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La integración de la pronunciación en el aula de ELE: Integrating pronunciation in the Spanish language classroom
Editado por Zsuzsanna Bárkányi, M. Mar Galindo Merino y Aarón Pérez-Bernabeu
[IVITRA Research in Linguistics and Literature 42] 2024
► pp. 156–174

Chapter 10
Crosslinguistic influence and the pronunciation of Spanish as an additional language

| Universidad de Salamanca
| Universidad de Salamanca
Crosslinguistic influence is a main culprit in nonnative speech production. The native tongue’s (L1) phonic space warps and usually distorts the phonic spaces of languages learned later in life (L2), causing not only a foreign accent, but also issues in intelligibility and comprehensibility. This chapter will address: (1) how crosslinguistic transfer fits into the causes of nonnative pronunciation; (2) to which extent language differences have an impact on perception and production of L2 speech patterns; (3) what are the consequences of a foreign accent in terms of intelligibility and comprehensibility; (4) how segmentals and suprasegmentals in L2 Spanish are subject to the phonic pull of L1; and (5) what strategies and activities can help to improve L2 pronunciation.
Keywords: crosslinguistic influence, pronunciation, foreign accent, intelligibility, second language acquisition, Spanish as an additional language
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Key concepts and main research in the field
    • 2.1Perception and production in additional languages
    • 2.2Foreign accent, intelligibility, and comprehensibility
  • 3.Some examples of crosslinguistic mismatches
    • 3.1The vowel systems of English and Spanish
    • 3.2Stop systems in English and Spanish
  • 4.From theory to practice
  • 5.A look into the future
  • Notes
  • References
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