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Part of
Multilingual Acquisition and Learning: An ecosystemic view to diversity
Edited by Elena Babatsouli
[Studies in Bilingualism 67] 2024
► pp. 613–635

Chapter 23
Phonological transfer in oral and written production among adult L2 learners of Swedish

| Linköping University

A foreign accent is usually inevitable among adult second language (L2) learners. The speaker’s first language (L1) can often be identified based on transfer of linguistic features from L1 to L2. Misspellings in texts written by adolescents in their L2 are traced to the phonology in participants L1s and explained as transfer (Andersson, 1981). The aim of this study is to investigate whether a relationship between oral and written production (in L2) can be found among adult L2 learners of Swedish. A dictation exercise shows misspellings in texts that can be related to accented speech and phonology in the participants’ L1s. Results are of interest and relevance for didactic development in the teaching of Swedish as a second language.

Keywords: oral production, written production, foreign accent, spelling, Swedish as a second language
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Second language learning
    • 2.1Cross-language transfer: Orthographic input and pronunciation
    • 2.2Swedish phonology and the relationship between pronunciation and spelling
    • 2.3Young learners learning to write in Swedish as their first or second language
    • 2.4Swedish for Immigrants
  • 3.Method and Results
    • 3.1Materials for the study of oral production in L2 Swedish
    • 3.2Results on oral production in L2 Swedish
    • 3.3Materials for the study of written production in L2 Swedish
    • 3.4Results on the written production in L2 Swedish
  • 4.Discussion
    • 4.1Didactical implications
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 30 May 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.67.23zet
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