The Effects of Age of Onset on VOT in L2 Acquisition and...

The Effects of Age of Onset on VOT

in L2 Acquisition and L1 Attrition

A Study of the Speech Production and Perception of Advanced Spanish-Swedish Bilinguals

Katrin Stölten

Centre for Research on Bilingualism

Department of Swedish Language and Multilingualism

Stockholm University

Doctoral Dissertation 2013

Centre for Research on Bilingualism

Department of Swedish Language and Multilingualism

Stockholm University

Abstract

This thesis explores the role of age in second language (L2) acquisition and first language

(L1) attrition. The focus is on Voice Onset Time (VOT) in the production and categorical

perception of word-initial L1 and L2 stops in highly advanced L1 Spanish learners of L2

Swedish. Using as the point of departure a maturational constraints perspective and the

Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH), Study I examines the impact of age of onset (AO) of

L2 acquisition on the production of L2 Swedish voiceless stops. The results show that

there are AO effects even in the speech of highly advanced L2 learners and that the inci-

dence of nativelike L2 learners is considerably lower than earlier assumed. However,

conclusions like these are only possible when speaking rate is accounted for, thereby

highlighting the importance of speaking rate effects on VOT as a measure of nativelike-

ness. Like Study I, Study II reveals age effects on the same L2 learners‟ categorical per-

ceptions of L2 Swedish stops. Moreover, after combining the results with the data from

Study I, the incidence of nativelike behavior drops remarkably with no late L2 learner

performing within the range of native-speaker production and perception. The results

suggest that L2 acquisition of phonetic/phonological aspects is especially sensitive to AO

effects. It is concluded that theories on maturational constraints, including the CPH, can-

not be refuted on the basis of the present data. Study III concerns the same participants‟

production and perception of L1 Spanish stops. Age of reduced contact (ARC) is identi-

fied as an important predictor for L1 attrition and retention of voiceless stop production,

although not of stop perception. This discrepancy is related to different activation thresh-

olds as proposed by the Activation Threshold Hypothesis (ATH). It is further suggested

that early bilinguals are more dependent on high-frequency L1 use than late bilinguals

when compensating for age effects, but only in production.

Keywords: second language acquisition, first language attrition, maturational constraints,

critical period, voice onset time, stop production, categorical perception, activation

threshold hypothesis, L1 use, highly proficient L2 learners, L1 Spanish, L2 Swedish.

Copyright: Katrin Stölten

Printing: Universitetsservice US-AB, Stockholm 2013

Correspondence:

SE–106 91 Stockholm

www.biling.su.se

ISBN 978-91-7447-793-1

ISSN 1400-5921

Acknowledgements

There are numerous people who, in one way or another, have contributed to the

realization of this thesis, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all!

However, I wish to express my gratitude to several persons in particular who have

been especially important to me throughout the entire process.

First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor Niclas Abrahamsson

for his support, invaluable competence and professional advice. I am especially

thankful to you, Niclas, for encouraging me to continue with my work after a four-

year break with the PhD program. I am grateful to Niclas Abrahamsson, Kenneth

Hyltenstam and Emanuel Bylund who, as project leaders and/or project col-

leagues, as well as co-authors, have provided valuable comments and recommen-

dations on uncountable versions of my work, thereby improving my scientific

thinking and writing. I also would like to express my gratitude to my secondary

supervisor, Ulla Sundberg, for her support and constructive feedback and guid-

ance, especially on phonetic aspects and methodological issues of the thesis.

Within the framework of the two research projects I have been engaged with, I

would like to thank all participants for their patience while conducting the time-

consuming and demanding testing sessions that the study required. I would like to

thank Alejandra Donoso, Johan Roos and Gunilla Thunberg for recruitment of

participants and data collection. Special thanks go to Alejandra Donoso and Anna

Ericsson for lending me their voices for the preparation of the perception stimuli. I

am also grateful to Hassan Djamshidpey for technical assistance during recordings

in the anechoic chamber, Olle Engstrand for suggestions and discussions on the

perception tests, and Hartmut Traunmüller, Francisco Lacerda and Guillermo

Montero Melis for statistical advice. I would also like to thank Lamont Antieau for

checking and improving my English writing.

To my former and present colleagues at the Centre for Research on Bilingual-

ism I would like to extend a warm collective thanks for all the endless conversa-

tions we have had, no matter whether private or work-related, and many of which

included a god deal of laughter. I am thankful for the opportunity I have been

given to be a part of such a stimulating, warm and friendly work environment.

I would like to extend my warmest thanks to my friends and family, especially

to my parents, for always being there for me and for supporting me in all my deci-

sions through the years. Finally, my deepest thanks to you, Björn, for always be-

lieving in me. Without you by my side I would probably not be where I am today!

Katrin Stölten

Stockholm, October 2013

The present thesis is based on the following studies:

I. Stölten, K., Abrahamsson, N. & Hyltenstam, K. (in press). Effects of age

and speaking rate on voice onset time: The production of voiceless stops by

near-native L2 speakers. To appear in Studies in Second Language

Acquisition.

II. Stölten, K., Abrahamsson, N. & Hyltenstam, K. (in press). Effects of age of

learning on voice onset time: Categorical perception of Swedish stops by

near-native L2 speakers. To appear in Language and Speech.

III. Stölten, K., Abrahamsson, N., Bylund, E. & Hyltenstam, K. (submitted).

The L1 production and perception of VOT in Spanish-Swedish bilinguals:

The role of age and L1 use.

The Effects of Age of Onset on VOT

in L2 Acquisition and L1 Attrition

A Study of the Speech Production and Perception of Advanced

Spanish-Swedish Bilinguals

Introduction

This thesis is based on three studies that examine the role of age in second lan-

guage (L2) acquisition and first language (L1) attrition. The focus is on one spe-

cific phonetic aspect, namely, Voice Onset Time (VOT), in the production and

perception of word-initial L1 and L2 stop consonants in highly advanced L1

Spanish speakers of L2 Swedish. Based on a maturational view and the Critical

Period Hypothesis (CPH) for L2 acquisition, Study I aims at exploring the impact

of age of onset (AO) of L2 acquisition on the production of L2 Swedish stops and

underscores the importance of speaking rate effects on VOT as a measure of

nativelikeness. Study II also deals with the CPH, but this time by analyzing AO

effects on the categorical perception of L2 Swedish stops. By combining the re-

sults with the data from Study I, Study II suggests that the phonetic/phonological

L2 acquisition of VOT in stop production and perception may be especially sensi-

tive to AO effects. By investigating the role of age of reduced contact (ARC) for

the production and perception of L1 Spanish stops, Study III reveals age as an im-

portant predictor for L1 attrition, but only for stop production. The study makes an

attempt to explain the discrepancy found between L1 stop production and percep-

tion ability by referring to differences in activation thresholds according to the Ac-

tivation Threshold Hypothesis (ATH) and the amount of L1 use.

This introduction aims to provide a theoretical background to the individual

studies. Section I gives an overview of research on age effects in L2 acquisition,

thereby presenting definitions and theoretical issues that are especially relevant for

Study I and Study II. In section 2, an introduction is given to language attrition re-

search, and some of the most important variables that are of relevance are re-

viewed. Among these, three factors are presented that are central to Study III:

ARC, the amount of L1 use, and the ATH. Section 3 provides a comprehensive

description of VOT and reviews the methodology generally used in research stud-

ies comprising measurements on stop production and categorical perception tests

on the basis of VOT. A theoretical background is given in section 4 to the applica-

tion of VOT to research on L2 acquisition and L1 attrition. In section 5, a short

presentation of the two projects from which the data were taken is followed by a

summary of Study I–III. Finally, section 6 makes some general conclusions that

can be drawn from the individual studies.

2 Effects of Age of Onset on VOT in L2 Acquisition and L1 Attrition

1. Theoretical background to age effects in L2 acquisition

Drawing from an extensive body of research on infant speech perception, it has

become a well-established fact that newborns are innately capable of perceptually

discriminating a wide range of phonetic contrasts used phonologically in natural

languages (e.g., Eilers & Minifie, 1975; Eilers, Wilson & Moore, 1977; Eimas &

Miller, 1980; Eimas, Siqueland, Jusczyk & Vigorito, 1971; Jusczyk & Thompson,

1978; Kuhl, Tsao & Liu, 2003; Lasky, Syrdal-Lasky & Klein, 1975; Swoboda,

Morse & Leavitt, 1976; Trehub, 1973, 1976). During the first year of life, how-

ever, a reorganization of this perceptual ability takes place as a function of

increasing specific language exposure (Kuhl, 1987, 2001; Kuhl, Williams,

Lacerda, Stevens & Lindblom, 1992; Morse, 1978; Walley, 2005; Werker, Gilbert,

Humphrey & Tees, 1981; Werker & Tees, 1984). In other words, it has become a

widely accepted view that “early development entails a shift from a language-gen-

eral to a language-specific pattern of perception” (Walley, 2005, p. 449), in that

newborns innately equipped with sensitivities to perceive a variety of phonetic

contrasts already during their first months of life become perceptually attuned to

the sound system of what will become their native language. By doing so, infants

experience an early reorganization of perceptual abilities that makes them

increasingly insensitive to non-native contrasts.

Within the field of language acquisition, one central issue has concerned the

Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH). In his 1967 book entitled Biological Founda-

tions of Language, Eric Lenneberg proposes the existence of a timeframe of

heightened sensitivity to language acquisition that spans from infancy to the onset

of puberty (approximately age 12). Lenneberg (1967) emphasizes the role of bio-

logical maturation by relating the termination of the critical period to the comple-

tion of cerebral lateralization for language to the left hemisphere and to “a loss of

adaptability and inability for reorganization in the brain (…)” (p. 179). Support for

this hypothesis derives from reports of (fortunately) very rare incidences in which

individuals under tragic circumstances have been completely isolated from L1 lin-

guistic input from birth or very early childhood (for reviews of, e.g., the cases of

“Genie” and “Chelsea”, see Hyltenstam & Abrahamsson, 2003a; Newport, 1990;

with reference to Curtiss 1977, 1989). When provided with linguistic stimuli later

in life (i.e. after the onset of puberty), these individuals never reached normal

command of their first language.

However, other proposals have been put forward regarding the upper limit of

such a biologically defined critical or sensitive period for first language acquisi-

tion.1 Among them, Ruben (1997) suggests that there may not be one, but several

critical periods (i.e. for phonology, morphosyntax and semantics; for similar

1 The notion of a sensitive period sometimes found in the literature constitutes a weaker/softer

formulation of the CPH that implies that the ability to achieve nativelike L2 proficiency does not

change abruptly at a certain age; instead, sensitivity is reduced over a span of years. However,

these two terms are often used interchangeably (see Hyltenstam & Abrahmsson, 2003a).

Katrin Stölten 3

suggestions, see Seliger, 1978) of which “the earliest specialization is phonologi-

cal, with a limiting of phoneme discrimination by the end of the first year” (p.

117). Ruben‟s (1997) suggestion of a time span of heightened phonetic sensitivity

coming to an end already at the age of 12 months thus fits properly into the pattern

observed in the early development of L1 phonetic categories.

Given the empirical evidence from research on L1 acquisition, it has been a

heavily debated issue whether such theories of one or several critical periods

might also apply to second language acquisition (SLA). In accordance with

Lenneberg‟s maturational view, some studies propose the crucial age for success-

ful L2 attainment to be around puberty or adolescence (for morphology and syn-

tax, see, e.g., Long, 1990; Patkowski, 1980; for phonology, see, e.g., Scovel, 1969,

1988). Other researchers, however, suggest much lower ages (e.g., six or seven

years) to constitute the upper limit for nativelike L2 proficiency (for morphology

and syntax, see, e.g., Hyltenstam, 1992; Johnson & Newport, 1989; for phonology,

see, e.g., Flege, Munro & MacKay, 1995a; for overviews on critical periods in L2

acquisition, see Long, 1990, 1993, 2005). Despite these differences, studies have

consistently reported on overall negative correlations between age of onset (AO)

of L2 acquisition and any measure of L2 ultimate attainment indicating that child-

hood acquirers generally outperform L2 learners with a late start (e.g., Abra-

hamsson, 2012; Abrahamsson & Hyltenstam, 2009; Asher & García, 1969;

DeKeyser, 2000; Flege, 1999; Johnson & Newport, 1989; Munro & Mann, 2005;

Oyama, 1976; Patkowski, 1990; Seliger, Krashen & Ladefoged, 1975; see also

DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005; Hyltenstam & Abrahamsson, 2003a; Long, 1990,

1993, 2005, for overviews). Findings like these have frequently been interpreted in

relation to Lenneberg‟s (1967) view of decreasing brain plasticity/flexibility and

other neurological correlates such as the development and maturation of cortical

neurons (e.g., Pulvermüller & Schumann, 1994; Uylings, 2006).

The existence of maturational/biological constraints as explanations to age-

related differences in L2 ultimate attainment has been of much controversy in SLA

research. Most of all, skepticism arises from studies that have identified individual

cases of late L2 acquirers (i.e. post-puberty or adult learners) with a L2 command

comparable to that of native speakers (e.g., Birdsong, 1992, 2007; Birdsong &

Molis, 2001; Bongaerts, Mennen & van der Slik, 2000; Bongaerts, Planken &

Schils, 1995; Bongaerts, van Summe ren, Planken & Schils, 1997; Flege, Munro

& MacKay, 1996; Ioup, Boustagui, El Tigi & Moselle, 1994; Major, 1987; Moyer,

1999; van Boxtel, Bongaerts & Coppen, 2005; White & Genesee, 1996; see also

Birdsong, 2006, for an overview). Based on these findings, some researchers have

proposed a pattern of constant ability, suggesting that successful L2 learning is, in

principle, biologically possible for any L2 learner regardless of their AO (see, e.g.,

Bongaerts, 1999; Bongaerts et al., 1997; see also Munro & Mann, 2005, for an

overview).

However, variability exists regarding the estimation of the incidence of native-

like attainment among late L2 learners. Suggested rates range from very high


percentages (above 20%) of nativelikeness (see, e.g., Birdsong, 1992; Birdsong &

Molis, 2001; Montrul & Slabakova, 2003; White & Genesee, 1996) over more

moderate estimates of 5 – 20% (see, e.g., Birdsong, 2007; Bongaerts, 1999;

Colantoni & Steele, 2006; Flege, Yeni-Komshian & Liu, 1999; van Boxtel et al.,

2005) to very low rates, suggesting that post-puberty nativelike L2 attainment is

very rare or even non-existent (e.g., Abrahamsson, 2012; Abrahamsson & Hylten-

stam, 2009; Bley-Vroman, 1989; Ioup et al., 1994; Johnson & Newport, 1989;

Moyer, 1999). Study I and Study II presented in this thesis can also be added to the

literature viewing nativelikeness in late L2 learners as more or less unattainable.

The reason for these discrepancies could be related to the way in which the

notion of nativelikeness has been used in different studies. As pointed out by

Abrahamsson and Hyltenstam (2009), overestimations of the incidence of native-

likeness may be the result of overgenerous interpretations of the concept of

nativelikeness. Whereas nativelikeness is sometimes measured on the basis of L2

speakers‟ self-identifications by some researchers (e.g., Piller, 2002; Seliger et al.,

1975), others examine nativelikeness through perceptual judgments made by

native speakers of the target language (e.g., Bongaerts, 1999; Moyer, 1999;

Neufeld, 2001). A third way of measuring nativelike L2 attainment is by well-

controlled investigations of L2 speakers‟ actual linguistic proficiency (e.g., Abra-

hamsson & Hyltenstam, 2008, 2009; Birdsong, 1999, 2007; Bley-Vroman, 1989;

Hyltenstam & Abrahamsson, 2003b; Long, 1990; see also Study I and Study II).

According to Abrahamsson and Hyltenstam (2009), only the latter operationaliza-

tion of the notion of nativelikeness offers a reliable measure for capturing subtle

inter-speaker differences that would allow for a distinction between near-native

and truly nativelike L2 learners regarding their L2 linguistic competence.

Another problem concerns the observation that many investigations have often

focused on randomly selected L2 speakers assessed through basic language tests

and insufficiently sensitive analyses and elicitation techniques. The use of such

methodology, the argument goes, has most probably resulted in ceiling effects and

overestimations of nativelikeness among (late) L2 learners (see, e.g., Abra-

hamsson & Hyltenstam, 2009; Hyltenstam & Abrahamsson, 2003a, 2003b; see

also Long, 1993, 2005, 2007). Moreover, even if some post-puberty or adult

learners might, in fact, attain a nativelike command, it will most likely be confined

to a few areas of the target language (Hyltenstam & Abrahamsson, 2000, 2003b;

see also Abrahamsson & Hyltenstam, 2009). Consequently, actual nativelikeness

is unlikely to be present in all relevant aspects of the language. If the goal is to

challenge maturational accounts such as the CPH, investigations of nativelike L2

ultimate attainment should focus exclusively on highly advanced late L2 speakers,

that is, bilinguals who give the appearance of having attained a nativelike com-

mand of their L2 (e.g., based on a perceptual judgment task). These individuals

can then be examined through demanding tests that, in combination with carefully

prepared elicitation methods and techniques, allow for greater in-depth analyses of

a wider range of language-specific features (e.g., Abrahamsson & Hyltenstam,

Katrin Stölten 5

2009). As correctly pointed out by Long (1993), initial screening for potential

nativelikeness is of great importance since “[t]here is no value in studying obvi-

ously non-native-like individuals intensively in order to declare them non-native-

like” (p. 204). Only if late L2 learners, after such intensive evaluation, are in fact

identified as having attained a proficiency level completely comparable to that of

native speakers, would they most likely represent those exceptions that some re-

searchers would refer to as evidence against maturational/biological factors con-

straining L2 acquisition. However, no published study has ever confirmed the

existence of such exceptional adult L2 learners and thus no claim can actually be

made for their status as valid counterevidence to the CPH (Hyltenstam & Abra-

hamsson, 2000, 2003b; see also Long, 1990, 1993).

