ERIC Number: EJ1454860
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1048-9223
EISSN: EISSN-1532-7817
Phonetic Imitation in L2 Speech: Immediate Imitation of English Consonant Glottalization by Speakers of Polish
Arkadiusz Rojczyk; Pavel Sturm; Joanna Przedlacka
Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, v32 n1 p102-113 2025
Phonetic imitation is a ubiquitous process in speech production. Speakers have a strong tendency to imitate their interlocutors both in a native and a non-native language. It is especially important in acquiring non-native speech, because it allows forming new sound categories. In the current study we investigated whether and to what extent Polish learners of English are able to imitate t-glottalization observed especially in British English. A total of 25 Polish learners of English imitated English models' productions with t-glottalization that were subsequently compared to their default productions (pre-test) and post-exposure production (post-test). The results showed that the participants successfully imitated t-glottalization after the exposure to the model talker. The generalization effect was limited in its magnitude in that only some of the non-imitated words had traces of glottalization. The results are discussed in terms of the differences in the implementation of glottalization in Polish and English and of how phonetic imitation informs second-language speech acquisition.
Descriptors: Phonetics, Phonemes, Language Variation, Polish, Native Language, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, Speech Communication, Pronunciation, Language Tests, Contrastive Linguistics, Foreign Countries, Imitation, Linguistics, Majors (Students), Undergraduate Students, Acoustics, Measurement
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Poland; United Kingdom
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A