Cover not available
Article published In:
Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 35:1 (2022) ► pp.173–205

The role of phonological short-term memory in second language phonology

Exploring vowel quality among English-speaking learners of Spanish

ORCID logo | University at Albany, State University of New York
ORCID logo | University of Florida
This study reports on the production of the five Spanish vowels in stressed and unstressed contexts by English-speaking advanced learners of Spanish at two experience levels who differed according to phonological short-term memory (PSTM) capacity. Our findings indicate that learners with higher PSTM capacity were less likely to reduce both stressed and unstressed vowels in Spanish. Consequently, learners with higher PSTM in fourth-year Spanish courses produced vowels that were more native-like than lower PSTM fourth-year learners. On the other hand, higher PSTM graduate students of Spanish produced a Spanish vowel space that was more expanded than that of native Spanish, particularly for /u/, compared to lower PSTM graduate learners, who were more native-like. These findings suggest that PSTM does play a role in second language phonology, even at advanced levels, and may help to explain why individual differences in pronunciation exist even at very high levels of second language proficiency.
Keywords: second language acquisition, phonetics/phonology, individual differences, phonological short-term memory, vowels
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1Spanish and English vowel systems
    • 2.2L2 acquisition of Spanish vowels
    • 2.3Phonological short-term memory and L2 pronunciation
  • 3.This study
  • 4.Method
    • 4.1Participants
    • 4.2Tasks
      • 4.2.1Measure of PSTM
      • 4.2.2Production task
      • 4.2.3Other tasks
    • 4.3Vowel analysis
    • 4.4Statistical analysis
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1Vowel /a/
    • 5.2Vowel /e/
    • 5.3Vowel /i/
    • 5.4Vowel /o/
    • 5.5Vowel /u/
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 25 March 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/resla.20003.zah
References (51)
References
Acheson, D. J., Hamidi, M., Binder, J. R., & Postle, B. R. (2011). A common neural substrate for language production and verbal working memory. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 23 1, 1358–1367. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Adank, P., Smits, R., & van Hout, R. (2004). A comparison of vowel normalization procedures for language variation research. Journal of the Acoustic Society of America, 116 1, 3099–107. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Aliaga-García, C., Mora, J. C., & Cerviño-Povedano, E. (2011). L2 speech learning in adulthood and phonological short-term memory. Poznán Studies in Contemporary Linguistics, 47 1, 1–14. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baddeley, A. D. (1986). Oxford psychology series, No. 11. Working memory. New York, NY: Clarendon Press/Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. (1974). Working memory. In G. A. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation, Vol. 8, (pp. 47–89). New York: Academic Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bradley, T. G. (2006). Phonetic realizations of /sr/ clusters in Latin American Spanish. In M. Díaz-Campos (Ed.), Selected proceedings of the 2nd conference on laboratory approaches to Spanish phonetics and phonology (pp. 1–13). Somerville: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Boersma, P., & Weenink, D. (2019). Praat: doing phonetics by computer [Computer program]. Version 6.1.01, retrieved 14 August 2019 from [URL]
Bradlow, A. R. (1995). A comparative acoustic study of English and Spanish vowels. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 9 1, 1916–1924. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cerviño-Povedano, E., & Mora, J. C. (2011). Investigating Catalan learners of English over-reliance on duration: vowel cue weighting and phonological short-term memory. In K. Dziubalska-Kolaczyk, M. Wrenbel, & M. Kul (Eds.), Achievements and perspectives in SLA of speech: New Sounds 2010. Volume 1 (pp. 56–64). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
(2015). Spanish EFL learners’ categorization of /i:-I/ and phonological short-term memory. Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences, 173 1, 18–23. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cheng, A., Faytak, M., & Cychosz, M. (2016). Language, race, and vowel space: Contemporary Californian English. In E. Clem, V. Dawson, A. Shen, A. H. Skilton, G. Bacon, A. Cheng & E. H. Maier (Eds.), Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society (pp. 62–78). Berkeley: Berkeley Linguistics Society.Google Scholar