Recent studies, among them also Study I and Study II, have shown that, even

among early L2 learners (i.e. with an AO before puberty), the incidence of non-

nativelike L2 attainment seems to be much more frequent than often presumed

(Abrahamsson, 2012; Abrahamsson & Hyltenstam, 2008, 2009; Bylund, Abra-

hamsson & Hyltenstam, 2012; Flege, Birdsong, Bialystok, Mack, Sung &

Tsukada, 2006; Flege et al., 1995a; Hyltenstam & Abrahamsson, 2003b;

McDonald, 2000; Tsukada, Birdsong, Bialystok, Mack, Sung & Flege, 2005;

Yeni-Komshian, Flege & Liu, 2000). Due to the fact that findings like these are

not immediately predicted by the CPH, alternative suggestions have been put for-

ward. Among them, a sigmoid pattern has been proposed. According to this pat-

tern, there is a gradually changing slope of L2 proficiency that is characterized by

an initial period during which nativelike L2 proficiency is generally acquired, fol-

lowed by a period of increasing non-nativelikeness that finally ends in a period of

maximal divergence from native-speaker proficiency (e.g., Flege & Fletcher,

1992; Flege et al., 1999). Still others prefer the pattern of an age-related linear

decline instead of an abrupt change in language learning outcome at a certain age.

Researchers supportive of this approach interpret the decline as a linear deteriora-

tion of general cognitive abilities in combination with social, psychological and

educational circumstances throughout the entire life span (e.g., Bialystok &

Hakuta, 1999; Hakuta, Bialystok & Wiley, 2003; Marinova-Todd, Marshall &

Snow, 2000). Whereas this pattern is taken as evidence against the CPH and

maturational explanations by some researchers (e.g., Bialystok & Hakuta, 1999),

others propose that a continuous decline in the ability to acquire nativelike ulti-

mate attainment might just as likely be the result of maturational constraints that

are increasing with age, especially before the onset of puberty (Hyltenstam &

Abrahamsson, 2003a).

2. Theoretical background to age effects in L1 attrition

During the last decades, researchers have been increasingly interested in the pro-

cess of language attrition, a term referring to the “non-pathological decrease in

proficiency in a language that had previously been acquired by an individual”

(Köpke & Schmid, 2004, p. 5). As schematized in Figure 1, language attrition


should be distinguished from pathological language loss caused by neurological

impairment leading to aphasia (e.g., Berko-Gleason, 1982; Bylund, 2008).

Moreover, attrition implies that speakers undergo individual language loss within

one generation. Language attrition should thus be clearly separated from more

wide-ranging sociolinguistic contact phenomena such as language shift or death

occurring across generations in bilingual communities (Köpke, 2004, with refer-

ence to de Bot, 2001).

According to the Crosslinguistic Influence (CI) framework proposed by

Pavlenko (2000, 2004; see also Schmid, 2011), attrition is defined as the loss of

L1 elements, resulting in the inability to produce, perceive, or recognize specific

lexical items or rules in the L1. Given this definition, attrition should be differenti-

ated from four other underlying processes taking place in the interaction between

two languages, that is, (1) borrowing, (2) restructuring, (3) convergence, and (4)

shift. The first process usually refers to the borrowing of lexical loanwords from

the L2 into the L1. During the process of restructuring, L2 elements are incorpo-

rated in the L1, thereby leading to changes and/or substitutions in that language

(e.g., the incorporation of L2 rules into L1 grammar in the case of syntactic

restructuring). An often observed change taking place in the area of

phonetics/phonology is the process of convergence, which implies the creation of

a new sound (system) that diverges from the L1 and L2 (e.g., intermediate VOT,

see section 4). Finally, the process of shift implies that L1 structures or sounds

move away from the L1 norm and approximate the L2 structures or sounds

(Pavlenko, 2004). However, as relevant as this separation into different processes

underlying cross-linguistic influence might be, the broader definition of attrition as

non-pathological decrease in L1 proficiency is preferred in this thesis, as it refers

to any type of deviation from the L1 norm. By adhering to this definition, adequate

comparisons and generalizations between studies can be accomplished.

Research has repeatedly demonstrated that age of reduced contact (ARC) is a

highly important predictor variable for the attrition outcome (e.g., Bylund, 2009a;

Köpke & Schmid, 2004). ARC is defined as the age at which an individual moves

from an L1-dominant environment to an L2 setting and experiences a decline of

language loss

by bilingual communities

across generations:

- language shift

- language death

by individuals

within generations:

- aphasia (pathological)

- language attrition

(non-pathological)

Figure 1: The definition of language attrition and its differentiation from aphasia,

language shift and language death (based on Schmid, 2011).

Katrin Stölten 7

continuous contact and input from the native language. At this point in time, the

attrition process is supposed to begin.

Comparisons between adult and child attrition have shown that the linguistic

system in children is affected to a higher degree than what has been reported for

adults. In short, whereas attrition in late bilinguals is generally confined to obvious

limitations in vocabulary retrieval (e.g., Olshtain & Barzilay, 1991) and deviances

in word order (e.g., Schmid, 2002), the L1 in children is affected to a greater

extent to include, for example, insufficiencies with regard to case marking (e.g.,

Polinsky, 1997), verb morphology (e.g., Montrul, 2002; Turian & Altenberg,

1991), and pronunciation (e.g., Yeni-Komshian et al., 2000). Findings like these

have resulted in the general view that “the younger the child is when the language

of her environment changes, the faster and deeper she will attrite” (Köpke &

Schmid, 2004, p. 10).

Studies on both early and late bilinguals often report on general age effects on

L1 proficiency (Ammerlaan, 1996; Bylund, 2009a; Hakuta & D‟Andrea, 1992;

Pelc, 2001; Silva-Corvalán, 1994; for pronunciation, see Yeni-Komshian et al,

2000). However, based on the data gathered by Bylund (2009a) on conceptualiza-

tion patterns of L1 goal-oriented motion events in Spanish-Swedish bilinguals and

by Yeni-Komshian et al. (2000) on pronunciation proficiency in native Korean

speakers of L2 English, it may be suggested that a major change in attrition sus-

ceptibility takes place at the onset of puberty, or to be more precise, at the age of

approximately 12. Other studies that have investigated L1 attrition in bilinguals

who have moved to an L2 environment in adolescence or adulthood, however, re-

port on non-significant effects of ARC on L1 attrition (e.g., de Leeuw, Schmid &

Mennen, 2007, 2010; Scherag, Demuth, Rösler, Neville & Röder, 2004; Schmid,

2002). Taken together, these findings suggest that ARC is a predictive factor of L1

attrition/retention, especially in bilinguals who leave the L1 setting before age 12.

For late bilinguals (ARC > 12), however, L1 retention remains fairly high, even

after many years of residence in the L2 environment. The attrition study presented

in this thesis (Study III) makes a contribution to these research findings by demon-

strating age differences in that the group of Spanish-Swedish bilinguals with high

ARCs (above 12) produced L1 Spanish stops within the monolingual range to a

significantly higher degree than the group with low ARCs (below 12). At the same

time, however, Study III adds new information to the role of ARC in L1 attrition

as it identifies age effects for productive skills, but not for the perception of L1

Spanish stops.

As with the discussion on age findings in SLA research, age effects in L1 attri-

tion have sometimes been related to the existence of a critical or maturational

period that spans from birth to the onset of puberty. It is hypothesized that attrition

susceptibility gradually decreases during this time span due to increasing

maturational constraints before it drops more dramatically at its terminus, that is,

at the age of approximately 12 (Bylund, 2009b). In other words, when compared

to the age pattern predicted for L2 acquisition, it may be suggested that “the effect


of the Critical Period is reversed with respect to language attrition” (Schmid, 2011,

p. 73).

Although age is often cited as the most important variable for L1 attrition and

retention, a maturational/biological account alone cannot explain all variation

observed in the attrition outcome. In fact, throughout the years myriad variables

have been proposed to affect L1 maintenance to various degrees (e.g., Bylund,

2008; Köpke, 2004; Köpke & Schmid, 2004; Schmid, 2011, for an overview).

Among them, length of residence (LOR), which is a factor sometimes mentioned

as a possible predictor of L2 proficiency (Flege & Fletcher, 1992; Purcell & Suter,

1980; for an overview, see Piske, MacKay & Flege, 2001), is often assumed to

play an important role in L1 attrition, in that the longer the time since arrival to the

L2 environment, the harder it is for the individual to maintain access to the L1.

This assumption, however, is generally not supported by empirical findings (e.g.,

Bylund, 2009a; Bylund, Abrahamsson & Hyltenstam, 2010; de Leeuw, Mennen &

Scobbie, 2011; Hopp & Schmid, 2011; Jaspaert & Kroon, 1989; Tsimpli, Sorace,

Heycock & Filiaci, 2004). In the study by Yeni-Komshian et al. (2000), the LOR

of Korean-English bilinguals in the US did not have any significant effect on

either L1 or L2 pronunciation scores. Non-significant correlations between LOR

and L1 proficiency are also reported for L1 conceptualization patterns and gram-

matical intuition measured by a grammaticality judgment test (GJT) in Spanish-

Swedish bilinguals (Bylund, 2009a; Bylund et al., 2010). This also holds true for

the production and perception of L1 Spanish stops analyzed in Study III, which,

like Yeni-Komshian et al. (2000) and the studies by Bylund (2009a) and Bylund et

al. (2010), investigated L1 mastery in individuals who had been living in the L2

environment for more than one decade. Hutz (2004), however, examined attrition

effects longitudinally on several linguistic levels (e.g., lexical borrowing, semantic

transfer and word order) in the writings of a German immigrant to the US. The

lexicon was found to be severely affected by the time since immigration, espe-

cially during the first 10 to 15 years, whereas morphological and syntactic struc-

tures appeared to be more resistant to attrition. In reference to unpublished data by

Waas (1993) that reported on considerable attrition effects in German migrants

who had been living in Australia for less than ten years, de Bot and Clyne (1994)

arrived at the conclusion that LOR can play some role in L1 maintenance up to ten

years after the break with the L1 environment. L1 linguistic skills not affected

during this time period, however, remain more or less stable, even after many

years in the L2 setting (e.g., Ammerlaan, 1996; de Bot & Clyne, 1994; Gürel,

2004a; Schmid, 2002). Moreover, as pointed out by de Bot, Gommans and

Rossing (1991), LOR may only have an effect when contact with the L1 is low.

Bylund et al. (2010) point out that language learning aptitude,2 known to play

an important role for L2 ultimate attainment (DeKeyser, 2000; Abrahamsson &

2 Language learning aptitude is referred to as an “innate, relatively fixed, talent to acquire and

process language structure” (Bylund et al., 2010, p. 447) and can be divided into four major

Katrin Stölten 9

Hyltenstam, 2008) and identified as a predictor variable in L2 attrition (Lambert,

1982; Oxford, 1982), “has a compensatory function in situations of reduced L1

contact, in that the speaker‟s degree of aptitude to a certain extent regulates his/her

dependency on L1 contact to achieve and maintain L1 proficiency” (Bylund et al.,

2010, p. 459). In other words, language aptitude seems to play a significant part in

L1 attrition, especially in situations where the linguistic input from the L1 is re-

duced. This statement automatically leads us to the next variable often considered

to counteract L1 attrition, that is, the amount of L1 contact/use.

A variety of studies have reported on positive effects of L1 contact on L1

maintenance, thereby giving support to the general view that the higher the

amount of L1 contact, the higher the L1 proficiency and vice versa (e.g., Bylund et

al., 2010; de Bot et al., 1991; Hakuta & D‟ Andrea, 1992; de Leeuw et al., 2007,

2010; Lubínska, 2011; Schmid, 2002; Yeni-Komshian et al., 2000). However,

other researchers have not been able to find a significant relation between these

variables (e.g., Guion, Flege & Loftin, 2000; Hopp & Schmid, 2011; Schmid,

2007), and Jaspaert and Kroon (1989) even report on a negative correlation, indi-

cating that a higher contact with the L1 can result in lower mastery of L1 skills.

These discrepancies may have been caused by the fact that studies have used dif-

ferent research methods that can lower the possibility of adequate comparisons

between them. For example, whereas de Bot et al. (1991) operationalize L1 con-

tact/use as a dichotomous variable (i.e. many L1 contacts vs. few L1 contacts),

Bylund et al. (2010) makes use of self-reported percentages of daily L1 use. In

Study III, L1 use is defined by self-reported percentages that were divided into

high-level and low-level L1 use. Moreover, information about L1 contact and use

is usually gathered through subjective estimations of individuals that may have

been influenced by language attitudes (see, e.g., Köpke, 2004; Köpke & Schmid,

2004). Schmid (2002), for example, showed that emotional trauma caused by

exceptional circumstances, such as ethnic persecution, can generate negative atti-

tudes toward the L1, thereby facilitating attrition of that language. In addition,

characteristics in L1 input per se may have influenced the research outcomes. For

example, in situations where there is L1 contact between bilingual speakers within

the L2-dominant environment, the L1 input may already have been influenced by

the L2, leading Köpke (2004) to the assertion that “not only quantity of input

should be considered, but also quality” (p. 20). This assumption may be further

exemplified by de Leeuw et al. (2010), who reported on perceived global foreign

accent in the L1 speech of 34 German immigrants in Anglophone Canada (ARC

components usually incorporated in tests batteries on language aptitude: (1) phonetic/phonemic

coding ability, or the ability to identify speech sounds and to make associations between sounds

and symbols; (2) grammatical sensitivity, that is, the capability to identify the grammatical

functions of constituents in a sentence; (3) rote learning ability, which refers to the capacity to

learn and remember new words rapidly and efficiently, thereby making associations between

lexical forms and meaning; and (4) inductive learning ability, that is, the ability to infer the

grammatical rules of a set of a previously unknown language material (Carroll, 1981).


14–40; LOR, 9–54) and 23 German immigrants in the Dutch Netherlands (ARC

16–51; LOR 16–58). Accent ratings revealed that the quantity and quality of the

participants‟ contact with L1 German were better predictors of perceived foreign

accent than LOR and ARC. L1 contact was operationalized in terms of L1 use in

the context of communicative settings (1) in which little codemixing between L1

and L2 was expected to occur, and (2) in which codemixing was more common. It

was found that only L1 use with little codemixing had a significant impact on

perceived foreign accent. In a study by Schmid and Dusseldorp (2010), L1 use at

work was found to have a more preventive effect against language attrition than

informal language use with family and friends. Taken together, these findings

suggest that L1 use for professional purposes in which codemixing between L1

and L2 is expected to occur less frequently (e.g., at work) is a more powerful pre-

dictor variable for L1 maintenance than informal L1 use in which codemixing is

expected to occur more frequently (e.g., with families and friends).

Continuous contact with the L1 has been found to be especially important for

L1 retention in individuals who experience a change in linguistic environment

early in life. Empirical evidence derives from studies on international adoptees.

Ventureyra, Pallier and Yoo (2004) investigated perceptual discrimination of the

Korean phonemes /k/, /p/ and /s/ in 18 individuals who had been adopted from Ko-

rea by French-speaking families in France, Switzerland and Belgium at the ages of

3–9 years. The control groups for this study contained 12 native Koreans and 12

native speakers of French. Results showed that the adoptees did not have any

advantage over native French speakers regarding the perception of Korean voice-

less consonants, and the researchers concluded that the L1 is prone to severe attri-

tion, or is even lost completely at the expense of L2 acquisition, if continuous

contact with the L1 is severed effectively (see also Isurin, 2000; Nicoladis & Gra-

bois, 2002; Pallier, Dehaene, Poline, LeBihan, Argenti, Depoux & Mehler, 2003).

Moreover, the findings imply that L1 linguistic domains such as phonology that

are commonly believed to be relatively resistant to attrition due to early acquisi-

tion may be lost (e.g., Ventureyra et al., 2004; see also Schmid & Köpke, 2007).

Hyltenstam, Bylund, Abrahamsson and Park (2009) studied 21 Korean

adoptees in Sweden, but in contrast to Ventureyra et al. (2004) the participants

took part in relearning activities as adults (i.e. Korean language classes at univer-

sity level). The native Koreans‟ age of adoption varied between 1 and 10 years,

and their LOR in Sweden was 22 years on average. Prior to their participation in

Korean language classes, all participants had not received exposure to Korean

since adoption (i.e. for an average of 22 years), and they did not report having any

knowledge of Korean. In order to find out whether there were any L1 remnants in

the adoptees‟ language competence, they were tested by using a GJT and a dis-

crimination task of the Korean voiceless stops /p t k/. Test results were compared

to three native Koreans and to a group of eleven advanced Swedish learners of

Korean who were enrolled in the same university course as the adoptees. Whereas

the L2 learners exhibited significantly higher scores on the GJT than the adoptees,

Katrin Stölten 11

the results from the stop discrimination task revealed that as many as 7 out of the

21 adoptees performed better than the highest-scoring native Swedish learner of

Korean. Moreover, the individuals with the highest perception scores also showed

the highest ARCs, leading the researchers to the conclusion that intensively re-

learning the L1 (i.e. reestablishing intense L1 contact and use) facilitates reactiva-

tion of L1 remnants and that the degree of reactivation is related to ARC. Also the

study by Oh, Jun, Knightly and Au (2003) showed that childhood overhearers of

Korean performed better than novice learners on (re)learning L1 phonetic features.

