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In:Bridging Boundaries: Interdisciplinary perspectives on Hispanic Linguistics
Edited by Gregory L. Thompson and Scott M. Alvord
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 46] 2026
► pp. 306–332

Chapter 12
Allophonic splits of L1 phones in non-phonologically conditioned variation

On the perception and production of the English /t͡ʃ/-/ʃ/ contrast by L1 Costa Rican and Panamanian Spanish speakers

 | University of Kansas
 | University of Kansas
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
This study investigates the discrimination and production patterns of native Spanish speaking learners of English in acquiring a novel contrast, /t͡ʃ/-/ʃ/. While many Spanish dialects produce /t͡ʃ/ with the single allophone [t͡ʃ], some dialects produce [t͡ʃ] and [ʃ] in non-phonologically conditioned variation for /t͡ʃ/, which may lead to increased difficulty in acquiring the contrast. We investigated the effect of this variation in both perception and production of English /t͡ʃ/-/ʃ/. Higher rates of variation in the native language led to decreased discrimination and production accuracy in the second language (L2) for /t͡ʃ/; however, L2 /ʃ/ productions were highly accurate. These findings suggest that severing the perceptual association of phones in variation for the same category is a more difficult task than creating a new category.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Second language speech perception models
    • 1.2Differences in allophonic relationships
    • 1.3Description of Spanish /t͡ʃ/ and English /t͡ʃ/ and /ʃ/
    • 1.4Studies investigating allophones
      in non-phonologically conditioned variation
    • 1.5Current study and predictions
    • 1.6Research questions and hypotheses
  • 2.Method
    • 2.1Stimuli
    • 2.2Participants
    • 2.3Procedure
      • 2.3.1Spanish production task
      • 2.3.2English proficiency task
      • 2.3.3AXB discrimination task
      • 2.3.4English production task
    • 2.4Production task analysis
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1LexTALE analysis
    • 3.2Spanish production task analysis
    • 3.3AXB discrimination task analysis
    • 3.4English production task analysis
  • 4.Discussion
    • 4.1Acquisition of L2 contrasts and the NEW scenario
    • 4.2Production–perception link and L1 allophone generalization to the L2
    • 4.3L2 Proficiency and accuracy in discrimination and production
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
References (33)
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