THE INFLUENCE OF A SECOND LANGUAGE ON THE ACQUISITION OF SOUNDS

DIFFERENCE VS. DISORDER

NORMALDEVELOPMENTAL

ERRORS

NATIVE-LANGUAGE INFLUENCE

ATYPICAL ERRORS

• Speech development from:• 0-36 months

• 36 months forward

• With:• Spanish

• English

• Crosslinguistic Influence

SIMILARITIES

DIFFERENCES

+ = Positive transfer

+ = Negative transfer

Positive Transfer ‐ Speech

• [b] exists in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese

• [n] exists and can occur in final position in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese, 

• If a child can produce it in L1, that skill transfers well to English production

bean → bean

Negative Transfer ‐ Speech

When learning a second language children often use the closest sound/combination in their repertoire.

– Voiceless [th] exists in English but not Vietnamese or Spanish

– Consonant clusters cannot occur in word final position in Spanish and do not exist in Vietnamese

think→ n Transfer

• 0-1 month – crying and vegetative sounds• 1-6 months – cooing, laughter, squealing, growling• 4-6 months – marginal babbling• 6-8 months – reduplicated babbling• 8-10 months – variegated babbling• 8-12 months – echolalia*• 9-12 months – phonetically* consistent forms• 9-12 months – jargon*

Language Influenced*

• For parents: (Lynch, Brookshire & Fox, 1980)• 18 months - ~25% intelligible

• 2 year olds - 50-75% intelligible

• 3 year olds - 75%-100% intelligible

• For unfamiliar: (Flipsen, 2006)• 18 months - ~25% intelligible

• 2 year olds - ~50% intelligible

• 3 year olds - ~75% intelligible

• 4 year olds - 100% intelligible

• Difficulty producing sounds in both languages, even with adult assistance

• Family history of speech-language impairment • Slower development than siblings• Difficulty interacting with peers• Difficulty with speech production in many routines and

settings• Speech production unlike others with similar

cultural/linguistic experiences

www.bilinguistics.com

THE DIFFERENCES AND SHARED CHARACTERISTICS OF TWO SOUND SYSTEMS

BILINGUAL SPEECH EVALUATION: 3 IMPORTANT STEPS

1. Shared and unshared sounds/processes

2. Phonotactics of each languageThe set of permissible sequences of sounds in a given language

3. Developmental acquisition within each language

Shared vs. Unshared Sounds1

Phonotactic Constraints

Consonant Clusters

Syllables

Position of Sounds in Words

2 DEVELOPMENTAL CHART3

/ɲ//ɾ//R//x/

/ð/ /dʒ//h/ /ŋ/

/θ/

/r/ /ʃ//v/ /w//z/ /ʒ/

SPANISH ENGLISH

/b/ /d/ /ɡ/ /p/ /t/ /k//m/ /n/ /s/ /tʃ/ /j/ /l/ /f/

1• S-clusters are not allowed in word initial

position• Clusters are not permitted in word final

position• Few words end in consonants• Only [s, n, r, l, d,] are allowed in word final

position

Spanish Phonotactics2

COMPARISON OF SPANISH & ENGLISH

3

Cluster reductionStoppingFronting

AssimilationGliding

Final consonant deletionDeaffrication

Tap/Trill Deviation Vocalization

SPANISH ENGLISH

PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES: NORMS

HOW TO COLLECT SPEECH INFORMATION THROUGH THE REFERRAL PROCESS

www.bilinguistics.com INITIAL DATA

• Hearing Concern

• Parent Concern

• Teacher Concern

• I can’t understand the words that my student uses.

• My student doesn’t speak enough, is confusing, or can’t understand me.

Part A - Everyone

Part B – Which best describes your student

IDENTIFY IF SOUNDS ARE AGE APPROPRIATE

• Sounds in English ordered by age.

IDENTIFY IF SOUNDS ARE AGE APPROPRIATE

• Sounds ordered by age

/ɲ//ɾ//R//x/ 

/ð/  /dʒ/      /h/  /ŋ/ 

/θ/ /r/  /ʃ//v/  /w//z/ /ʒ/

SPANISH ENGLISH

/b/ /d/ /ɡ/ /p/ /t/ /k//m/ /n/ /s/ /tʃ/ /j/ /l/ /f/

/b/  /d/  /g/ /p/  /t/  /θ/  /r/ /ʃ/  /dʒ / 

Mandarin

Russian

THE INFLUENCE OF A SECOND LANGUAGE ON THE ACQUISITIONS OF SOUNDS

MANDARIN AND CANTONESE

• Both tonal languages (rising and falling intonation)

• The tonal systems of the languages differ• Mandarin has 4 distinct tones and 1 neutral tone

• Cantonese has 6-9 tones (linguists debate)

• The combination of intonation and sounds provide meaning to syllables

MANDARIN & CANTONESE PHONOTACTICS

• Stop consonants are contrasted by aspiration unlike English voiced and voiceless contrasts

• No consonant clusters

• Words are monosyllabic

• Only a few consonants are allowed at the end of a word• Mandarin allows /n, ŋ, ʔ / in final word position

