Testing the role of the L1 in L2 connected speech production

Given previous evidence of crosslinguistic influence (CLI) of the L1 in L2 speech, this study tested the explanatory power of the L1 in accounting for L2 connected speech. Comparing late L2 learners of English from an L1 Mandarin background with L1 English speakers, we examined production of three types of word boundaries in spontaneous connected English speech (nasal-to-vowel, lateral-to-vowel, vowel-to-vowel), perceptually coding each boundary for connectedness and following prominence. Results showed no clear CLI from Mandarin in learners’ connected speech, suggesting that, at least at more advanced stages of L2 development, the L1 plays little to no role in L2 connected speech: disparities between L1 and L2 speakers that would follow from CLI do not occur, while disparities that do occur cannot be explained by CLI. These findings thus highlight the limitations of an L1-based approach and, consequently, the need to engage other explanations for L2 connected speech production.

鉴于先前关于第一语言（L1）在第二语言（L2）口语中产生跨语言影响（CLI）的证据，本研究旨在检验L1在解释L2连贯口语方面的解释力。通过对来自L1普通话背景的英语晚阶学习者与L1英语母语者进行比较，本研究考察了在自发性连贯英语口语中三种类型的词界线（鼻音至元音、侧音至元音、元音至元音）的产生，并通过感知编码对每个边界进行连贯性和后续突出性的编码。结果显示，在学习者的连贯口语中未观察到来自普通话的明显CLI，这表明，至少在L2发展的更高阶段，L1在L2连贯口语中扮演的角色微乎其微：从CLI派生的L1与L2说话者之间的差异并未出现，而实际存在的差异也无法用CLI来解释。因此，这些发现凸显了基于L1方法的局限性，并随之提出了对L2连贯口语生产进行其他解释的必要性。