Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Phonological Permeability Hypothesis: The (In)stability of L2 Phonology as Evidenced By the Acquisition of a Third Language (L3)

博士论文研究：音系渗透性假说：通过第三语言（L3）的习得证明二语音系的（不）稳定性

• 批准号: 0818198
• 负责人: Jason Rothman
• 金额: $ 1.2万
• 依托单位: University of Iowa
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-07-15 至 2011-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0818198&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Phonological; Permeability

One question that remains unanswered within Second Language (L2) phonology concerns just how native-like a so-called native-like adult L2 phonological system truly is. This dissertation project tests the Phonological Permeability Hypothesis (PPH), which predicts that if native and seemingly successful non-native phonological systems are acquired in the same manner in adulthood, then an addition of a third language will affect these systems equally. Alternatively, if they are configured differently in the mind, then the additive system will undergo much more rapid and pervasive cross-linguistic phonological interference from the Third Language (L3) on the L2 as proficiency in the L3 increases. Examining cross-linguistic effects of L3 phonological systems on a successive L2 system as compared to a native system of simultaneous bilinguals with the same language pairings is deemed crucial to determine possible differences (or lack thereof) between pre- and post-pubescent phonological systems as it relates to their mental constitutions. This study will chart the phonological acquisition of L3 Brazilian Portuguese from the initial state throughout the first year of complete immersion between two types of English/Spanish bilinguals: successive bilinguals, i.e., native speakers of English who attained near-native Spanish proficiency as young adults, and simultaneous bilingual speakers of English and Spanish. Analyses of phenomena at various levels of the phonological hierarchy will be made via the testing of spirantization (a segmental phenomena) and vowel neutralization (a segmental phenomena conditioned by stress, a suprasegmental phenomenon). Evidence from a pilot study supports the PPH, therefore providing initial phonological evidence in support of representational deficit hypotheses, at least in the domain of phonology, which claim that adult linguistic acquisition does not implicate (all of) the same biologically endowed linguistic mechanisms used in childhood acquisition. This results of this study will contribute to contemporary debates in adult second language acquisition and theory of mind.

第二语言 (L2) 音系学中尚未解答的一个问题是所谓的类似母语的成人 L2 音系系统到底有多母语。本论文项目测试了语音渗透性假说（PPH），该假说预测，如果母语和看似成功的非母语语音系统在成年后以相同的方式获得，那么第三语言的添加将对这些系统产生同样的影响。 或者，如果它们在头脑中的配置不同，那么随着 L3 熟练程度的提高，附加系统将遭受来自第三语言 (L3) 对 L2 的更快速和普遍的跨语言语音干扰。与具有相同语言配对的同时双语者的本地系统相比，检查 L3 音系系统对连续 L2 系统的跨语言影响被认为对于确定青春期前后音系系统之间可能存在的差异（或缺乏差异）至关重要，因为这与他们的心智构成有关。 本研究将绘制两种类型的英语/西班牙语双语者完全沉浸的第一年中 L3 巴西葡萄牙语从初始状态的语音习得：连续双语者，即以英语为母语的人在年轻时达到接近母语西班牙语的熟练程度，以及同时讲英语和西班牙语的双语者。将通过测试spirantization（一种音段现象）和元音中和（一种受重音制约的音段现象，一种超音段现象）来对音系层次的各个层面的现象进行分析。一项试点研究的证据支持 PPH，因此提供了初步的语音证据来支持表征缺陷假设，至少在语音学领域，该假设声称成人语言习得并不意味着（全部）与儿童习得中使用的生物赋予的语言机制相同。 这项研究的结果将有助于当代成人第二语言习得和心理理论的争论。