Similar to Hyltenstam et al. (2009), this advantage was found for phoneme per-

ception. However, Au, Knightly, Jun and Oh (2002) showed that childhood over-

hearers of Spanish did not have any advantage regarding the production of higher

linguistic structures (i.e. morphosyntax). Taken together, these results suggest that

(1) if L1 remnants do exist, they are most probably found in phonology, and that

(2) early L1 exposure may have long-term benefits for the reactivation of L1 rem-

nants, especially in perception. Furthermore, these conclusions are in line with the

framework of savings paradigm drawn from cognitive psychology on to language

attrition (e.g., de Bot & Stoessel, 2000) according to which information once

learned is not lost, but rather, becomes inaccessible if disused and may be re-

trieved or reactivated even after a long period of time (e.g., de Bot, Martens &

Stoessel, 2004; Hyltenstam et al., 2009).

The finding that early bilinguals, as opposed to late bilinguals, are more

dependent on advantageous circumstances such as high-frequency daily L1 use is

also confirmed by Study III. The fact that a compensatory function of L1 use in

early bilinguals was found for productive skills only, calls for another explanation

that takes into account differences between production and perception abilities.

Such explanation is offered by the Activation Threshold Hypothesis (ATH) pro-

posed by Paradis (e.g., 1993, 2004, 2007). According to the ATH, linguistic items

have activation thresholds that vary due to recency and frequency of use. Based on

the assumption that the L1 and L2 linguistic systems in bilinguals are in competi-

tion (see, e.g., the Competition Model by MacWhinney, 2005), the ATH proposes

that the more particular L2 items are used, the more their activation thresholds will

be lowered and thus become faster and more easily activated. At the same time,

the thresholds are raised for competing L1 linguistic items that are no longer used.

Consequently, different activation threshold levels arise with regard to a speaker‟s

L1 and L2, making it easier for the bilingual to gain access to L2 items but

increasingly more difficult to (re)activate L1 items (see, e.g., Gürel, 2004b;

Köpke, 2004; Paradis, 1997, 2007). Against this background, it seems reasonable

to assume that the more frequent and extensive the L1 is used, the higher the prob-

ability that the L1 will be maintained.

However, different modalities may vary as to how much stimulation they need

in order to reach activation, which may explain why production and perception

may be affected differently by attrition. By drawing upon the savings paradigm

(see above), de Bot et al. (2004) propose that “[F]or recall (i.e. the ability to pro-


duce a word), a fairly high level of activation is needed, while for recognition (i.e.

the passive recognition of a word without the ability to actively produce it), a

lower level will be sufficient” (p. 375). With reference to Paradis (2007), produc-

tion (i.e. recall, self-activation) is more difficult to activate since the excitatory

neural impulses necessary for the initiation and coordination of the articulators

involved in speech must be generated from within, whereas comprehension or

recognition are initialized through auditory or visual stimulation on the peripheral

sensory organs (cf. the distinction between recall and recognition memory, e.g.,

Ward, 2010). Following this line of argumentation, it may thus be possible for a

bilingual speaker to correctly perceive a particular L1 word or syntactic structure,

while not being able to actually produce the same item. Results from Study III are

congruent with this view, in that L1 stop perception was generally better retained

than stop production with the latter being affected by the bilinguals‟ ARC.

3. Voice Onset Time

Lisker and Abramson (1964) define Voice Onset Time (VOT) as “(…) the interval

between the release burst of the stop and the onset of glottal vibration” (p. 389).

Traditionally, voiceless stops (e.g., /p t k/) are associated with longer VOT values,

whereas voiced stops (e.g., /b d ɡ/) are associated with shorter VOTs. In addition

to VOT, other acoustic cues are known to contribute to the distinction between

voiced and voiceless stops. Voiceless stops, for example, are characterized by high

intensity of the release burst, longer duration of the occlusion phase, and delay of

first formant energy in relation to the second and third formant in the following

vowel (for a review, see Gelfand, 1998; Kent & Read, 1992; see also Abramson,

1977, for a discussion on VOT).3 However, VOT has long been known to be an

important, salient cue for voicing in both production and perception of initial stops

across languages (Abramson & Lisker, 1973; Caramazza & Yeni-Komshian,

1974; Lisker & Abramson, 1964; Williams, 1980; Zlatin, 1974).

VOT has been shown repeatedly to be affected by various factors. For

example, VOT is known to increase as the place of articulation moves further back

in the mouth, that is, bilabial stops are generally produced with the shortest, dental

stops with intermediate, and velar stops with the longest VOT4 (e.g., Cho &

Ladefoged, 1999; Fant, 1973; Helgason & Ringen, 2008; Krull, 1991; Lisker &

Abramson, 1964; Sundberg & Lacerda, 1996; Volaitis & Miller, 1992; Yavaş &

Wildermuth, 2006). Other factors known to influence VOT are, for example, stress

(e.g., Krull, 1991; Lisker & Abramson, 1967; Sundberg & Lacerda, 1999), the

3 Regarding stops occurring in word-final or medial position, an important cue for voicing

appears to be the duration of the preceding vowel. In short, stops that are preceded by longer

vowel durations are usually perceived as being voiced (see Gelfand, 1989, for an overview). 4 However, an observable overlap between places of articulation, in terms of VOT, is often seen

in the data (e.g., Helgason & Ringen, 2008; Krull, 1991; Sundberg & Lacerda, 1999, for Swedish

stops).

Katrin Stölten 13

height of the following vowel (Flege, Frieda, Walley & Randazza, 1998; Klatt,

1975; Thornburgh & Ryalls, 1998; Yavaş & Wildermuth, 2006), and speaking rate

(e.g., Beckman, Helgason, McMurray & Ringen, 2011; Kessinger & Blumstein,

1997; Schmidt & Flege, 1996; Volaitis & Miller, 1992; see also Study I).

On the basis of VOT, stops are roughly divided into three main phonetic cate-

gories (Lisker & Abramson, 1964). As schematized in Figure 2, stops with voicing

lead or prevoicing are characterized by vocal fold vibration that starts during

occlusion and are indicated by negative VOT values. In short-lag stops and long-

lag stops, respectively, laryngeal pulsing is initiated slightly or considerably after

the articulatory release. Short-lag and long-lag stops are collectively referred to as

having voicing lag, that is, they are defined by positive VOTs. Finally, in stops

where the voicing onset coincides with oral release, the VOT value becomes zero.

Languages that differentiate between voiced and voiceless stops phonologi-

cally may differ as to how they realize the voicing contrast on the phonetic level.

Figure 3 displays the established view of most Germanic languages, including

Swedish and English, treating aspirated long-lag stops as voiceless and voiced

stops primarily as unaspirated short-lag stops (for English VOT, see, e.g., Cara-

mazza, Yeni-Komshian, Zurif & Carbone, 1973; Deuchar & Clark, 1996, Deuchar

& Quay, 2000; for measurements of Swedish stops, see, e.g., Sundberg & Lacerda,

1999). Languages like Spanish or French, however, realize the voiced-voiceless

distinction by contrasting prevoiced stops with short-lag stops (e.g., Caramazza &

Yeni-Komshian, 1974; Deuchar & Clark, 1996; Zampini & Green, 2001).

However, with respect to Swedish word-initial stops, the short-lag/long-lag

division is not as straightforward as might be predicted from Figure 3. Helgason

and Ringen (2008) demonstrated that native speakers of Swedish produced

phonologically voiced stops in word-initial position more often as prevoiced rather

than as short-lag stops. Findings like these (see also Fant, 1969, 1973) imply that

the voiced-voiceless distinction in the production of Swedish word-initial stops

may be manifested by the use of the extreme categories along the VOT continuum,

that is, prevoiced versus long-lag aspirated stops, thereby increasing the perceptual

Closure release

│--------------------------------------│-------------------------------------│

–VOT 0 VOT + VOT

--- voicing lead or prevoicing ---│--- vowel ---

│--- short-lag ---│--- vowel ---

│-------- long-lag --------│--- vowel ---

Figure 2: Schematic representation of Voice Onset Time (VOT) (after

Davis, 1991).


contrast between them. However, there is still a significant difference between

Swedish and Spanish regarding their phonetic realization of word-initial voiceless

stops, which is the focus of the production studies incorporated in this thesis.

Cross-linguistic differences regarding the realization of the voicing contrast

have frequently been demonstrated in research on stop production and perception.

Regarding stop perception, listeners are usually tested on their categorical

perception of synthetically generated CV-syllables in which the initial stop varies

in equal steps along a continuum of VOT (e.g., Abramson & Lisker, 1973; Cara-

mazza et al., 1973; Flege & Eefting, 1987; Flege, Schmidt & Wharton, 1996;

Gass, 1984; Mack, 1989; Williams, 1977).

Categorical perception is examined through stimulus identification and/or dis-

crimination. In an identification test, a series of stop consonants with varying

VOTs are presented to the listener, and he/she is asked to decide for each stimulus

independently whether it belongs to either category A or B (e.g., /ka/ or /ɡa/). Per-

ceptual discrimination is tested by having the participant listen to stimulus pairs

and then decide whether the stimuli are similar or different. Another way of inves-

tigating discrimination ability is through an ABX constellation in which the

listener is introduced to three stimuli. The first two stimuli always come from dif-

ferent phonemic categories (e.g., /k/ or /ɡ/), and the listener is instructed to decide

whether the third stimulus is similar to either stimulus A or B.

The characteristic pattern obtained from a test on categorical perception is that

listeners perceptually separate the acoustic VOT continuum into distinct stop cate-

gories. As indicated by the idealized results from an identification test (Figure 4a),

at a specific point along the VOT dimension an abrupt change in categorization of

the VOT stimuli is taking place from voiced (e.g., /ɡ/) to voiceless (e.g., /k/). This

sudden change between stop categories is referred to as a category boundary, and

it is calculated by the point along the VOT continuum where the identification

functions for the two stop categories overlap (Figure 4a). As displayed in Figure

4b, idealized results from a discrimination test show that whereas discrimination

between stimuli from different phonemic categories is high, stimuli from within

category are not easily discriminated (i.e. not greater than chance). In fact, as

English and Swedish stops “voiced” “voiceless”

/b/ /d/ /ɡ/ /p/ /t/ /k/

|-------------- voicing lead or prevoicing ---- | ---- short-lag --------- long-lag ------------|

–VOT 0 VOT +VOT

/b/ /d/ /ɡ/ /p/ /t/ /k/

Spanish stops “voiced” “voiceless”

Figure 3: Schematic representation of the VOT continuum, showing the relationship

between the English/Swedish and Spanish stops at the phonetic and phonemic level.

“0 VOT” corresponds to stop release (based on Deuchar & Clark, 1996; Zampini &

Green, 2001).

Katrin Stölten 15

comparisons between Figure 4a and Figure 4b reveal, the peak of the discrimina-

tion ability coincides with the category boundary, indicating that those VOT

stimuli that are identified as belonging to different stop categories are easily dis-

criminated, whereas those stimuli that are identified as belonging to the same

voicing category are poorly discriminated. It has been found that native English

listeners, for instance, perceive a change in stop category from voiced to voiceless

at longer (i.e. more positive) VOTs when compared to native Spanish listeners

(Abramson & Lisker, 1973; Flege & Eefting, 1986). Findings like these do not

only imply that the categorization patterns are language-specific. They also indi-

cate that patterns found in stop perception are closely related to those in produc-

tion in which English voiceless stops have longer VOTs than in Spanish (see, e.g.,

Flege, 1991; Zampini & Green, 2001).

4. VOT in research on L2 acquisition and L1 attrition

Due to cross-linguistic variations regarding the realization of the voicing contrast

in stop consonants and the fact that language-specific categories are established at

an early stage in language development, VOT has emerged as an acoustic-phonetic

feature well-suited for analyses on language proficiencies. Within the field of SLA

research, VOT in stop production and perception has been investigated in a vast

number of studies (Caramazza et al, 1973; Birdsong, 2007; Flege, 1991; Flege &

Eefting, 1987; Flege & Hillenbrand, 1984; Flege & Port, 1981; Laeufer, 1996;

MacKay, Flege, Piske & Schirru, 2001; Major, 1987; Obler, 1982; Schmidt &

Flege, 1996; Wang & Behne, 2007; Williams, 1977, 1980). Results from these

studies generally point in the same direction, namely, that late bilinguals usually

(a) Identification (b) Discrimination

Figure 4: Schematic representation of the categorical perception of the voicing

contrast in stops (e.g., /k–ɡ/) varying along a continuum of VOT. (a) identification

function; (b) discrimination function (based on Gelfand, 1998; Strange, 1995).


demonstrate VOTs in their L2 stop production and perception that are more devi-

ant from native-speaker proficiency than what is the case for L2 learners with an

early start to their L2 acquisition (see, e.g., Abrahamsson, 2012; Flege & Eefting,

1987; Flege, 1991; Flege et al., 1995b; MacKay et al., 2001; Schmidt & Flege,

1996; Thornburgh & Ryalls, 1998). This overall pattern is also confirmed by Study

I and Study II on the production and perception of L2 Swedish stops. Moreover,

the fact that these age trends were found in exclusively high-level L2 speakers and

that the incidence of nativelike L2 command dropped remarkably (especially for

the late L2 learners) when the data from Study I and Study II were combined sug-

gests that aspects of phonetics/phonology may be especially sensitive to AO ef-

fects.

In contrast to the research available on VOT within the field of SLA, studies

investigating phonetic/phonological attrition with regard to VOT in L1 stop pro-

duction and perception in L2 speakers are more limited in number. One possible

reason for this may be the existence of a general belief that phonology is less sus-

ceptible to change than higher linguistic structures due to its early acquisition. As

stated by Schmid and Köpke (2007), “the phonological system of a mature L1 is

probably so stable that it is impervious to L2 influence” (p. 5). However, by refer-

ring to the study by Major (1992), Schmid and Köpke (2007) noticed that some

evidence of phonetic attrition exists in the speech of late bilinguals. Major (1992)

examined VOT for the phonemes /p t k/ in the speech of five female native speak-

ers of American English who as adults had moved to Brazil and who had been

living in the L2 environment for 12 to 35 years. The participants had been chosen

on the basis of being well-assimilated citizens of the Brazilian society with highly

integrative reasons for learning L2 Portuguese as well as equally strong personal

and professional motivations for wanting to maintain their L1 English. Compari-

sons were made between measurements of the bilinguals‟ VOT productions and

two control groups of native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese and American Eng-

lish. Results revealed that “[t]o a greater or lesser extent, all of the subjects suf-

fered loss of native English proficiency” (Major, 1992, p. 200). Moreover, corre-

lations were found between the bilinguals‟ Portuguese VOTs and rate of L1

attrition, indicating that the shorter and thus less nativelike VOT in English, the

shorter and more nativelike VOT in Portuguese. The observation that the L1 Eng-

lish VOT seemed to shift toward those of L2 Portuguese is explained as a result of

L2 transfer. However, L2 influence was found in stops that had been elicited from

a casual speaking style (i.e. informal conversation), whereas no such effect was

apparent in stops from a formal speaking style (i.e. word list reading). An expla-

nation offered by Major (1992) is that the bilingual speakers can monitor their

formal speech more easily, meaning that they are able to suppress the amount of

L2 influence on their L1 in formal than in casual speech.

In a study by Flege and Hillenbrand (1984), VOT was measured in the produc-

tion of /t/ by native French speakers of L2 English. Similar to the study by Major

(1992), the L2 learners had started to acquire their L2 in adulthood and they had

Katrin Stölten 17

all been living in the L2 setting for 12.2 years on average. The results indicated

that the speakers exhibited considerably longer and thus more English-like VOTs

than monolingual French speakers so that “(…) none of the talkers in this study

closely resembled monolingual native speakers of French” (Flege & Hillenbrand,

1984, p. 716). In another study, Flege (1987) reported on the VOT in the produc-

tion of /t/ in a group of American English native speakers of L2 French and a

group of French native speakers of L2 English. Results revealed that both learner

groups tended to produce the stop /t/ in both their languages with VOTs interme-

diate to the VOTs observed for English and French monolinguals. Findings like

these are consistent with earlier studies reporting on intermediate or compromise

VOT in the production and perception of L2 and/or L1 stops (Caramazza et al.,

1973; Flege, 1991; Flege & Port, 1981; Laeufer, 1996; Obler, 1982; Wang &

Behne, 2007; Williams, 1977, 1980).