Cobb, K., & Simonet, M. (2015). Adult second language learning of Spanish vowels. Hispania, 98 1, 47–60. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Delattre, P. (1969). An acoustic and articulatory study of vowel reduction in four languages. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 7 1, 295–325. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Díaz-Campos, M. (2008). Variable production of the trill in spontaneous speech: Sociolinguistic implications. In L. Colantoni & J. Steele (Eds.), Selected Proceedings of the 3rd Conference on Laboratory Approaches to Spanish Phonology (pp. 47–58). Somerville: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Duffield, N., & White, L. (1999). Assessing L2 knowledge of Spanish clitic placement: Converging methodologies. Second Language Research, 15 1, 133–160. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Flege, J., & Bohn, O. S. (1989). An instrumental study of vowel reduction and stress placement in Spanish-accented English. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 11 1, 35–62. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Geeslin, K., Linford, B., & Fafulas, S. (2015). Variable subject expression in second language Spanish: Uncovering the developmental sequence and predictive linguistic factors. In A. M. Carvalho, R. Orozco, & N. L. Shin (Eds.), Subject Pronoun Expression in Spanish: A Cross-dialectal perspective. Washington: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Geeslin, K., Linford, B., Fafulas, S., Long, A., & Díaz-Campos, M. (2013). The group vs. the individual: Subject expression in L2 Spanish. In J. Aaron, J. C. Cabrelli Amaro, G. Lord, & A. de Prada Pérez (Eds.), Selected Proceedings of the 16th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 156–174). Somerville: Cascadilla Proceedings.Google Scholar
Henriksen, N., & E. W. Willis. (2010). Acoustic characterization of phonemic trill production in Jerezano Andalusian Spanish. In M. Ortega-Llebaria (Ed.), Selected proceedings of the fourth conference on laboratory approaches to Spanish phonology (pp. 115–127). Somerville: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Hickok, G., Buchsbaum, B., Humphries, C., & Muftuler, T. (2003). Auditory-motor interaction revealed by fMRI: speech, music, and working memory in area Spt. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 15 1, 673–682. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hu, X., Ackermann, H., Martin, J. A., Erb, M., Winkler, S., & Reiterer, S. M. (2013). Language aptitude for pronunciation in advanced second language (L2) learners: behavioral predictors and neural substrates. Brain and Language, 127 1, 366–376. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hualde, J. I. (2005). The sounds of Spanish. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Inceoglu, S. (2019). L2 French vowel production: The relationship with speech perception and phonological memory. In J. Levis, C. Nagle, & E. F. Todey (Eds.), Proceedings of the 10th Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching Conference (pp. 147–157). Ames: Iowa State University.Google Scholar
Izura, C., Cuetos, F., & Brysbaert, M. (2014). Lextale-Esp: A test to rapidly and efficiently assess the Spanish vocabulary size. Psicologica, 35 1, 49–66.Google Scholar
Kissling, E. M. (2014). What predicts the effectiveness of foreign-language pronunciation instruction? Investigating the role of perception and other individual differences. Canadian Modern Language Review, 70 1, 532–558. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kondo, A. (2012). Phonological memory and L2 pronunciation skills. In A. Stewart & N. Sonda (Eds.), JALT 2011 Conference Proceedings. Tokyo: JALT.Google Scholar
Kormos, J. & Safar, A. (2008). Phonological short-term memory, working memory and foreign language performance in intensive language learning. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 11 1, 261–271. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Labov, W., Ash, S., & Boberg, C. (2006). The atlas of North American English: Phonetics, phonology and sound change. New York: De Gruyter Mouton.Google Scholar
Ladefoged, P. (2006). A Course in Phonetics. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth.Google Scholar
Linford, B. (2016). The second-language development of dialect-specific morphosyntactic variation in Spanish during study abroad (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Indiana University, Bloomington.
