A DYNAMIC LOOK AT L2 PHONOLOGICAL LEARNING: Seeking processing explanations for implicational phenomena

This study investigated whether L2 phonological learning can be characterized as a gradual and systematically patterned replacement of non-native segments by native segments in learners’ speech, conforming to a two-stage implicational scale. The study adopted a dynamic approach to language variation based on Gatbonton’s (1978) gradual diffusion framework. Participants were 40 Québec Francophones, representing different English proficiency levels, who produced 80 tokens of English // in eight phonetic contexts. In Analysis 1, production accuracy data were subjected to implicational scaling, with phonetic contexts ordered solely by a linguistic criterion—sonority hierarchy. In Analysis 2, the production accuracy data were similarly analyzed but with phonetic context ordering determined by psycholinguistic (processing) criteria—cross-language perceptual similarity and corpus-based estimates of lexical frequency. Results supported and extended Gatbonton’s framework, indicating that L2 phonological learning progresses gradually, conforming to an implicational scale, and that perceived cross-language similarity and lexical frequency determine its course.