Analysing L2 Swedish word-final stops
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36505/ExLing-2019/10/0049/000411Keywords:
speech, L2, Swedish, mimicking, word-final stop voicingAbstract
We compare native (L1) and non-native (L2) word-final plosive voicing in Swedish. The L1 of the L2 speaker (Flemish) does not have word-final plosive voicing contrasts. In order to assess the effectiveness of a common approach to L2 instruction, L2 speech was elicited under two conditions: either unassisted or by playing an example L1 production and asking the L2 speaker to mimic it. Three cues to voicing—vowel, closure, and burst durations—were measured. L2 productions relied on different cues for voicing than L1 production. Mimicking reduced the difference between L1 and L2 speech.
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