Long, A. Y., Solon, M., & Bongiovanni, S. (2018). Context of learning of second language development of Spanish vowels. Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 11 1, 59–87. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Masoura, E. V., & Gathercole, S. E. (2005). Contrasting contributions of phonological short-term memory and long-term knowledge to vocabulary learning in a foreign language. Memory, 13 1, 422–429. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mathôt, S., Schreij, D., & Theeuwes, J. (2012). OpenSesame: An open-source, graphical experiment builder for the social sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 44 1, 314–324. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Menke, M. R. & Face, T. L. (2010). Second language Spanish vowel production: An acoustic analysis. Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 3 1, 181–214. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Moorman, C. M. (2017). Individual differences and linguistic factors in the development of mid vowels in L2 Spanish learners: A longitudinal study (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Georgetown University, Washington DC.
Mora, J. C. & Darcy, I. (2017). The relationship between cognitive control and pronunciation in a second language. In T. Isaacs & P. Trofimovich (Eds.), Second language pronunciation assessment: Interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 95–120). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Nagle, C. (2013). A reexamination of ultimate attainment in L2 phonology: Length of immersion, motivation, and phonological short-term memory. In E. Voss, S.-J. D. Tai, & Z. Li. (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 2011 Second Language Research Forum: Converging theory and practice (pp. 148–161). Somerville: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Nearey, T. M. (1977). Phonetic feature systems for vowels (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Alberta, Alberta, CA. Reprinted 1978 by the Indiana University Linguistics Club.
Reeder, J. T. (1998). English speakers’ acquisition of voiceless stops and trills in L2 Spanish. Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education, 3 1, 101–108.Google Scholar
Reiterer, S. M., Hu, X., Erb, M., Rota, G., Nardo, D., Grodd, W., Winkler, S., & Ackermann, H. (2011). Individual differences in audio-vocal speech imitation aptitude in late bilinguals: functional neuro-imaging and brain morphology. Frontiers in Psychology, 2 1, 271. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rose, M. (2010). Intervocalic tap and trill production in the acquisition of Spanish as a second language. Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 3 1, 379–419. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Skrzypek, A., & Singleton, D. (2013). Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 10 1, 105–129.Google Scholar
Slevc, L. R., & Miyake, A. (2006). Individual differences in second-language proficiency: Does musical ability matter? Psychological Science, 17 1, 675–681. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Solon, M., Long, A., & Gurzynski-Weiss, L. (2017). Task complexity, language-related episodes, and production of L2 Spanish vowels. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 39 1, 347–380. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Speciale, G., Ellis, N. C., & Bywater, T. (2004). Phonological sequence learning and short-term store capacity determine second language vocabulary acquisition. Applied Psycholinguistics, 25 1, 293–321. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Syrdal, A. K., & Gopal, H. S. (1986). A perceptual model of vowel recognition based on the auditory representation of American English vowels. Journal of the Acoustic Society of America, 79 1, 1086–1100. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Thomas, E. R. & Tyler, K. (2007). NORM: The vowel normalization and plotting suite. [Online resource: [URL]].
Tsuchihira, T. (2007). L2 working memory capacity and L2 listening test scores of Japanese junior college students. Journal of Bunkyo Gakuin University, Department of Foreign Languages and Bunkyo Gokuin College, 7 1, 159–175.Google Scholar
Venkatagiri, H. S. & Levis, J. M. (2007). Phonological awareness and speech comprehensibility: An exploratory study. Language Awareness, 16 1, 263–277. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Willis, E. W. (2005). An initial examination of southwest Spanish vowels. Southwest Journal of Linguistics, 24 1, 185–198.Google Scholar
(2007). An acoustic study of the “pre-aspirated trill” in narrative Cibaeño Dominican Spanish. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 37 1, 33–49. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Yu, Jing
2024. 2024 International Conference on Integrated Circuits and Communication Systems (ICICACS), ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Zahler, Sara L. & Danielle Daidone
2023. Chapter 9. Individual differences do not affect trill variation by advanced learners of Spanish. In Innovative Approaches to Research in Hispanic Linguistics [Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 38], ► pp. 196 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 5 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.