Observations of cross-linguistic influence in the domains of phonetics and

phonology have often been interpreted in relation to the non-maturational Speech

Learning Model, or SLM (Flege, 1992, 1995). According to the SLM, L1 and L2

sounds share a common phonological space that facilitates influence between

them. It is predicted that L2 learners tend to classify L2 sounds that closely resem-

ble L1 sounds as a member of an already established L1 category due to “equiva-

lence classification” (Flege, 1992, p. 572). Only when speech sounds in the L2 dif-

fer substantially from those in the L1 are new perceptual categories established. In

this view, age effects found in studies of L2 acquisition and L1 attrition are

explained by age-related changes taking place in the interaction between L1 and

L2 sounds. It is assumed that the L1 system, as it develops with age, exerts

increasing influence on how L2 sounds are perceived and produced. Whereas late

learners will continue to identify similar L2 sounds as L1 equivalents, early L2

learners will detect the acoustic differences between corresponding L1 and L2

sounds since their L1 systems are not as fixed as those of adults. Thus, early bilin-

guals, as opposed to late L2 learners, will eventually establish new phonetic cate-

gories for L2 sounds and produce these sounds authentically, that is, like native

speakers of the L2 (Flege, 1991). Following this line of argumentation, L1

proficiency is assumed to play an important role in the perception and production

of L2 sounds. Seen from the opposite perspective, it is predicted that the higher the

L2 proficiency, the more the L2 will increase its impact on the L1. This mutual

influence between the L1 and L2 sound system is crucial to the SLM, as it predicts

that “the more a bilingual approximates the phonetic norm for an L2 speech sound,

the more her production of the corresponding L1 speech sound will tend to diverge

from L1 phonetic norms” (Flege, Schirru & MacKay, 2003, pp. 469–470). Against

this background, opponents of biological explanations suggest that what some re-

searchers see as age effects in L1 attrition and L2 acquisition should be interpreted

as the results of bilingualism, rather than as the outcome of increasing matura-

tional constraints (Flege, 1995, 1999; Ortega, 2010).


However, regardless of the theoretical viewpoint for explaining linguistic vari-

ation in L2 acquisition and L1 attrition, the only way of exploring the role of age

is by focusing on both early and late bilingual speakers. Whereas differences in L2

proficiency have been studied extensively across a wide range of AOs (e.g., Abra-

hamsson, 2012; Abrahamsson & Hyltenstam, 2008, 2009; Hyltenstam & Abra-

hamsson, 2003b; for aspects of phonology, see Abrahamsson, 2012; Abrahamsson

& Hyltenstam, 2009; Flege et al., 1995a, 1995b; Yeni-Komshian et al, 2000), sys-

tematic analyses of age effects on L1 attrition in both child and adult bilinguals are

less numerous. As concerned with attrition in L1 phonetics/phonology in particu-

lar, to my knowledge there is only one study that investigates L1 and L2 pronunci-

ation proficiencies in the speech of early and late bilinguals, namely, that by Yeni-

Komshian et al. (2000). One reason for this may be related to the difficulty to

appropriately analyze L1 proficiencies in bilinguals with low ARCs. To be more

precise, researchers examining attrition in children generally run the risk of inter-

preting lack of L1 (phonetic) competence as a result of attrition whereas the limi-

tation in L1 proficiency may in fact be a consequence of incomplete acquisition of

the L1 feature. As pointed out by Bylund (2008, with reference to Montrul, 2002),

attrition and incomplete acquisition are two different phenomena, although they

may display similar deviational patterns. In fact, Andersen (1982) put forward his

view that “[t]he researcher must (…) distinguish true attrition from a failure to

acquire the language being studied” (p. 85).

Regarding the attrition study (Study III), the problem of differentiating between

language attrition and incomplete acquisition needs some consideration. The study

sets out to broaden the view of age effects on L1 attrition in the domain of pho-

netics/phonology by making detailed analyses on Spanish stop production and

perception in early and late Spanish-Swedish bilinguals. As mentioned earlier,

language-specific perceptual categories are formed during the first year of life. It

may therefore be assumed that although the study includes participants that expe-

rienced a break with their L1 setting in early childhood, their perceptual L1 stop

categories have already developed to a certain extent. Regarding stop production,

research suggests that an adultlike VOT system for Spanish stop production is not

established until age 4 (for review, see Macken & Ferguson, 1981). In view of

these research findings, possible confusions between incomplete L1 acquisition

and L1 attrition in early bilinguals (ARC < 12) are considered to be less problem-

atic for the analysis of categorical perception than for stop production. However,

interpretations of what mechanism may have caused deviances in some early

Spanish-Swedish bilinguals, especially regarding the stop productions in individu-

als with ARCs below 5 years, should be taken with caution. By investigating both

early and late bilinguals, Study III makes a contribution to the research on L1

attrition, as it reveals age-related changes in the domain of L1 phonet-

ics/phonology, which is generally assumed to be less vulnerable to attrition.

Katrin Stölten 19

5. Two projects – three studies

The three studies included in this thesis are based on the same group of highly

advanced L1 Spanish speakers of L2 Swedish who have been participating in two

major projects entitled Age of onset and ultimate attainment in second language

acquisition (The Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation, grant no. 1999-

0383:01) and First language attrition in advanced second language speakers

(Swedish Research Council, grant no. 421-2004-1975). Study I and Study II derive

from the first project, whereas Study III has been conducted within the second

project.

As the title already reveals, the central aim of the first project was to explore

age effects on ultimate attainment in L2 acquisition. The project examined 41

native speakers of Spanish who had been primarily selected on the criterion that

they were perceived as native speakers of their L2 Swedish by a group of native

Swedish listeners (for details on participant selection, see Abrahamsson & Hylten-

stam, 2009; see also Study I and Study II). The original intention was to include 60

L2 learners, evenly distributed across an AO span between 1 and 20+ years (that

is, with three individuals for each AO). However, perceived nativelike command

was biased towards lower AOs and it appeared to be an extremely difficult task to

identify late L2 learners (AO > 12 years) who were perceived as native speakers of

Swedish and who met all the background criteria (for an overview, see Abra-

hamsson & Hyltenstam, 2009; see also Study I and Study II). Therefore, several

gaps were left in the upper half of the AO continuum.5

In a four-hour session (including two breaks with fruits and refreshments), the

41 highly advanced L2 speakers were tested “across the board”, that is, they per-

formed on some 20 instruments for speech elicitation and language testing that

covered a wide range of linguistic levels and skills. The testing sessions were con-

ducted in a sound attenuated room at Stockholm University. Apart from the tests

concerning stop production and categorical perception, other test components

comprised, for example, speech perception in noise, grammaticality judgments,

idiomatic expressions and proverbs, and language learning aptitude. In other

words, in addition to Study I and Study II other empirical studies have also derived

from this project (Abrahamsson & Hyltenstam, 2008, 2009; Bylund et al., 2012;

Hyltenstam et al., 2009).

Opponents of a maturational account for L2 acquisition often relate to the CPH

by accentuating their findings of late L2 learners with a nativelike command and

consider them valid counterexamples to the CPH and maturational constraints.

However, such statements have often been based on methodological shortcomings

(see section 1, as well as Study I and Study II). Therefore, systematic analyses of

AO effects on the L2 learners‟ performance on the different test components were

5 It should be noted that in the majority of cases, the AO of L2 acquisition coincided with the

participants‟ ages at immigration, which, in turn, coincided with their ARC.


conducted by examining the entire learner group and through analyses of 31 early

(AO 1–11) and 10 late (AO 13–19) L2 learners in comparison with 15 Swedish

controls. Participants were tested by a native speaker of Swedish, thereby ensuring

that the L2 speakers were in a Swedish monolingual mode (cf. Grosjean, 2001).

The L2 learners were separated into an early and late AO group according to the

theoretically established hypothesis of a critical period for language acquisition in

general (approximately age 12; Lenneberg, 1967). It is important to note, however,

that the project never aimed at actually confirming any version of the CPH. This

also holds true for the studies on stop production (Study I) and categorical percep-

tion (Study II), in which group comparisons were not conducted for making any

statements on whether or not age 12 should be considered the fixed cut-off point

of a critical period for phonetic detail. Instead, the project and the individual

studies intended to evaluate various claims that late nativelike L2 speakers exist

and therefore constitute evidence of no critical period or maturational constraints

on language acquisition. This was done by investigating whether entirely native-

like L2 command is actually attained by highly proficient L2 learners, especially

those with high AOs. Such an evaluation based on linguistic scrutiny has

important implications for theories on maturational constraints and discussions on

the non-/existence of critical period effects in L2 acquisition.

The second project addressed the same group of advanced L2 learners, but this

time their proficiency in L1 Spanish was the focus. Based on the background to

attrition research (section 2; see also Study III), the overall aim of the project was

to explore the impact of ARC on L1 retention/attrition. More specifically, the re-

search question under investigation was whether L1 attrition is less likely to occur

in late bilinguals than in individuals who experience a break with their L1 envi-

ronment early in life, that is, before the age of approximately 12. Again, the theo-

retical point of departure for the project is posed by predictions made on the basis

of a critical (or maturational) period. However, since six individuals (ARC 2, 4, 5,

6, and two individuals with ARC 8) resigned from participation in this project,

examinations could only be conducted on 35 out of the original 41 L2 learners

with bilingual competence. Moreover, this change resulted in a more irregular

distribution even among lower ARCs (see Study III). Test components similar to

those of the first project were adapted to Spanish, and again the participants were

separated into a group of 25 early (ARC 1–11) and 10 late (ARC 13–19) bilin-

guals. This time, 15 native speakers of Chilean Spanish who were all Chilean citi-

zens living in Chile served as controls. Twelve of them were tested at the Catholic

University of Santiago de Chile, while three were tested during a short visit to

Sweden. Data from these three controls as well as from the bilingual speakers

were collected at Stockholm University. The same native speaker of Chilean

Spanish led all testing sessions.

Research findings generated by the second project have been presented in, for

example, a doctoral thesis (Bylund, 2008) and other empirical studies (Bylund,

2009a; Bylund et al., 2010, 2012). The present thesis, specifically Study III, makes

Katrin Stölten 21

a contribution to this list of publications, in that it is concerned with the bilinguals‟

production and categorical perception of word-initial stops in their L1 Spanish.

5.1 Study 1: Effects of age and speaking rate on voice onset time: The

production of voiceless stops by near-native L2 speakers

5.1.1 Introduction and Research Questions

For many decades now, the role of age of acquisition and the CPH have been, and

still are, much debated issues in SLA research. The general observation that child-

hood acquirers usually outperform L2 learners with a late start to L2 acquisition

has been interpreted by opponents to the CPH as a result of various socio-psycho-

logical factors rather than as caused by biological/maturational changes that have

taken place in the brain. Moreover, the identification of late (i.e. adolescent or

adult) learners with a seemingly nativelike command of their L2 has frequently

been taken as evidence against any theory of maturational constraints, including

any version of the CPH. However, such studies have been criticized for using

insufficiently detailed analyses and overly simple language tests that are not sen-

sitive enough for the crucial separation into near-native and nativelike L2 profi-

ciency (see, e.g., Hyltenstam & Abrahamsson, 2003a). In the last two decades, a

branch of SLA research has drawn attention to late L2 learners with a seemingly

nativelike L2 proficiency in order to carefully scrutinize them for their actual lin-

guistic L2 command (e.g., Abrahamsson & Hyltenstam, 2009; see also Study II).

Results from these studies show that when L2 proficiencies are analyzed “across

the board”, that is, through comprehensive analyses and sufficiently challenging

languages tests and tasks on different linguistic levels, the incidence of nativelike-

ness among late learners appears to be close to non-existent.

As part of the main project described above, this study comprised 41 L1 Span-

ish early and late speakers of L2 Swedish who were selected on the criterion that

they were perceived by native listeners as mother-tongue speakers of Swedish.

The participants‟ L2 proficiencies were then investigated through demanding tests

and in-depth measures of a broad repertoire of their L2 Swedish skills (Abra-

hamsson & Hyltenstam, 2009). With respect to L2 stop production, the present

study reports on the detailed analysis of VOT in all three voiceless stops that occur

word-initially in Swedish (i.e. /p t k/). Based on the research background regarding

age effects and discussions on the non-/existence of nativelikeness in L2 acquisi-

tion, the present study focuses on three research questions:

1. Is there a general age effect on stop production (i.e. in terms of nega-

tive correlations between AO and VOT or differences in mean VOT

between early and late learners) even among L2 learners perceived as

native speakers by native listeners?


2. Are there late L2 learners who produce all three voiceless stops with

an average VOT within the range of native-speaker VOT?

3. Do all (or most) early L2 learners produce all three voiceless stops

with an average VOT within the range of native-speaker VOT?

Most importantly, since VOT is known to be influenced by speaking rate in that

VOT decreases as speaking rate increases (Beckman et al., 2011; Kessinger &

Blumstein, 1997; Magloire & Green, 1999), each research question incorporates

comparisons between outcomes based on absolute VOT (i.e. in milliseconds) and

relative VOT (i.e. in percentages of word duration). In other words, speaking rate

effects often not accounted for in studies on L2 stop production (e.g., Birdsong,

2007; MacLeod & Stoel-Gammon, 2010; Major, 1987) are controlled for in this

study, thereby enabling the researcher to gather more valid data regarding age ef-

fects and actual nativelikeness in L2 acquisition or, to be more precise, in the

acquisition of phonetic detail.

5.1.2 Method

The 41 Spanish early (AO 1–11) and late (AO 13–19) learners of L2 Swedish

were recorded one by one, while reading aloud three isolated Swedish words ten

times in a row: par /par/, tal /tal/, and kal /kal/. 15 native speakers of Swedish

served as controls. The readings were digitally recorded through a KOSS R/50B

headset microphone at 22.050Hz with a 16-bit resolution. VOT was measured in

the word-initial stops /p t k/ and word duration was determined by using the wave-

form display together with synchronized wideband spectrograms. VOT was first

analyzed in terms of absolute measurements (i.e. in milliseconds) before it was

expressed in terms of percentages of word duration, thereby neutralizing speaking

rate effects.

5.1.3 General findings

The results revealed overall negative correlations between age of onset and VOT

production. However, this age effect became salient and statistically significant for

all three stops (p < .05 for /p/, p < .05 for /t/, p < .01 for /k/) only when VOT was

expressed in percentages of word duration (Research Question 1). When VOT was

measured in milliseconds, a majority of both the early and late L2 learners demon-

strated mean VOTs within the range of native-speaker production. The difference

between the group of early and late L2 learners was not even close to being sig-

nificant (p = .224). However, when speaking rate was taken into consideration,

only a small minority of the late learners exhibited actual nativelike L2 behavior

(Research Question 2), and most (but far from all) early learners performed within

native-speaker range (Research Question 3). This time, the group difference

between early and late L2 learners became statistically significant (p = .047).

Katrin Stölten 23

5.1.4 Discussion

In SLA research, studies on randomly selected L2 speakers have frequently re-

ported on negative correlations between AO and L2 acquisition. The present study

has managed to reveal that even among L1 Spanish speakers who have been

exclusively selected on the criterion that they are perceived as mother-tongue

speakers of L2 Swedish, there is a statistically significant correlation between AO

and the production of all three word-initial voiceless stops in Swedish (Research

Question 1). The influence of AO on L2 stop production is further supported by

the observation of a significant difference between the group of early and late L2

learners. However, this age effect was only found when VOT was measured in

relation to word duration, thereby neutralizing the impact of speaking rate on

VOT.

Comparisons in outcomes based on absolute and relative VOT further resulted

in minor, but significant, readjustment regarding the distribution of early and late

L2 learners who produced the Swedish stops with VOTs comparable to native-

speaker stop production. After taking speaking rate into consideration, only a

minority of the late, apparently nativelike L2 learners exhibited actual nativelike

L2 behavior (Research Question 2) and even among low AOs, many L2 learners

did not perform at a native-speaker level (Research Question 3). These findings

are in accordance with reports from other linguistic tests (Abrahamsson, 2012;

Abrahamsson & Hyltenstam, 2009) and suggest that actual nativelike command in

both early and late L2 learners is, in fact, more infrequent, as was earlier assumed.

The study comes to the conclusion that theories on maturational constraints and

critical period effects on second language acquisition can still not be satisfactorily

refuted. Even when the focus is on apparently nativelike late L2 learners, only a

very few individuals appear to be entirely comparable to native speakers when

analyzed in detail. In fact, when combined with other L2 competencies and skills

(Abrahamsson & Hyltenstam, 2009; see also Study II) the incidence of actual

nativelikeness among advanced late L2 learners appears to be even lower or, to be

more precise, close to non-existent. Moreover, the results indicate that relative

VOT, as opposed to absolute VOT, constitutes a reliable measure of nativelike L2

stop production, as it allows for the crucial distinction between near-native and

actual nativelike L2 learners, which has important implications for future research

on age effects and maturational constraints in L2 acquisition.

5.2 Study 2: Effects of age of learning on voice onset time: Categorical

perception of Swedish stops by near-native L2 speakers

5.2.1 Introduction and Hypotheses

Study II originates from the same research background as presented in Study I. As

mentioned earlier, L2 learners with an early start of L2 acquisition usually end up

with a higher command of their L2 than late L2 learners. This well-established

“early is better” effect on L2 ultimate attainment derives from frequent reports on


negative correlations between the learners‟ AO and any measure of L2 proficiency

(Abrahamsson, 2012; Abrahamsson & Hyltenstam, 2009; DeKeyser, 2000; Flege,

1999; Johnson & Newport, 1989). Findings like these are often explained with ref-

erence to maturationally conditioned changes in the brain (Pulvermüller & Schu-

mann, 1994; Uylings, 2006) and the existence of a critical period for language

learning (Lenneberg, 1967). Skeptics of biological explanations point to the exist-

ence of L2 learners who, despite high AOs, seem to reach nativelike command of

the L2 (Birdsong, 2007; Bongaerts, 1999). Such findings, it is argued, are not pre-

dicted by any version of the CPH and thus are contradictive to a maturational ac-

count for L2 acquisition. However, statements like these often derive from

research based on methodological shortcomings that most certainly have resulted

in ceiling effects and Type II errors, or “false positives”, in that very advanced L2

learners have been erroneously classified as nativelike rather than near-native

(e.g., Abrahamsson & Hyltenstam, 2009; Long, 2005).

