Production of English Vowel Contrasts in Spanish L1 Learners: A Longitudinal Study

Maria Gabriela Valenzuela; Peter French

doi:10.3989/loquens.2023.e102

Autores/as

Maria Gabriela Valenzuela School of Education, University of Leeds https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4452-6608
Peter French Department of Language and Linguistic Science, University of York, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7124-8896

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3989/loquens.2023.e102

Palabras clave:

formantes, inglés como L2, vocales, estudio longitudinal, aprendientes hispanohablantes

Resumen

El presente estudio longitudinal contó con cuarenta estudiantes de postgrado hablantes nativos de español, durante su primer año de universidad en el Reino Unido. La investigación se centró en el progreso individual y grupal en la producción de pares vocálicos contrastivos en inglés (/iː/-/ɪ/, /ɪ/-/e/ y /uː/-/ʊ/) con la finalidad de determinar la posibilidad de lograr una pronunciación de las vocales inglesas similar a la de hablantes nativos, particularmente en términos de la calidad de las vocales. Estudios previos indican que los hablantes adultos de español presentan dificultad para dominar las diferencias lingüísticas del inglés. La metodología incluyó grabaciones de los participantes leyendo listas de palabras en inglés (contexto CVC) en tres instancias diferentes durante un año. El análisis se basó en las frecuencias de los formantes usando Praat. Además, se calcularon distancias euclidianas para representar el grado de separación de los distintos pares de vocales. También, a través de un cuestionario, se recopiló información sobre los posibles factores externos que pudieron incidir en el desarrollo de las vocales de los participantes. Los resultados indicaron tasas de mejora variables dentro del grupo, lo cual podría atribuirse a los diversos niveles de exposición e interacción con hablantes nativos de inglés durante el año de estudio en Reino Unido. Estos resultados respaldan los procesos de aprendizaje en la producción de L2 en adultos, haciendo hincapié en el papel crítico desempeñado por la cantidad y calidad del tiempo empleado en la asimilación de las pronunciaciones de los nuevos segmentos de la L2.

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