual and linguistic factors that affect SDA, such as age, social identity and language complexity. The book discusses problems faced by students who have to acquire the standard dialect without any special teaching, and presents some educational approaches that have been successful in promoting SDA in the classroom.




Acquisition of Second Language Intonation


Book Description

Frequently, advanced speakers of a second language use the foreign grammar perfectly - often knowing the rules better than native speakers. And yet, by listening to their talking, native speakers know immediately that they are communicating with foreigners. The problem lies in the area of prosody. In classroom situations students might learn how to role an 'r' or form a proper 'th', but not how to produce entire intonation phrases. However, only with intonation is the full meaning, that a speaker wants to communicate, understood. But why is intonation assumed to be of special difficulty to L2 learners? Why are certain features more difficult to learn than others? This investigation sheds some light on the direction of acquisition of intonation by L2 learners (here: L2 Spanish by L1 speakers of German) and simultaneously makes predictions about the markedness of certain phenomena in the languages under consideration. These findings may help language teachers and learners as well-directed teaching materials can be derived and major problems in the acquisition process can be resolved more easily.




Pragmatics of Accents


Book Description

What impact do accents have on our lives as we interact with one another? Are accents more than simple sets of phonetic features that allow us to differentiate from one dialect, variety or style, to the other? What power relationships are at work when we speak with what those around us perceive as an 'accent'? In the 12 chapters of this volume, an international group of sociolinguists, applied linguists, anthropologists, and scholars in media studies, develop an innovative approach that we describe as the ‘pragmatics of accents’. In this volume, we present a variety of languages and go beyond the traditional structural description of accents. From ideologies in national contexts, to L2 education, to accent discrimination in the media and the workplace, this volume embraces a new perspective that focuses on the use of accents as symbolic resources, and emphasizes the importance of context in the human experience of accents.