As mentioned in Study I, a branch of SLA research has in the last two decades

set out to focus on L2 learners who seem to have reached nativelike L2 profi-

ciency or behavior. By linguistically scrutinizing their actual L2 command through

challenging language tests and detailed analyses conducted “across the board”,

Type II errors are avoided. Results from these studies have revealed that truly

nativelike L2 command in late L2 learners is close to non-existent, and, even

among early L2 learners, the incidence of non-nativelike behavior appears to be

more common than generally believed (Abrahamsson & Hyltenstam, 2009; see

also Study I).

As with Study I, this study is part of the same main project described earlier on

ultimate L2 attainment in 41 L1 Spanish early and late learners with an exclu-

sively high command of their L2 Swedish. Study II reports on the categorical per-

ception of Swedish word-initial stops. Given the discussion on age and nativelike-

ness, Hypotheses 1 and 2 predicted that:

1. Even among L2 learners with a seemingly nativelike pronunciation, as

measured by native-listener judgments, category boundary placement

is affected by the L2 learners‟ AO and the status as L1 or L2 speakers

of Swedish, in that the native speakers will show the highest and the

late L2 learners the lowest (i.e. the most non-Swedish-like) average

category crossover values, with the early L2 learners exhibiting values

somewhere in between.


measured by native-listener judgments,

(a) very few (if any) late L2 learners, and

(b) most (but not all) early L2 learners

will exhibit average category boundary values within the range of

native-speaker categorization.

Katrin Stölten 25

Since it has been suggested that aspects of phonetics/phonology seem to be most

sensitive to critical period effects (Scovel, 1988), it was of interest to combine

results from stop perception with previous data from the same L2 learners‟ pro-

duction of Swedish word-initial voiceless stops (Study I) in order to analyze in

greater detail the incidence of nativelikeness when phonetic/phonological L2

command is under investigation. On the assumption that stop production and per-

ception are especially vulnerable to the AO factor, Hypothesis 3 was formulated as

follows:


measured by native-listener judgments, when results from their stop

perception are combined with data from their productions of word-

initial voiceless stops (data from Study I), and when all three places of

articulation are considered,

(a) the incidence of nativelikeness will become virtually non-existent

among late L2 learners, but

(b) a majority of the early L2 learners will still perform within native-

speaker range.

However, in order to make credible statements regarding these hypotheses, it was

of high priority to first ensure the reliability and validity of the test design,

including the preparation of stimuli and the execution of the listening task. There-

fore, the study first investigates whether the listeners, irrespective of their status as

L1 or L2 speaker of Swedish and regardless of their AO, perceive the edited natu-

ral stimuli in a categorical manner on the basis of VOT.

5.2.2 Method

Prior to the test on categorical perception, three voicing continua had been created

on the basis of natural Swedish word pairs with /p–b/ (i.e. par–bar), /t–d/ (i.e. tal–

dal), and /k–ɡ/ (i.e. kal–gal) in word-initial position. Each voicing continuum

consisted of 30 speech stimuli varying in 5ms increments from –60ms to +90ms

VOT, thereby covering the VOT systems of both Spanish and Swedish. Forty-one

Spanish early (AO 1–11) and late (AO 13–19) near-native speakers of L2 Swedish

performed one at a time on a forced-choice identification task, in which the VOT

stimuli were presented binaurally through headphones (KOSS TX/PRO). The

three VOT-continua were tested separately. All stimuli were automatically

randomized for each listener and embedded in a Swedish carrier phrase. Due to

time restrictions, each VOT stimulus was presented only once. The control group

comprised 15 native speakers of Swedish, and the experiment leader was a native

speaker of Swedish.



All three listener groups exhibited discernible categorization patterns for all three

stop continua. Differences were not significant for either participant group or for

stop continuum, indicating that all listener groups irrespective of their L1/L2 status

and regardless of AO perceived the three edited natural stop pairs categorically on

the basis of VOT. The results further revealed overall negative correlations

between category boundary placement and AO. The correlations were statistically

significant for the bilabial (p < .01) and the dental stop continuum (p < .05), and

very close to significant for the velar stops (p = .054). On the group level, the

native speakers exhibited the highest and the late L2 learners the lowest category

boundaries with the early L2 learners in between (Hypothesis 1). This group dif-

ference was significant for the bilabial (p < .001), the dental (p = .001), and the

velar stop continuum (p = .001). Whereas only a small minority of the late learners

perceived the voicing contrast in a way comparable to native-speaker categoriza-

tion (Hypothesis 2a), most early L2 learners demonstrated nativelike categoriza-

tion patterns (Hypothesis 2b). Again, the difference observed between the early

and the late AO group was statistically significant (p < .01). However, when the

results were combined with data from the same L2 learners‟ production of Swe-

dish voiceless stops (see Study I), nativelike production and perception was not

found among the late learners (Hypothesis 3a), but there was still a majority of the

early learners that exhibited nativelike production and perception (Hypothesis 3b).

This difference turned out to be statistically significant (p < .001).

5.2.4 Discussion

First of all, irrespective of L1/L2 status and regardless of AO the listeners per-

ceived all three stop contrasts categorically on the basis of VOT, thereby con-

firming the reliability and validity of the test design, including the preparation of

VOT stimuli and the performance on the listening task.

Although statistically significant only for the bilabial and the dental stop pair,

AO had an impact on all three Swedish voicing continua as indicated by signifi-

cant differences between the group of early and late L2 learners. Moreover, overall

group differences also revealed that category boundary placement was affected by

the L2 learners‟ status as L1 or L2 speakers. These findings show that AO affects

L2 ultimate attainment even in highly advanced L2 learners, if their L2 command

is analyzed on the basis of L2 stop perception. This outcome is also in accordance

with Hypothesis 1, in that the late L2 learners, as opposed to the early learners,

deviated the most from native-speaker perception. In other words, even among L2

learners with a seemingly nativelike command of the target language, the ability to

establish L2 phonetic categories on the basis of VOT is limited and becomes

increasingly difficult with higher AOs. Whereas only a small minority of the late

learners demonstrated actual nativelike L2 command in terms of perceived cate-

gory boundary (Hypothesis 2a), most, but still far from all, early L2 speakers per-

Katrin Stölten 27

formed on native-speaker level when their L2 stop perception was analyzed in

detail (Hypothesis 2b). However, when the results were combined with the data

obtained from the same L2 learners‟ Swedish stop production (see Study I), the

incidence of nativelikeness on both measures decreased considerably. In fact,

entirely nativelike command was never found among the late learners (Hypothesis

3a). The study arrives at the conclusion that earlier estimates of the incidence of

nativelikeness in adult learners should be questioned (Birdsong, 2007; Bongaerts,

1999; White & Genesee, 1996). Instead, the findings support the view that com-

plete nativelikeness in late learners is, in principle, never found when L2 linguistic

proficiency is scrutinized in detail (Abrahamsson & Hyltenstam, 2009), and it is

concluded that the CPH or any theory of maturational constraints on language

acquisition cannot be rejected on the basis of these results. Regarding the early L2

learners, a majority of the listeners produced and perceived the Swedish stops

within native-speaker range (Hypothesis 3b). However, seen from the opposite

side, incidences of non-nativelikeness were observed among early L2 learners,

even in those with very low AOs, indicating that an early start to L2 acquisition

does not guarantee an entirely nativelike outcome. Moreover, these findings are

also congruent with the view that the domain of phonetics/phonology seems to be

especially vulnerable to AO effects.

5.3 Study 3: The L1 production and perception of VOT in Spanish-Swedish

bilinguals: The role of age and L1 use

5.3.1 Introduction and Research Questions

Research on L1 attrition has repeatedly shown that age (or ARC) is a decisive

factor for L1 retention, especially if the break with the L1 setting is located early

in life. Moreover, as has been suggested by Bylund (2009a), a major change in at-

trition susceptibility may take place at the onset of puberty, or, more precisely, at

the age of approximately 12 years. Findings like these have been related to matu-

rational constraints and theories of a critical or maturational period (Bylund,

2009b). However, other factors apart from ARC have been suggested to have an

impact on L1 attrition and retention, among them L1 use (Bylund, 2009a; Schmid,

2002; Yeni-Komshian et al., 2000) and the ATH (Paradis, 2004, 2007). Against

this background, the study sets out to explore the effects of ARC, L1 use and the

ATH on the production and perception of L1 Spanish stops (in terms of VOT) in

Spanish-Swedish bilinguals. As mentioned above, the study is part of a larger

project on 35 L1 Spanish speakers with near-native proficiency levels of L2 Swe-

dish who have experienced a break with their L1 Spanish at varying ARCs (1–19

years). At the time of testing, all bilinguals were functional in Spanish and used

the L1 on a regular basis as indicated by self-reported percentages of daily L1 use.

With reference to the study by Bylund (2009a) pointing to the age of approxi-

mately 12 years to be critical for L1 retention, Research Questions 1 and 2 address

the following:


1. Is there an age effect on VOT in the production of L1 Spanish stops,

in that late bilinguals (ARC > 12) exhibit Spanish-like VOTs to a

greater extent than early bilinguals (ARC < 12)?

2. Is there an age effect on the categorical perception of VOT of L1

Spanish stops, in that late bilinguals (ARC > 12) exhibit Spanish-like

category boundaries to a greater extent than early bilinguals (ARC <

12)?

Due to differences in activation levels between production and perception (as pre-

dicted by the ATH), L1 maintenance may be expected to be greater for stop per-

ception. This motivates the formulation of Research Question 3:

3. Do bilinguals exhibit Spanish-like VOT more often in their perception

than in their production of L1 stops?

Within reference to the ATH, a higher frequency of L1 use is supposed to lower

activation thresholds, thereby facilitating maintenance of L1 linguistic items. Con-

sidering the differences in activation thresholds for production and perception and

the differences between early and late bilinguals addressed above, it may be

expected that a higher amount of L1 use is needed for the retention of Spanish-like

stop production, especially in early bilinguals, leading to the formulation of Re-

search Question 4:

4. Does L1 use have a stronger impact on stop production than on

perception, and is this effect more prominent in early than in late bi-

linguals?

5.3.2 Method

In the stop production task, the 25 early (ARC 1–11) and 10 late (ARC 13–19)

Spanish-Swedish bilinguals were instructed to read aloud three isolated words in

Spanish ten times in a row: pata /pata/, tata /tata/, and cata /kata/. The control

group comprised 15 monolingual speakers of Spanish. The readings were digitally

recorded through a KOSS R/50B headset microphone at 22.050Hz with a 16-bit

resolution. By using wideband spectrograms synchronized with the waveform dis-

play, VOT in the word-initial voiceless stops /p t k/ as well as the duration of the

first CV-syllable was measured for each speaker. In order to account for speaking

rate effects, VOT was analyzed in percentages of syllable duration.

Prior to the test on categorical perception, three voicing continua were created

on the basis of natural Spanish word pairs with /p–b/ (i.e. pata–bata), /t–d/ (i.e.

tata–data), and /k–ɡ/ (i.e. kata–gata) in word-initial position. Each voicing con-

tinuum consisted of 30 speech stimuli varying in 5ms increments from –60ms to

+90ms VOT, thereby ensuring that the VOT systems of both Spanish and Swedish

Katrin Stölten 29

were covered. In a forced-choice identification task, in which the 35 Spanish-

Swedish bilinguals were tested individually, the VOT stimuli were presented bin-

aurally through headphones (KOSS TX/PRO) in a random order for each partici-

pant. The stimuli were presented within a Spanish carrier phrase, and all instruc-

tions were given by the same experiment leader as in the production task. The

same group of 15 monolingual Spanish speakers from the stop production task

also served as controls for the test on categorical perception.


Results from stop production showed non-significant negative correlations

between ARC and VOT. However, differences between speaker groups were ap-

parent, in that the monolingual controls produced the shortest VOTs, and the

group of the early bilinguals exhibited the longest mean VOTs regardless of place

of articulation. Group differences were statistically significant for the labial (p <

.001), the dental (p < .001), and the velar stops (p < .001). As indicated by a post

hoc test, differences were significant between the groups of early and the late bi-

linguals (p < .05) and between the monolingual group and the early bilinguals (p <

.001). The control group and the late bilinguals did not differ significantly (p >

.05) for any of the stops. Individual analyses revealed that whereas the entire

group of late bilinguals exhibited mean VOTs within the range of the monolingual

controls for either two or three stops, this was found for only 52% of the early bi-

linguals. This difference was significant (p = .01). In accordance with Research

Question 1, the results revealed an age effect on L1 stop production, in that the

late bilinguals (ARC > 12) exhibited Spanish-like VOT to a greater extent than

early bilinguals (ARC < 12). Concerning stop perception, neither significant cor-

relations nor group differences were observed. In other words, there was no age

effect on the categorical perception of L1 stops in Spanish-Swedish bilinguals

(Research Question 2). Comparisons between stop production and perception re-

vealed that Spanish-like performance was generally more frequent for categorical

perception than for L1 stop production (p < .02). However, closer analysis of the

three places of stop articulation revealed that this difference was significant only

for the labial stops, p = .001 (Research Question 3). With respect to Research

Question 4, high-frequency L1 use (25–50%), as opposed to low-level frequency

L1 use (0–24%), resulted in a significantly higher amount of Spanish-like VOT

productions (p < .01). In contrast, no significant difference between high-/low-fre-

quency L1 use was found for categorical perception (p = .90). Moreover, L1 use

was found to have a significant effect on Spanish stop production in early bilin-

guals only (p < .02).

5.3.4 Discussion

The study revealed an effect of ARC on the production of L1 stops in Spanish-

Swedish bilinguals (Research Question 1), whereas L1 stop perception remained


unaffected (Research Question 2). This suggests that the age at which a person

experiences a break with the L1 environment plays an important role for L1 reten-

tion, especially where production skills are concerned. Differences observed

between the group of early and late bilinguals are in accordance with previous

studies reporting on changes in attrition susceptibility at the onset of puberty or,

more precisely, at the age of approximately 12 (Bylund, 2009a; Yeni-Komshian et

al., 2000). Moreover, findings like these seem to support the view of a reversed

critical period for language attrition (Schmid, 2011). Whereas maturational con-

straints may account for the underlying ARC effects on L1 stop production, they

alone do not satisfactorily explain why categorical perception was less affected by

ARC than production. One explanation is offered by the ATH (Paradis, 2004,

2007), according to which speech perception has lower activation thresholds than

production and may therefore be expected to be more easily activated and re-

tained. Although statistically significant only for the labial stops, the overall ten-

dency of Spanish-like performance being more common for perception than for

production is congruent with the predictions made by the ATH (Research Ques-

tion 3). Based on these findings, it may be suggested that changes are more likely

to occur in the pronunciation of L1 sounds, whereas the underlying L1 sound sys-

tem seems to be more resistant to attrition. Moreover, the assumption that percep-

tion is activated more easily and is somewhat better maintained than production

may offer a contributing explanation to the finding of the former being less af-

fected by ARC. Since the ATH proposes that activation levels are controlled by

language use, it was further expected that production as opposed to perception

should be more strongly influenced by L1 use. Although higher rates of Spanish-

like stop productions were, in fact, related to high-frequency L1 use, this effect

was only confirmed for the bilinguals with ARCs below age 12 (Research Ques-

tion 4). From these findings it is concluded that early bilinguals are more depend-

ent on advantageous factors such as extensive L1 use than late bilinguals in order

to compensate for ARC effects, but only where production skills are concerned.

6. Summary and general conclusions

The aim of this thesis has been to explore age effects in L2 acquisition and L1

attrition in L1 Spanish speakers with an exclusively high command of L2 Swe-

dish. More specifically, concerned as it is with phonetic/phonological aspects of

L2 acquisition and L1 attrition, this work has focused on age-related differences in

the production and categorical perception of L1/L2 stops, in terms of VOT. The

original contributions of the three empirical studies included in this thesis are the

following:

First, Study I indicates that even in exclusively high-level L2 speakers, there is

an overall age effect regarding the production of L2 stops, thereby lowering the

rates of actual nativelikeness that have been assumed in previous research. Most

importantly, Study I suggests that such conclusions are only justified if the

Katrin Stölten 31

analysis is based on sufficiently detailed examinations that in the case of VOT

account for possible effects of speaking rate.

Second, based on the investigation of categorical perception behavior in the

same group of L2 learners as in Study I, Study II gives further support to the

observation of age effects in highly advanced L2 speakers. Study II concludes that

the ability to establish nativelike L2 phonetic categories on the basis of VOT is

limited and becomes increasingly constrained with higher ages of onset of L2

acquisition. Furthermore, Study II accentuates the sensitivity of phonetic/

phonological components to age effects. This interpretation is based on the finding

that the incidence of nativelike L2 command decreases remarkably, especially

among the late L2 learners (AO > 12), when nativelikeness is examined by

combining the measures of stop production and perception. Based on the data

gathered in Study I and Study II, it is concluded that theories of biologi-

cal/maturational constraints including the CPH cannot yet be satisfactorily

rejected.

Third, Study III investigates the effects of ARC on the production and categori-

cal perception of L1 Spanish stops and identifies the age factor as an important

predictor variable for the attrition outcome of production abilities. Whereas age

effects on stop production are in accordance with earlier studies and may be

related to maturational constraints, such explanations do not support the finding of

categorical perception being less affected by attrition regardless of ARC. By refer-

ring to the ATH, Study III suggests that this discrepancy between production and

perception may be affected to some degree by differences in neurologically based

activation levels, leaving pronunciation skills generally more vulnerable to attri-

tion. Finally, Study III highlights the role of L1 use as an advantageous factor in

L1 attrition, in that it enables bilinguals, especially those with low ARCs, to com-

pensate for negative age effects on the ability to retain L1 pronunciation.