• Cantonese allows / t, k, p, m, n, ŋ / in word final position

COMMON PATTERNS NOTED IN ENGLISH FOR NATIVE SPEAKERS OF MANDARIN AND CANTONESE

• Omission of final consonants

• Devoicing of voiced sounds

• Lack of differentiation between /l/ and /r/

• Addition of the schwa between consonants in a cluster

/pʰ/ /tʰ//kʰ/ /kʷ/

/kʷʰ/ /ʔ/

/b/ /d/ /g/ /v/ /z//ʃ/ /ʒ/

/tʃ/ /dʒ//θ/ /ð/ /ɹ/

CANTONESE ENGLISH

/p/ /m/ /f/ /t/ /s/ /l//k/ /ŋ/ /n/ /h/ /w/ /j/

/œ//ɵ/ /ɐ/ /y/

/e/ /æ/ /o/ /ʌ/

/ә/ /ɑ/

/i/ /ɪ/ /ɛ/ /a/ /u/ /ʊ/ /ɔ/

CANTONESE ENGLISH

/pʰ/ /tʰ/ /ts/ /tsʰ/

/ɕ/ /tɕ/ /tɕʰ/ /ʂ/ /ʐ/ /tʂ/ /tʐ/ /kʰ/ /ʔ/

/x/ /ɽ /

/b/ /d/ /g/ /h/ /w/ /j//v/ /z/ /ʃ/

/ʒ/ /tʃ/ /dʒ/ /θ/ /ð/ /ɹ/

MANDARIN ENGLISH

/p/ /m//f/ /t//s/ /l/

/k/ /ŋ//n/ /h//w/ /j/

/œ//ɵ/ /ɐ/ /y/

/e/ /æ/ /o/ /ʌ/

/ә/ /ɑ/

/i/ /ɪ/ /ɛ/

/a/ /u/ /ʊ/

/ɔ/

MANDARIN ENGLISH

HINDI/URDU

• Hindi and Urdu are mutually intelligible languages, though mutual intelligibility decreases in specialized contexts.

• Related to Persian and Arabic and also influenced by English

HINDI/URDU PHONOTACTICS

• Consonant clusters are uncommon

• No initial consonant clusters are allowed in Urdu

• In Hindi, a vowel is often inserted prior to word initial consonant clusters(iskul)

• Mostly monosyllabic words (except borrowed words)

• Words never begin with /R/ or /Rh/

• Words do not end in / ɖ /, /ɖh/ and /ph/

/ɲ/ /ɽʱ/ /t̪ʰ//ʋ/ /q/ /d̪ʱ/ /ɾ/ /pʰ/ /ʈʰ//x/ /bʰ/ /ɖʱ/ /kʰ/ /ɡʱ/ /tʃʰ/

/dʒʱ/ /ɣ/

/ð/ /ʒ//ŋ/ /θ/

/v/ /w/

HINDI ENGLISH

/b/ /d/ /ɡ/ /p/ /t/ /k//m/ /n/

/s/ /z/ /h//r/ /ʃ/

/tʃ/ /dʒ/ /j/ /l/ /f/

IPA Audio

/ɑ/ /æ/ /ɔ/ /ʊ//u/ /ʌ/

/ɛ/ /ɪ/ /i//e/ /i/ /o/

/u/

HINDI ENGLISH

TAGALOG

• A language spoken in the Phillipines.

• Its general form is often called Filipino

• Related to Spanish, Malay, Javanese, Hawaiian, English, Hindi, Arabic, Sanskrit, Chinese, Japanese and Tamil.

TAGALOG PHONOTACTICS & PHONOLOGY

• Primary stress occurs on the last or next-to-last syllable

• Words frequently end in glottal stops

• Very few consonant clusters

• The consonants / tʃ , n, w, r / are represented in both languages; however, they are produced in different places.

/ɴ̺/ /tʃ̺/ /ɾ/ /ɲ/ /ʔ/

/w/ /v/ /n/ /ŋ/ /w//z/ /ʃ/

/ʒ/ /tʃ/ /dʒ/ /θ/ /ð/ /ɹ/

TAGALOG ENGLISH

/p/ /b//t/ /d//k/ /g/

/m/ /f/ /s//l/ /h/

/j/

/ɪ/ /ɛ/ /æ/

/ɔ//ʊ/ /ɚ/ /ә/

/ʌ/

/i/ (/ɪ/) /e/ (/ɛ/)/a/ (/ә/) /o/ (/ɔ/)/u/ (/ʊ/)

TAGALOG ENGLISH

VIETNAMESE

• A tonal language with 6 distinct phonemic tones (variations in pitch and stress)

• Three different types of phonemes• Consonants

• Vowels

• Tones

• A monosyllabic language (except borrowed words)

VIETNAMESE CONSONANTS AND VOWELS

• 24 Consonants

• 11 Single Vowels

• 30 Vowel Combinations (Diphthongs and Triphthongs)

• Consonants can occur in word initial and final positions (monosyllabic so no medial Cs)

• Final consonants are voiceless stops or nasals

/th / /ʈ//c//ʔ/ /ɲ/

/ɣ//x/ /ɽ/

/ð/ /dʒ//ŋ/ /θ/

/ʃ//v/ /s/

/ʒ/

VIETNAMESE ENGLISH

/p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /ɡ/ /m/ /n/

/j/ /w/ /f/ /z/ /h/ /tʃ/

/l/ /r/

/ɯ/ /ɤ/ /ɤ̌/ /ɑ̆/ /ɔ̌/

/ʌ/ /ɪ/ /e/ /o/

VIETNAMESE ENGLISH

/ɑ/ /æ/ /ɔ/ /ʊ/

/u/ /ɛ/ /i/

FIND INFORMATION ON THE SECOND LANGUAGE

• “difference between ___________ and English Language”

So what do we know?

• Building blocks are the same for both monolinguals and bilinguals, and across languages

• General guidelines for intelligibility are the same

• Expect some cross-linguistic influence in speech production where the two languages differ

• Phonotactic constraints can result in cross-linguistic influence.