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The Acquisition of English Word-Final Consonants by Cantonese ESL Learners in Hong Kong

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2016

Alice Y.W. Chan
Alice Y.W. Chan*
Affiliation:
City University of Hong Kong
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Abstract

This study investigates the acquisition of English word-final consonants by Hong Kong Cantonese learners of English as a second language and assesses the validity of the Markedness Differential Hypothesis for second language phonology acquisition by these learners. Twelve participants and three native speakers performed four speech tasks: reading a word list, reading three passages, describing pictures, and participating in a conversational interview. The results show that: (i) word-finally, more non-target laterals were produced than voiceless obstruents; and (ii) non-target productions of voiced obstruents were the highest. We argue that the Markedness Differential Hypothesis does not explain the acquisition of English word-final singleton consonants by Cantonese ESL learners in Hong Kong. We conclude that markedness alone cannot be used as a predictor for the relative difficulty of acquiring the target segments of a second language.

Résumé

Résumé

Cette étude examine l’acquisition des consonnes de l’anglais en position finale de mot par les apprenants cantonais de l’anglais comme langue seconde à Hong Kong et évalue la validité de l’hypothèse du marquage différentiel pour l’acquisition de la phonologie d’une langue seconde par ces apprenants. Douze participants et trois locuteurs natifs ont participé à quatre tâches : la lecture d’une liste de mots, la lecture de trois passages, la description de portraits et la participation dans une entrevue conversationnelle. Les résultats démontrent que : (i) en position finale de mot, plus de latérales non cibles étaient produites que d’obstruents non voisés; et (ii) les productions non cibles d’obstruents voisés étaient les plus élevées. Nous proposons que l’hypothèse du marquage différentiel n’explique pas l’acquisition des consonnes simples de l’anglais en position finale de mot par les apprenants cantonais de l’anglais comme langue seconde à Hong Kong. Nous concluons que le marquage seul ne prédit pas la difficulté relative de l’acquisition des segments cibles d’une langue seconde.

Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique , Volume 52 , Issue 3 , November 2007 , pp. 231 - 253
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Linguistic Association/Association canadienne de linguistique 2007 

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