In sum, this thesis has contributed to broaden the view of age effects in L1 and

L2 phonetic development by focusing on one specific aspect, that is, VOT in the

production and perception of word-initial stops. Study I and Study II make

important contributions to the field of L2 acquisition research in that they empha-

size methodological issues including the examination of advanced L2 learners, the

detailed analysis of a specific L2 feature, and the combination of measures of

nativelikeness. Based on this research agenda, Study I and Study II add new infor-

mation to the discussion on age effects or, more specifically, on the non-/existence

of nativelikeness in L2 ultimate attainment that have important implications for

theory building in SLA research. Study III offers an insight into the relation

between maturational and non-biological factors and their explanatory value

regarding age-related differences in L1 attrition. As has become clear from this

thesis, attrition studies exploring the role of age in the domain of phonetics are still

scarce when compared to the work that has been done on the acquisition of L2

phonetics/phonology. It is hoped that this thesis will inspire researchers to gather

more empirical data regarding both the production and perception of different


phonetic (and other linguistic) L1 skills in bilingual speakers with varying ARCs.

By focusing on comparisons between productive and perceptual language abilities,

it is my hope that future research will arrive at more conclusive explanations and

generalizations regarding possible differences in susceptibility to age effects in the

attrition of production and perception of L1 skills.

Sammanfattning på svenska

Denna avhandling fokuserar på startålderns inverkan på inlärningen av ett andra-

språk (L2) och förlust, s.k. attrition, av ett förstaspråk (L1) i en andraspråksmiljö.

Dessa aspekter undersöks utifrån ett fonetiskt fenomen, Voice Onset Time (VOT),

som analyseras i produktion och perception av ordinitiala klusiler hos avancerade

andraspråksinlärare av svenska med spanska som L1. Avhandlingen baseras på tre

individuella studier. Studie I och Studie II undersöker L2-inlärarnas produktion

respektive kategoriska perception av svenska klusiler, medan Studie III utforskar

L2-inlärarnas produktion och perception av ordinitiala klusiler i deras L1-spanska.

Inom andraspråksforskningen har den s.k. hypotesen om en kritisk period

(Critical Period Hypothesis; Lenneberg, 1967) fått stor uppmärksamhet i frågan

om ålderns betydelse för språkinlärningen. Enligt denna biologiskt baserade hy-

potes försvåras uttalsinlärningen och möjligheten till ett normalt, naturligt språk-

tillägnande om språkinlärningen infaller utanför den kritiska perioden. Enligt Len-

neberg (1967) sträcker sig den kritiska perioden till puberteten, dvs. kring 12-

årsåldern, medan andra forskare har föreslagit att den kritiska åldern ligger före

puberteten, till exempel, vid 6–8 år för morfologi och syntax (t.ex. Hyltenstam,

1992; Johnson & Newport, 1989) och redan vid ettårsåldern för fonologi (se Ru-

ben, 1997).

Biologiska begränsningar och existensen av en kritisk period för andra-

språksinlärning har ifrågasatts av ett antal studier som rapporterar om personer

som trots en sen inlärningsålder (dvs. övre tonåren eller i vuxenålder) har uppnått

en inföddlik behärskningsnivå av sitt L2 (t.ex. Birdsong, 2007; Bongaerts, 1999).

Resultaten har tolkats som bevis mot mognadsbegränsningar och det har antagits

att en inföddlik behärskningsnivå principiellt kan uppnås av alla L2-inlärare oav-

sett startålder (SÅ) för andraspråksinlärning. Förekomsten av icke-inföddlikhet

hos personer med högre inlärningsålder har istället relaterats till bland annat soci-

ala och psykologiska faktorer (Bialystok & Hakuta, 1999). Dessa studier har dock

kritiserats för att ha använt alltför grundläggande språktester och för odetaljerade

analyser som inte har varit tillräckligt känsliga för att upptäcka små avvikelser från

den infödda normen (dvs. en infödd kontrollgrupp). Enligt kritikerna har sådana

metodologiska tillkortakommanden resulterat i takeffekter och typ-II-fel där

avancerade L2-inlärare felaktigt identifierats som inföddlika när de snarare borde

ha klassificerats som nästan inföddlika (Hyltenstam & Abrahamsson, 2003a;

Long, 2005).

Under de senaste två decennierna har en forskningsgren inom andraspråks-

inlärningsfältet börjat rikta uppmärksamheten mot andraspråksinlärare som verkar

Katrin Stölten 33

ha uppnått en inföddlik behärskningsnivå i sitt L2 (t.ex. Abrahamsson & Hylten-

stam, 2009). Genom att undersöka L2-behärskningen hos dessa individer med

hjälp av noggranna analyser i kombination med lingvistiskt utmanande tester på

olika språkliga nivåer har man försökt att minska risken för typ-II-fel. Resultaten

tyder på att en faktiskt inföddlik nivå är näst intill obefintlig bland sena L2-inlär-

are och även bland individer med en låg inlärningsålder har avvikelser från den

infödda normen kunnat konstateras (Abrahamsson & Hyltenstam, 2009).

Studie I och Studie II utgör fristående delar av ett omfattande projekt med titeln

”Startålder och slutlig färdighetsnivå vid andraspråksinlärning” (finansierat av

Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, 1999-0383:01) där L2-behärskningen hos 41 avance-

rade tidiga (SÅ 1–11) och sena (SÅ 13–19) L2-inlärare (L1 spanska, L2 svenska)

har undersökts genom detaljerade analyser och omfattande lingvistiska tester. Uti-

från teorin om en kritisk period för språkinlärning och diskussionen kring

ålderseffekter och existensen/avsaknaden av inföddlikhet vid andraspråksinlärning

undersöks i Studie I om inlärningsålder har en inverkan på VOT i svenska ordini-

tiala klusiler (/p t k/) producerade av andraspråksinlärare med en hög språkbe-

härskningsnivå i L2 svenska (forskningsfråga 1). Vidare utforskas om sena inlä-

rare som producerar svenska klusiler med inföddlika VOT (forskningsfråga 2) kan

identifieras och även huruvida de flesta av de tidiga inlärarna uppvisar svenska

VOT-värden (forskningsfråga 3). Eftersom det är allmänt känt att VOT påverkas

av talhastighet (Beckman et al., 2011; Johnson & Wilson, 2002; Magloire &

Green, 1999) belyses varje forskningsfråga genom jämförelser mellan absoluta

VOT-värden (i millisekunder) och relativa VOT-värden (i procent av ordduration).

Resultaten visade att startålder har en negativ inverkan på VOT även bland

avancerade L2-inlärare men att denna ålderseffekt endast blev tydlig (dvs.

statistiskt signifikant) när talhastigheten beaktades. Talhastighetens effekter gav

även upphov till mindre omfördelningar gällande förekomsten/avsaknaden av in-

föddlika VOT-värden bland tidiga och sena L2-inlärare. Denna justering resulte-

rade i signifikanta gruppskillnader där endast en liten minoritet av sena inlärare

uppvisade inföddlik VOT samtidigt som många av de tidiga inlärarna inte upp-

nådde en inföddlik behärskningsnivå. Resultaten följer samma mönster som har

observerats i andra studier (Abrahamsson, 2012; Abrahamsson & Hyltenstam,

2009) och tyder på att en faktiskt inföddlik språkbehärskning hos både tidiga och

sena L2-inlärare är mer sällsynt än vad som tidigare antagits. Detta utfall i

kombination med data från noggranna och omfattande analyser av andra lingvist-

iska färdigheter hos samma avancerade L2-inlärare (Abrahamsson & Hyltenstam,

2009; se även Studie II) tyder dessutom på att sena inlärare med en faktiskt in-

föddlik L2-behärskning är i det närmaste obefintliga. En allmän slutsats som dras

är att teorier om mognadsbegränsningar och specifikt hypotesen om en kritisk

period för språkinlärning inte kan förkastas utifrån dessa data. Vidare dras i Studie

I slutsatsen att användningen av relativa (snarare än absoluta) VOT-mätningar är

helt avgörande när det gäller att särskilja nästan infödda från faktiskt inföddlika

slutnivåer i andraspråket.


Parallellt med Studie I utforskas i Studie II huruvida inlärningsålder påverkar

den kategoriska perceptionen av tonkontrasten i svenska klusiler (/p–b/, /t–d/, /k–

ɡ/) hos samma grupp av avancerade L2-inlärare. Samtliga VOT-stimuli till

perceptionstestet har skapats genom manipulationer av naturligt producerade ord i

svenska. Det antogs att L2-inlärarna skulle skilja sig från kontrollgruppen på så

sätt att de sena L2-inlärarna förväntades uppvisa perceptuella kategoriseringar som

avviker mera markant från den svenska kontrollgruppen än de tidiga inlärarna.

Med andra ord antogs den svenska kontrollgruppen uppvisa de högsta kategori-

gränserna (dvs. mest positiva VOT) och de sena inlärarna de lägsta och därmed

mest avvikande kategorigränserna, medan inlärargruppen med låg startålder (SÅ

1–11) förväntades percipiera en övergång mellan klusilkategorierna någonstans

mitt emellan kategorigränsvärdena hos de sena inlärarna och den infödda kontroll-

gruppen (hypotes 1). Vidare antogs att endast en minoritet av de sena inlärarna

skulle uppvisa svenskliknande kategorigränser (hypotes 2a) medan de flesta av de

tidiga inlärarna antogs visa perceptuella kategorigränser jämförbara med den

svenska kontrollgruppens (hypotes 2b). På basis av tidigare antaganden om att den

kritiska perioden torde ha störst inflytande på fonetiska/fonologiska aspekter

(Scovel, 1988), förväntades ålderseffekterna framträda ännu tydligare när per-

ceptionsresultaten kombinerades med produktionsdata från Studie I – en inföddlik

behärskning av både produktion och perception förutspåddes bli närmast obefint-

lig bland de sena inlärarna (hypotes 3a) medan en majoritet av de tidiga L2-

inlärarna antogs fortfarande uppvisa en inföddlik behärskningsnivå (hypotes 3b).

Resultaten visade att deltagarna, oberoende av deras status som L1/L2-talare

och oavsett startålder, percipierade alla tre klusilkontraster på ett kategoriskt sätt.

Detta bekräftar en hög reliabilitet och validitet hos studiedesignen, inklusive fram-

ställandet av stimuli och genomförandet av lyssningsexperimentet. Ålderseffekter

observerades, vilket ger stöd till hypotes 1 samt hypotes 2a och 2b. Sammanslag-

ningen av produktions- och perceptionsdata resulterade i en markant minskning av

inföddlik behärskning. Medan inföddlik produktion och perception inte alls kunde

konstateras bland de sena L2-inlärarna (hypotes 3a) uppvisade majoriteten av inlä-

rarna med låg startålder fortfarande en inföddlik behärskningsnivå på båda måtten

(hypotes 3b). Dessa resultat ger stöd till tidigare konstateranden att efter tillämp-

andet av omfattande och detaljerade lingvistiska analyser är sena L2-inlärare med

en faktiskt inföddlik behärskningsnivå mycket svåra, om inte omöjliga, att identi-

fiera (Abrahamsson & Hyltenstam, 2009). Följaktligen ifrågasätts tidigare upp-

skattningar av inföddlikhet bland sena andraspråksinlärare och parallellt med Stu-

die I dras slutsatsen att hypotesen om en kritisk period och teorier om

mognadsbegränsningar vid andraspråksinlärning inte kan förkastas mot bakgrund

av de erhållna resultaten. Vidare visar denna studie att icke-inföddlik klusilpro-

duktion och -perception även förekommer hos avancerade L2-inlärare med mycket

låga startåldrar vilket tyder på att en inföddlik behärskningsnivå i ett L2 inte kan

garanteras enbart utifrån att andraspråktillägnandet påbörjas tidigt i livet. Dess-

Katrin Stölten 35

utom beskrivs utfallet vara i linje med antagandet om att fonetiska/fonologiska

aspekter som VOT verkar vara speciellt känsliga för ålderseffekter.

I attritionsforskningen har åldern då en individ byter språklig miljö och i sam-

band med det minskar eller helt tappar kontakten med sitt L1 fått stor betydelse för

graden av L1-attrition eller möjligheten till att bevara ett L1. Det är allmänt känt

att L1-systemet påverkas i större utsträckning hos barn än hos vuxna och det har

på senare år föreslagits att puberteten, dvs. kring 12-årsåldern, utgör en brytnings-

punkt för attritionskänsligheten (Bylund, 2009a). Sådana påståenden har ofta re-

laterats till mognadsbegränsningar och existensen av en kritisk period eller mog-

nadsperiod (s.k. maturational period, Bylund, 2009b, efter Abrahamsson &

Hyltenstam, 2009). Även andra faktorer har föreslagits som tycks ha en inverkan

på L1-attrition eller vidmakthållandet av L1-färdigheter i en andraspråksmiljö. Ut-

över åldersvariabeln fokuserar Studie III på graden av L1-användning i kombinat-

ion med den av Paradis (2004, 2007) kallade Activation Threshold Hypothesis,

ATH.

Inom ramen för projektet ”Förstaspråksattrition hos avancerade andraspråks-

talare” (finansierat av Vetenskapsrådet, 421-2004-1975) undersöks i Studie III om

attritionsåldern har en effekt på produktionen (forskningsfråga 1) och den katego-

riska perceptionen (forskningsfråga 2) av ordinitiala klusiler i L1-spanskan hos

samma avancerade L2-inlärare av svenska som deltog i Studie I och Studie II.6

Utifrån antagandet att perceptuell förmåga har lägre neurologiska aktivitetströsklar

och därför aktiveras lättare än produktion (baserat på ATH) undersöks också i Stu-

die III om den kategoriska perceptionen av spanska klusiler bevaras till en högre

grad än produktionen (forskningsfråga 3). Enligt ATH finns en direkt koppling

mellan L1-användning och förändringar i de neurologiska tröskelnivåerna där en

högre språkanvändning sänker trösklarna och därmed underlättar aktivering. Detta

i kombination med förslaget om att perception har lägre aktivitetströsklar än prod-

uktion motiverar antagandet att en hög L1-användning har ett positivt inflytande

på L1-bevarandet av framförallt klusilproduktionen. Baserad på tidigare forskning

förväntas denna effekt dock vara mest påtaglig hos talare med en låg attritionsål-

der (forskningsfråga 4). Angående forskningsfråga 1 visade resultaten att attrit-

ionsåldern spelar en viktig roll för bevarandet av en inföddlik produktion av

spanska ordinitiala klusiler (/p t k/). De perceptuella kategorierna gällande ton-

kontrasten för spanska klusiler (/p–b/, /t–d/, /k–ɡ/) visade sig däremot påverkas

mindre av deltagarnas attritionsålder (forskningsfråga 2). Även om åldersrelate-

rade skillnader i produktionen skulle kunna relateras till tilltagande biologiska

begränsningar och teorier om en omvänd kritisk period för L1-attrition (Schmid,

2011), kan sådana antaganden inte ge en tillfredsställande förklaring till den

observerade diskrepansen mellan produktion och perception. Även om resultaten

6 Eftersom sex av de tidigare deltagarna avstod från medverkan i attritionsprojektet baserar Studie

III på 25 deltagare med låg attritionsålder (1–11 år) och 10 deltagare med hög attritionsålder (13–

19 år).


var statistiskt signifikanta endast för de labiala klusilerna, visade de ändå på en

övergripande tendens för att perceptionen bevarades bättre än produktionen

(forskningsfråga 3). Det föreslås att skillnaderna i neurologiska aktivitetströsklar (i

enlighet med ATH) skulle kunna vara en bidragande förklaring till detta utfall.

Vidare tyder dessa resultat på att L1-uttalet är mer benäget att genomgå föränd-

ringar medan det underliggande ljudsystemet verkar vara mindre mottagligt för

attrition. Studie III visar dessutom att en hög grad av L1-användning har en positiv

inverkan på bevarandet av ett spanskliknande uttal av klusiler, men detta kunde

endast konstateras hos deltagare med en låg attritionsålder (forskningsfråga 4).

Slutsatsen dras att framför allt tidigt tvåspråkiga är beroende av fördelaktiga fak-

torer som till exempel omfattande L1-användning för att kompensera för åldersef-

fekter på L1-produktion.

Sammanfattningsvis lämnar Studie I och Studie II viktiga bidrag till forsk-

ningsfältet andraspråksinlärning. Genom att betona metodologiska aspekter bidrar

studierna med ny kunskap om ålderseffekter och existensen/avsaknaden av

inföddlik L2-behärskning, vilket torde ha viktiga implikationer för teoribildning

inom andraspråksforskningen. Studie III ger en inblick i relationen mellan biolo-

giska och icke-biologiska faktorer och undersöker deras förklaringsvärde för

ålderseffekter vid förstaspråksattrition. Det har understrukits att attritionsstudier

som undersöker åldersvariabeln i den fonetiska domänen fortfarande är klart färre

till antalet än dem som utförts på fonetiska/fonologiska aspekter av andra-

språksinlärning. Förhoppningen är att denna avhandling kan inspirera forskare till

att utöka inhämtningen av empiriska data från både produktion och perception av

olika fonetiska (men även andra lingvistiska) L1-drag hos tvåspråkiga talare med

varierande attritionsåldrar.

