Event

Language and Linguistics Seminar Series: Week 23 with Fernanda Barrientos, University of Konstanz

When good is not enough: interlanguage representations in L2 phonology

  • Thu 7 Mar 19

    12:00 - 14:00

  • Colchester Campus

    1N1.4.1

  • Event speaker

    Fernanda Barrientos, University of Konstanz

  • Event type

    Lectures, talks and seminars
    Language and Linguistics Seminar Series

  • Event organiser

    Language and Linguistics, Department of

  • Contact details

    Victoria Mead

This week we are joined by Fernanda Barrientos, University of Konstanz, to talk about her recent research.

12-1pm Fernanda Barrientos will take to the stage to deliver her talk, followed by a lunch provided by Language and Linguistics from 1pm-2pm.

We look forward to seeing you there: this event is open to all students and staff! 

ABSTRACT

While the L2 phonology literature abounds in examples of phonological acquisition of certain segments by late-learners of a second language, little has been said about the phonological nature of the perceptual representations that these learners create; in fact, the terms used in the literature vary greatly and include abstract-level terms such as “phoneme” (e.g. Hayes-Harb  2007), surface-level concepts such as “phonetic category” (Flege 1995), and less specific terms such as “perceptual category” (Escudero 2005). I discuss the phonological nature of these categories and their similarities/differences regarding native-like categories, with a focus on the acquisition of the /ɑ/-/ʌ/ contrast by native speakers of Spanish with different degrees of proficiency in English.