References

Abrahamsson, N. (2012). Age of onset and nativelike L2 ultimate attainment of

morphosyntactic and phonetic intuition. Studies in Second Language Acquisi-

tion, 34, 187–214.

Abrahamsson, N. & Hyltenstam, K. (2008). The robustness of aptitude effects in

near-native second language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisi-

tion, 30, 481–509.

Abrahamsson, N. & Hyltenstam, K. (2009). Age of L2 acquisition and degree of

nativelikeness – listener perception vs. linguistic scrutinization. Language

Learning, 59, 249–306.

Abramson, A. S. (1977). Laryngeal timing in consonant distinctions. Phonetica,

34, 295–303.

Abramson, A. S. & Lisker, L. (1973). Voice-timing perception in Spanish word-

initial stops. Journal of Phonetics, 1, 1–8.

Katrin Stölten 37

Ammerlaan, T. (1996). „You get a bit wobbly…‟ – Exploring Bilingual Lexical

Retrieval Processes in the Context of First Language Attrition. Ph.D. disserta-

tion. Nijmegen: Katholieke Universiteit.

Andersen, R. (1982). Determining the linguistic attributes of language attrition. In

R. Lambert & B. Freed (Eds.), The Loss of Language Skills (pp. 83–118).

Rowley, MA: Newbury House Publishers.

Asher, J. & García, G. (1969). The optimal age to learn a foreign language. Mod-

ern Language Journal, 38, 334–341.

Au, T., Knightly, L., Jun, S.-A. & Oh, J. (2002). Overhearing a language during

childhood. Psychological Science, 13, 238–243.

Beckman, J., Helgason, P., McMurray, B. & Ringen, C. (2011). Rate effects on

Swedish VOT: Evidence for phonological overspecification. Journal of Pho-

netics, 39, 39–49.

Berko-Gleason, J. (1982). Insights from child language acquisition for second lan-

guage loss. In R.D. Lambert & B. F. Freed (Eds.), The Loss of Language Skills

(pp.13–13). Rowley, MA: Newbury House Publishers.

Bialystok, E. & Hakuta, K. (1999). Confounded age: Linguistic and cognitive

factors in age differences for second language acquisition. In D. Birdsong

(Ed.), Second Language Acquisition and the Critical Period Hypothesis (pp.

161–181). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Birdsong, D. (1992). Ultimate attainment in second language acquisition. Lan-

guage, 68, 706–755.

Birdsong, D. (1999). Introduction: Whys and why nots of the critical period

hypothesis for second language acquisition. In D. Birdsong (Ed.), Second Lan-

guage Acquisition and the Critical Period Hypothesis (pp. 1–22). Mahwah,

NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Birdsong, D. (2006). Age and second language acquisition and processing: A

selective overview. Language Learning, 56, 9–49.

Birdsong, D. (2007). Nativelike pronunciation among late learners of French as a

second language. In O.-S. Bohn & M. J. Munro (Eds.), Language Experience

in Second Language Speech Learning: In Honor of James Emil Flege. Lan-

guage Learning and Language Teaching, Vol. 17 (pp. 99–116). Amsterdam:

John Benjamins.

Birdsong, D. & Molis, M. (2001). On the evidence for maturational constraints in

second-language acquisition. Journal of Memory and Language, 44, 235–249.

Bley-Vroman, R. (1989). What is the logical problem of foreign language learn-

ing? In S. M. Gass & J. Schachter (Eds.), Linguistic Perspectives on Second

Language Acquisition (pp. 41–68). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bongaerts, T. (1999). Ultimate attainment in L2 pronunciation: The case of very

advanced late L2 learners. In D. Birdsong (Ed.), Second Language Acquisition

and the Critical Period Hypothesis (pp. 133–159). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence

Erlbaum.


Bongaerts, T., Mennen, S. & van der Slik, F. (2000). Authenticity of pronunciation

in naturalistic second language acquisition: the case of very advanced late

learners of Dutch as a second language. Studia Linguistica, 54, 298–308.

Bongaerts, T., Planken, B. & Schils, E. (1995). Can late starters attain a native

accent in a foreign language? A test of the critical period hypothesis. In D.

Singleton & Z. Lengyel (Eds.), The Age Factor in Second Language Acquisi-

tion. A Critical Look at the Critical Period Hypothesis (pp. 30–50). Clevedon:

Multilingual Matters.

Bongaerts, T., van Summeren, C., Planken, B. & Schils, E. (1997). Age and ulti-

mate attainment in the pronunciation of a foreign language. Studies in Second

Language Acquisition, 19, 447–465.

de Bot, K. (2001). Language use as an interface between sociolinguistic and psy-

cholinguistic processes in language attrition and language shift. In J. Klatter-

Folmer & P. van Avermaet (Eds.), Theories on Maintenance and Loss of

Minority Languages. Towards a more Integrated Explanatory Framework (pp.

65–82). Münster: Waxmann.

de Bot, K. & Clyne, M. (1994). A 16-year longitudinal study of language attrition

in Dutch immigrants in Australia. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural

Development, 15, 17–28.

de Bot, K., Gommans, P. & Rossing, C. (1991). L1 loss in an L2 environment:

Dutch immigrants in France. In H. W. Seliger, & R. M. Vago (Eds.), First

Language Attrition (pp. 87–98). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

de Bot, K., Martens, V. & Stoessel, S. (2004). Finding residual lexical knowledge:

The ”Savings” approach to testing vocabulary. International Journal of Bilin-

gualism, 8, 373–382.

de Bot, K. & Stoessel, S. (2000). In search of yesterday‟s words: Reactivating a

long-forgotten language. Applied Linguistics, 21, 333–353.

Bylund, E. (2008). Age Differences in First Language Attrition: A Maturational

Constraints Perspective. Ph.D. dissertation. Stockholm: Centre for Research on

Bilingualism, Stockholm University.

Bylund, E. (2009a). Effects of age of L2 acquisition on L1 event conceptualization

patterns. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 12, 305–322.

Bylund, E. (2009b). Maturational constraints and first language attrition. Lan-

guage Learning, 59, 687–715.

Bylund, E., Abrahamsson, N. & Hyltenstam, K. (2010). The role of language

aptitude in first language attrition: The case of pre-pubescent attriters. Applied

Linguistics, 31, 443–464.

Bylund, E., Abrahamsson, N, & Hyltenstam, K. (2012). Does first language

maintenance hamper nativelikeness in a second language? Studies in Second

Language Acquisition, 34, 215–241.

Caramazza, A., Yeni-Komshian, G. H., Zurif, E. B. & Carbone, E. (1973). The

acquisition of a new phonological contrast: The case of stop consonants in

Katrin Stölten 39

French-English bilinguals. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,

54, 421–428.

Caramazza, A. & Yeni-Komshian, G. H. (1974). Voice onset time in two French

dialects. Journal of Phonetics, 2, 239–245.

Carroll, J. B. (1981). Twenty-five years of research in foreign language aptitude.

In K. C. Diller (Ed.), Individual Differences and Universals in Language

Learning Aptitude (pp. 83–118). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

Cho, T. & Ladefoged, P. (1999). Variation and universals in VOT: Evidence from

18 languages. Journal of Phonetics, 27, 207–229.

Colantoni, L. & Steele, J. (2006). Native-like attainment in the L2 acquisition of

Spanish stop-liquid clusters. In C. A. Klee & T. L. Face (Eds.), Selected Pro-

ceedings of the 7th

Conference on the Acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese as

First and Second Languages (pp. 59–73). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Pro-

ceedings project.

Curtiss, S. (1977). Genie: A Psycholinguistic Study of a Modern-Day “Wild

Child”. New York: Academic Press.

Curtiss, S. (1989). The case of Chelsea: A new test case of the critical period for

language acquisition. Ms. University of California, Los Angeles.

Davis, K. (1991). Phonetic and Phonological Contrasts in the Acquisition of

Voicing: A Linguistic and Developmental Study of Voice Onset Time Produc-

tion in Hindi and English. Ph. D. dissertation. New York: Cornell University.

DeKeyser, R. M. (2000). The robustness of critical period effects in second lan-

guage acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 22, 499–533.

DeKeyser, R. M. & Larson-Hall, J. (2005). What does the critical period really

mean? In J. F. Kroll & A. M. B. De Groot (Eds.), Handbook of Bilingualism:

Psycholinguistic Approaches (pp. 88–108). Oxford: University Press.

Deuchar, M. & Clark, A. (1996). Early bilingual acquisition of the voicing con-

trast in English and Spanish. Journal of Phonetics, 24, 351–365.

Deuchar, M. & Quay, S. (2000). Bilingual Acquisition – Theoretical Implications

of a Case Study. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Eilers, R. E. & Minifie, F. D. (1975). Fricative discrimination in early infancy.

Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 18, 158–167.

Eilers, R. E, Wilson, W. R. & Moore, J. M. (1977). Developmental changes in

speech discrimination in infants. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 20,

766–780.

Eimas, P. D. & Miller, J. L. (1980). Discrimination of information for manner of

articulation. Infant Behavior and Development, 3, 367–375.

Eimas, P. D., Siqueland, E. R., Jusczyk, P. & Vigorito, J. (1971). Speech percep-

tion in infants. Science, 171, 303–306.

Fant, G. (1969). Stops in CV-syllables. STL-QPSR, 10, 1–25.

Fant, G. (1973). Speech Sounds and Features. MIT Press, Cambridge,

Massachusetts.


Flege, J. E. (1987). The production of “new” and “similar” phones in a foreign

language: evidence for the effect of equivalence classification. Journal of Pho-

netics, 15, 47–65.

Flege, J. E. (1991). Age of learning affects the authenticity of voice-onset time

(VOT) in stop consonants produced in a second language. Journal of the

Acoustical Society of America, 89, 395–411.

Flege, J. E. (1992). Speech learning in a second language. In C. Ferguson, L.

Menn and C. Stoel-Gammon (Eds.), Phonological Development: Models, Re-

search, and Implications (pp. 565–604). Timonium, MD: York Press.

Flege, J. E. (1995). Second language speech learning. Theory, findings, and prob-

lems. In W. Strange (Ed.), Speech Perception and Linguistic Experience:

Issues in Cross-language Research (pp. 233–277). Timonium, MD: York

Press.

Flege, J. E. (1999). Age of learning and second language speech. In D. Birdsong

(Ed.), Second Language Acquisition and the Critical Period Hypothesis (pp.

101–132). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Flege, J. E., Birdsong, D., Bialystok, E., Mack, M., Sung, H. & Tsukada, K.

(2006). Degree of foreign accent in English sentences produced by Korean

children and adults. Journal of Phonetics, 34, 153–175.

Flege, J. E. & Eefting, W. (1986). Linguistic and developmental effects on the

production and perception of stop consonants. Phonetica, 43, 155–171.

Flege, J. E. & Eefting, W. (1987). Production and perception of English stops by

native Spanish speakers. Journal of Phonetics, 15, 67–83.

Flege, J. E. & Fletcher, K. L. (1992). Talker and listener effects on degree of per-

ceived foreign accent. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 91, 370–

389.

Flege, J. E., Frieda, E. M., Walley, A. C. & Randazza, L. A. (1998). Lexical fac-

tors and segmental accuracy in second language speech production. Studies in

Second Language Acquisition, 20, 155–187.

Flege, J. E. & Hillenbrand, J. (1984). Limits on phonetic accuracy in foreign lan-

guage speech production. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 76,

708–721.

Flege, J. E., Munro, M. & MacKay, I. (1995a). Factors affecting strength of per-

ceived foreign accent in a second language. Journal of the Acoustical Society

of America, 97, 3125–3134.

Flege, J. E., Munro, M. & MacKay, I. (1995b). Effects of age of second-language

learning on the production of English consonants. Speech Communication, 16,

1–26.

Flege, J. E., Munro, M. & MacKay, I. (1996). Factors effecting the production of

word-initial consonants in a second language. In R. Bailey & D.R. Preston

(Eds.), Second Language Acquisition and Linguistic Variation, Vol. 10 (pp.

47–73). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Katrin Stölten 41

Flege, J. E. & Port, R. (1981). Cross-language phonetic interference: Arabic to

English. Language and Speech, 24, 125–146.

Flege, J. E., Schirru, C. & MacKay, I. R. A. (2003). Interaction between the native

and second language phonetic subsystems. Speech Communication, 40, 467–

491.

Flege, J. E., Schmidt, A. M. & Wharton, G. (1996). Age of learning affects rate-

dependent processing of stops in a second language. Phonetica, 53, 143–161.

Flege, J. E., Yeni-Komshian, G. H. & Liu, S. (1999). Age constraints on second

language acquisition. Journal of Memory and Language, 41, 78–104.

Gass, S. (1984). Development of speech perception and speech production abili-

ties in adult second language learners. Applied Psycholinguistics, 5, 51–74.

Gelfand, S. A. (1998). Hearing – An Introduction to Psychological and Physio-

logical Acoustics. New York and Basel: Marcel Dekker, Inc.

Grosjean, F. (2001). The bilingual‟s language modes. In J. Nicol (Ed.), One Mind,

Two Languages: Bilingual Language Processing (pp. 1–22). Malden, MA:

Blackwell.

Guion, S. G., Flege, J. E. & Loftin, J., D. (2000). The effect of L1 use on pronun-

ciation in Quichua-Spanish bilinguals. Journal of Phonetics, 28, 27–42.

Gürel, A. (2004a). Attrition of L1 competence: The case of Turkish. In M.

Schmid, B. Köpke, M. Keijzer & L. Weilemar (Eds.), First Language Attri-

tion: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Methodological Issues (pp. 225–242).

Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Gürel, A. (2004b). Selectivity in L2-induced L1 attrition: A psycholinguistic

account. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 17, 53–78.

Hakuta, K., Bialystok, E. & Wiley, E. (2003). Critical evidence: A test on the

critical-period hypothesis for second-language acquisition. Psychological Sci-

ence, 14, 31–38.

Hakuta, K. & D‟Andrea, D. (1992). Some properties of bilingual maintenance and

loss in Mexican background high-school students. Applied Linguistics, 13, 72–

99.

Helgason, P. & Ringen, C. (2008). Voicing and aspiration in Swedish stops. Jour-

nal of Phonetics, 36, 607–628.

Hopp, H. & Schmid, M. S. (2011). Perceived foreign accent in first language attri-

tion and second language acquisition: The impact of age of acquisition and bi-

lingualism. Applied Psycholinguistics, FirstView Articles, 1–34

Hutz, M. (2004). Is there a natural process of decay? A longitudinal study of lan-

guage attrition. In M. Schmid, B. Köpke, M. Keijzer & L. Weilemar (Eds.),

First Language Attrition: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Methodological

Issues (pp. 189–205). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Hyltenstam, K. (1992). Non-native features of near-native speakers: On the ulti-

mate attainment of childhood L2 learners. In R. J. Harris (Ed.), Cognitive Pro-

cessing in Bilinguals (pp. 351–368). Amsterdam: Elsevier.


Hyltenstam, K. & Abrahamsson, N. (2000). Who can become native-like in a

second language? All, some, or none? On the maturational constraints contro-

versy in second language acquisition. Studia Linguistica, 54, 150–166.

Hyltenstam, K. & Abrahamsson, N. (2003a). Maturational constraints in SLA. In

C. J. Doughty & M. H. Long (Eds.), The Handbook of Second Language

Acquisition (pp. 539–588). Oxford: Blackwell.

Hyltenstam, K. & Abrahamsson, N. (2003b). Age of onset and ultimate attainment

in near-native speakers of Swedish as a second language. In K. Fraurud & K.

Hyltenstam (Eds.), Multilingualism in Global and Local Perspectives. Selected

papers from the 8th

Nordic Conference on Bilingualism, November 1-3, 2001,

Stockholm-Rinkeby (pp.319–340). Stockholm: Centre for Research on Bilin-

gualism (Stockholm University) and Rinkeby Institute of Multilingual Re-

search (City of Stockholm and Stockholm University).

Hyltenstam, K., Bylund, M., Abrahamsson, N. & Park, H.-S. (2009). Dominant-

language replacement: The case of international adoptees. Bilingualism: Lan-

guage and Cognition, 12, 121–140.

Isurin, L. (2000). Deserted island or a child‟s first language forgetting. Bilingual-

ism: Language and Cognition, 3, 151–166.

Ioup, G., Boustagui, E., El Tigi, M. & Moselle, M. (1994). Reexamining the criti-

cal period hypothesis: A case study in a naturalistic environment. Studies in


Jaspaert, K. & Kroon, S. (1989). Social determinants of language loss. Review of

Applied Linguistics (I.T.L.) 83–84, 75–98.

Johnson, J. S. & Newport, E. L. (1989). Critical period effects in second language

learning: The influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a

second language. Cognitive Psychology, 21, 60–99.

Johnson, C. E. & Wilson, I. L. (2002). Phonetic evidence for early language dif-

ferentiation: Research issues and some preliminary data. The International

Journal of Bilingualism, 6, 271–289.

Jusczyk, P. W. & Thompson, E. (1978). Perception of a phonetic contrast in multi-

syllabic utterances by 2-month-old infants. Perception & Psychophysics, 23,

105–109.

Kent, R. D. & Read, C. (1992). The Acoustic Analysis of Speech. San Diego:

Singular Publishing Group.

Kessinger, R. H. & Blumstein, S. E. (1997). Effects of speaking rate on voice-on-

set time in Thai, French, and English. Journal of Phonetics, 25, 143–168.

Klatt, D. H. (1975). Voice onset time, frication, and aspiration in word-initial con-

sonant clusters. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 18, 686–706.

Krull, D. (1991). VOT in spontaneous speech and in citation form words. Phonetic

Experimental Research at the Institute of Linguistics, University of Stockholm,

PERILUS XII, 101–107.

Kuhl, P. K. (1987). The special mechanisms debate in speech research: Categori-

zation tests on animals and infants. In S. Harnad (Ed.), Categorical

Katrin Stölten 43

Perception: The Groundwork of Cognition (pp. 355–386). Cambridge: Cam-

bridge University Press.

Kuhl, P. K. (2001). Speech, language, and developmental change. In F. Lacerda,

C. von Hofsten & M. Heimann (Eds.), Emerging Cognitive Abilities in Early

Infancy (pp. 111–133). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Kuhl, P. K., Tsao, F.-M. & Liu, H.-M. (2003). Foreign-language experience in

infancy: Effects of short-term exposure and social interaction on phonetic

learning. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States

of America, 100, 9096–9101.

Kuhl, P. K., Williams, K. A., Lacerda, F., Stevens, K, & Lindblom, B. (1992).

Linguistic experience alters phonetic perception in infants by 6 months of age.

Science 255, 606–608.

Köpke, B. (2004). Neurolinguistic aspects of L1 attrition. Journal of Neurolin-

guistics, 17, 1–30.

Köpke, B. & Schmid, M. (2004). Language attrition: The next phase. In M.

Schmid, B. Köpke, M. Keijzer & L. Weilemar (Eds.), First Language Attri-

tion: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Methodological Issues, pp. 1–43.


Laeufer, C. (1996). The acquisition of a complex phonological contrast: Voice

timing patterns of English initial stops by native French speakers. Phonetica,

53, 86–110.

Lambert, R. (1982). Setting the agenda. In R. Lambert & B. Freed (Eds.), The Loss

of Language Skills (pp. 6–10). Rowley, MA: Newbury House Publishers.

Lasky, R. E., Syrdal-Lasky, A. & Klein, R. E. (1975). VOT discrimination by four

to six and a half month old infants from Spanish environments. Journal of

Experimental Child Psychology, 20, 215–225.

Lenneberg, E. (1967). Biological Foundations of Language. New York: Wiley &

Sons.

de Leeuw, E., Schmid, M. & Mennen, I. (2007). Global foreign accent in native

German speech. In J. Trouvain & W. Barry (Eds.), Proceedings of the 16th

International Congress of the ICPhS, pp. 1605–1608.

de Leeuw, E., Schmid, M. & Mennen, I. (2010). The effects of contact on native

language pronunciation in an L2 migrant setting. Bilingualism: Language and

Cognition, 13, 33–40.

de Leeuw, E., Mennen, I. & Scobbie, J. M. (2011). Singing a different tune in your

native language: First language attrition of prosody. International Journal of

Bilingualism, 16, 101–116.

Lisker, L. & Abramson, A. S. (1964). A cross-language study of voicing in initial

stops: Acoustical measurements. Word, 20, 384–422.

Lisker, L. & Abramson, A. S. (1967). Some effects of context on voice onset time

in English stops. Language and Speech, 10, 1–28.

Long, M. H. (1990). Maturational constraints on language development. Studies in



Long, M. H. (1993). Second language acquisition as a function of age: research

findings and methodological issues. In K. Hyltenstam & Å. Viberg (Eds.),

Progression and Regression in Language (pp. 196–221). Cambridge: Cam-

bridge University Press.

Long, M. H. (2005). Problems with supposed counter-evidence to the Critical

Period Hypothesis. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 43, 287–317.

Long, M. H. (2007). Problems in SLA. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Lubínska, D. (2011). Förstaspråksattrition hos vuxna. Exemplet polsktalande i

Sverige. Ph.D. dissertation. Stockholm: Centre for Research on Bilingualism,

Stockholm University.

Mack, M. (1989). Consonant and vowel perception and production: Early English-

French bilinguals and English monolinguals. Perception and Psychophysics,

46, 187–200.

MacKay, I. R. A., Flege, J. E., Piske, T. & Schirru, C. (2001). Category restruc-

turing during second-language speech acquisition. Journal of the Acoustical

Society of America, 110, 516–528.

Macken, M. A. & Ferguson, C. A. (1981). Phonological universals in language

acquisition. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 379, 110–129.

MacLeod, A. A. N. & Stoel-Gammon, C. (2010). What is the impact of age of

second language acquisition on the production of consonants and vowels

among childhood bilinguals? International Journal of Bilingualism, 14, 400–

421.

MacWhinney, B. (2005). A unified model of language acquisition. In J. Kroll &

A. de Groot (Eds.), Handbook of Bilingualism: Psycholinguistic Approaches

(pp. 49–67). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Magloire, J. & Green, K. P. (1999). A cross-language comparison of speaking rate

effects on the production of voice onset time in English and Spanish. Pho-

netica, 56, 158–185.

Major, R. C. (1987). English voiceless stop production by speakers of Brazilian

Portuguese. Journal of Phonetics, 15, 197–202.

Major, R. C. (1992). Losing English as a first language. The Modern Language

Journal, 76, 190–208.

Marinova-Todd, S. H., Marshall, D. B. & Snow, C. E. (2000). Three misconcep-

tions about age and L2 learning. TESOL Quarterly, 34, 9–34.

McDonald, J. L. (2000). Grammaticality judgments in a second language: Influ-

ences of age of acquisition and native language. Applied Psycholinguistics, 21,

395–423.

Montrul, S. (2002). Incomplete acquisition and attrition of Spanish tense/aspect

distinctions in adult bilinguals. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 5, 39–

68.

Montrul, S. & Slabakova, R. (2003). Competence similarities between native and

near-native speakers. An investigation of the preterite-imperfect contrast in

Spanish. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 25, 351–398.

Katrin Stölten 45

Morse, P. A. (1978). Infant speech perception: Origins, processes and alpha cen-

tauri. In F. D. Minifie & L. L. Lloyd (Eds.), Communicative and Cognitive

Abilities: Early Behavioural Assessment (pp. 195–227). Baltimore, MD: Uni-

versity Park Press.

Moyer, A. (1999). Ultimate attainment in L2 phonology. The critical factors of

age, motivation, and instruction. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21,

81–108.

Munro, M. & Mann, V. (2005). Age of immersion as a predictor of foreign accent.

Applied Psycholinguistics, 26, 311–341.

Neufeld, G. (2001). Non-foreign-accented speech in adult second language learn-

ers: Does it exist and what does it signify? ITL Review of Applied Linguistics,

133–134, 185–206.

Newport, E. L. (1990). Maturational constraints on language learning. Cognitive

Science, 14, 11–28.

Nicoladis, E. & Grabois, H. (2002). Learning English and losing Chinese: A case

study of a child adopted from China. The International Journal of Bilingual-

ism, 6, 441–454.

Obler, L. K.(1982). The parsimonious bilingual. In L. K. Obler & L. Menn (Eds.),

Exceptional Language and Linguistics (pp. 339–346). New York: Academic

Press.

Oh, J., Jun, S.-A., Knightly, L. & Au, T. (2003). Holding on to childhood language

memory. Cognition, 86, B53–B64.

Olshtain, E. & Barzilay, M. (1991). Lexical retrieval difficulties in adult language

attrition. In H. Seliger & R. Vago (Eds.), First Language Attrition, (pp. 139–

150). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ortega, L. (2010). The bilingual turn in SLA. Plenary delivered at the Annual

Conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics. Atlanta, GA,

March 6–9 2010.

Oxford, R. (1982). Technical issues in designing and conducting research on lan-

guage skill attrition. In R. Lambert & B. Freed (Eds.), The Loss of Language

Skills (pp. 119–137). Rowley, MA: Newbury House Publishers.

Oyama, S. (1976). A sensitive period for the acquisition of a nonnative phonologi-

cal system. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 5, 261–285.

Pallier, C., Dehaene, S., Poline, J-B., LeBihan, D., Argenti, A-M., Dupoux, E. &

Mehler, J. (2003). Brain imaging of language plasticity in adopted adults: Can

a second language replace the first? Cerebral Cortex, 13, 155–161.

Paradis, M. (1993). Linguistic, psycholinguistic, and neurolinguistic aspects of

interference in bilingual speakers: the activation threshold hypothesis. Interna-

tional Journal of Psycholinguistics, 9, 133–145.

Paradis, M. (1997). The cognitive neuropsychology of bilingualism. In A. de

Groot & J. Kroll (Eds.), Tutorials in Bilingualism (pp. 331–354). Mahwah, NJ:

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.


Paradis, M. (2004). A Neurolinguistic Theory of Bilingualism. Amster-

dam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Paradis, M. (2007). L1 attrition features predicted by a neurolinguistic theory of

bilingualism. In B. Köpke, M., Schmid, M. Keijzer & S. Dostert (Eds.),

Language Attrition: Theoretical Perspectives, (pp. 121–133). Amsterdam:

John Benjamins.

Patkowski, M. (1980). The sensitive period for the acquisition of syntax in a

second language. Language Learning, 30, 449–472.

Patkowski, M. S. (1990). Age and accent in a second language: A reply to James

Emil Flege. Applied Linguistics, 11, 73–89.

Pavlenko, A. (2000). L2 influence on L1 in late bilingualism. Issues in Applied

Linguistics, 11, 175–205.

Pavlenko, A. (2004). L2 influence and L1 attrition in adult bilingualism. In M.

Schmid, B. Köpke, M. Keijzer & L. Weilemar (Eds.), First Language

Attrition: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Methodological Issues, (pp. 1–43).


Pelc, L. (2001). L1 Lexical, Morphological and Morphosyntactic Attrition in

Greek-English Bilinguals. Ph. D. dissertation. New York: City University of

New York.

Piller, I. (2002). Passing for a native speaker: Identity and success in second

language learning. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 6, 179–206.

Piske, T., MacKay, I. R. A., & Flege, J. E. (2001). Factors affecting degree of

foreign accent in an L2: A review. Journal of Phonetics, 29, 191–215.

Polinsky, M. (1997). American Russian: Language loss meets language

acquisition. In W. Browne (Ed.), Annual Workshop on Formal Approaches to

Slavic Linguistics (pp. 370–406). Ann Arbor: Michigan Slavic Publications.

Pulvermüller, F. & Schumann, J. H. (1994). Neurobiological mechanisms of

language acquisition. Language Learning, 44, 681–734.

Purcell, E. T. & Suter, R. W. (1980). Predictors of pronunciation accuracy: a re-

examination. Language Learning, 30, 271–287.

Ruben, R. J. (1997). A time frame of critical/sensitive periods of language

development. Acta Otolaryngologica, 117, 202–205.

Scherag, A., Demuth, L., Rösler, F., Neville, H. J. & Röder, B. (2004). The effects

of late acquisition of L2 and the consequences of immigration on L1 for

semantic and morpho-syntactic language aspects. Cognition 93, B97–B108.

Schmid, M. S. (2002). First Language Attrition, Use and Maintenance. The Case

of German Jews in Anglophone Countries. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Schmid, M. S. (2007). The role of L1 use for L1 attrition. In B. Köpke, M.

Schmid, M. Keijzer & S. Dostert (Eds.), Language Attrition: Theoretical

Perspectives, (pp. 135–154). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Schmid, M. S. (2011). Language Attrition. Key Topics in Sociolinguistics.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Katrin Stölten 47

Schmid, M. S. & Dusseldorp, E. (2010). Quantitative analyses in a multivariate

study of language attrition: The impact of extralinguistic factors. Second

Language Research, 26, 125–160.

Schmid, M. S. & Köpke, B. (2007). Bilingualism and attrition. In B. Köpke, M.

Schmid, M, Keijzer, & S. Dostert (Eds.), Language Attrition: Theoretical

Perspectives (pp. 1–7). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Schmidt, A. M. & Flege, J. E. (1996). Speaking rate effects on stops produced by

Spanish and English monolinguals and Spanish/English bilinguals. Phonetica,

53, 162–179.

Scovel, T. (1969). Foreign accent, language acquisition, and cerebral dominance.

Language Learning 19, 245–253.

Scovel. T. (1988). A Time to Speak: A Psycholinguistic Inquiry into the Critical

Period for Human Speech. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

Seliger, H. W. (1978). Implications of a multiple critical periods hypothesis for

second language learning. In W. C. Ritchie (Ed.), Second Language

Acquisition Research: Issues and Implications (pp. 11–19). New York:

Academic Press.

Seliger, H., Krashen, S. & Ladefoged, P. (1975). Maturational constraints in the

acquisition of second language accent. Language Sciences, 36, 20–22.

Silva-Corvalán, C. (1994). Language Contact and Change. Spanish in Los

Angeles. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Strange, W. (1995). Cross-language studies of speech perception - A historical

review. In W. Strange (Ed.), Speech Perception and Linguistic Experience –

Issues in Cross-language Research, (pp. 3–45). Baltimore: York Press.

Sundberg, U. & Lacerda, F. (1999). Voice onset time in speech to infants and

adults. Phonetica, 56, 186–199.

Swoboda, P. J., Morse, P. A. & Leavitt, L. A. (1976). Continuous vowel

discrimination in normal and at risk infants. Child Development, 47, 459–465.

Thornburgh, D. F. & Ryalls, J. H. (1998). Voice onset time in Spanish-English

bilinguals: Early versus late learners of English. Journal of Communication

Disorders, 31, 215–229.

Trehub, S. E. (1973). Infants‟ sensitivity to vowel and tonal contrasts.

Developmental Psychology, 9, 91–96.

Trehub, S. E. (1976). The discrimination of foreign speech contrasts by infants and

adults. Child Development, 47, 466–472.

Tsimpli, I., Sorace, A., Heycock, C. & Filiaci, F. (2004). First language attrition

and syntactic subjects: A study of Greek and Italian near-native speakers of

English. International Journal of Bilingualism, 8, 257–277.

Tsukada, K., Birdsong, D, Bialystok, E. Mack, M., Sung, H. & Flege, J. E. (2005).

A developmental study of English vowel production and perception by native

Korean adults and children. Journal of Phonetics, 33, 263–290.


Turian, D. & Altenberg, E. (1991). Compensatory strategies of child first language

attrition. In H. Seliger & R. Vago (Eds.), First Language Attrition (pp. 207–

226). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Uylings, H. B. M. (2006). Development of the human cortex and the concept of

“critical” or “sensitive” periods. Language Learning, 56 (Supplement 1), 59–

90.

van Boxtel, S, Bongaerts, T. & Coppen, P.-A. (2005). Native-like attainment of

dummy subjects in Dutch and the role of the L1. IRAL, 43, 355–380.

Ventureyra, V., Pallier, C. & Yoo, H.-Y. (2004). The loss of first language

phonetic perception in adopted Koreans. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 17, 79–

91.

Volaitis, L. E. & Miller, J. L. (1992). Phonetic prototypes: Influence of place of

articulation and speaking rate on the internal structure of voicing categories.

Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 92, 1:723–735.

Waas, M. (1993). Language attrition among German speakers in Australia: A

sociolinguistic inquiry. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Macquarie, Sydney.

Walley, A. C. (2005). Speech perception in childhood. In D. B. Pisoni & R. E.

Remez (Eds.), Handbook in Speech Perception (pp. 449–468). Oxford:

Blackwell.

Wang, Y. & Behne, D. (2007). Temporal remnants from Mandarin in nonnative

English speech. In O.-S. Bohn & M. J. Munro (Eds.), Language Experience in

Second Language Speech Learning: In Honor of James Emil Flege. Language

Learning and Language Teaching, Vol. 17 (pp. 167–184). Amsterdam: John

Benjamins.

Ward, J. (2010). The Student‟s Guide to Cognitive Neuroscience. New York:

Psychology Press.

Werker, J. F., Gilbert, J. H. V., Humphrey, K. & Tees, R. C. (1981). Developmen-

tal aspects of cross-language speech perception. Child Development, 52, 349–

353.

Werker, J. F. & Tees, R. C. (1984), Cross-language speech perception: Evidence

for perceptual reorganization during the first year of life. Infant Behavior and

Development, 7, 49–63.

White, L. & Genesee, R. (1996). How native is near-native? The issue of ultimate

attainment in adult second language acquisition. Second Language Research,

12, 233–265.

Williams, L. (1977). The perception of stop consonant voicing by Spanish-English

bilinguals. Perception and Psychophysics, 21, 289–297.

Williams, L. (1980). Phonetic variation as a function of second-language learning.

In G. Yehi-Komshian, J. Kavanagh, & C. Ferguson (Eds.), Child Phonology,

Vol. 2, Perception (pp. 185–215). New York: Academic Press.

Yavaş, M. & Wildermuth, R. (2006). The effects of place of articulation and

vowel height in the acquisition of English aspirated stops by Spanish speakers.

Katrin Stölten 49

International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 44, 251–

263.

Yeni-Komshian, G. H., Flege, J. E. & Liu, S. (2000). Pronunciation proficiency in

the first and second languages of Korean-English bilinguals. Bilingualism:

Language and Cognition, 3, 131–149.

Zampini, M. L. & Green, K. P. (2001). The voicing contrast in English and

Spanish: The relationship between perception and production. In J. L. Nicol

(Ed.), One Mind, Two Languages (pp. 23–48). Oxford: Blackwell.

Zlatin, M. A. (1974). Voicing contrast: Perceptual and productive VOT character-

istics of adults. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 56, 981–994.

Date post:	03-Jun-2020
Category:	Documents
Upload:	others
View:	8 times
Download:	0 times

The Effects of Age of Onset on VOT in L2 Acquisition and...

Documents