L2 studies demonstrate that learners differ in their speech perception patterns. Recent explanations attribute this variation to the different initial stages with which learners start their L2 development. Spanish listeners' categorization of Standard Southern British English and American English vowels is compared. The results show that, on the basis of steady-state F1 and F2 values, listeners...

This study explores how Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) can be used as a method to examine the lexical development of second language (L2) speakers. This year long longitudinal study with six English learners demonstrates that semantic similarity (using LSA) between utterances significantly increases as the L2 learners study English. The findings demonstrate that L2 learners begin to develop tig...

We investigated the perception of developmental changes in timing patterns that happen in the course of second language (L2) acquisition, provided that the native and the target languages of the learner are rhythmically similar (German and English). It was found that speech rhythm in L2 English produced by German learners becomes increasingly stress-timed as acquisition progresses. This develop...

Galectins are a family of beta-galactoside-binding lectins that on synthesis are either translocated into the nucleus or released to the extracellular space. Their developmentally regulated expression, extracellular location, and affinity for extracellular components (such as laminin and fibronectin) suggest a role in embryonic development, but so far this has not been unequivocally established...

This study investigates relations between second language (L2) lexical input and output in terms of word information properties (i.e., lexical salience; Ellis, 2006a). The data for this study come from a longitudinal corpus of naturalistic spoken data between L2 learners and first language (L1) interlocutors collected over a year’s time. The corpus was analyzed using word information properties...

Copyright 2009 by Helen Meng Abstract. We describe ongoing research in the development of speech technologies that strives to raise the efficacy of computer-aided pronunciation training, especially for Chinese learners of English. Our approach is grounded on the theory of language transfer and involves a systematic phonological comparison between the primary language (L1 being Chinese) and seco...

The present study focuses on the discrepancy between receptive and expressive language competence among bilingual children and tests possible explanatory factors of this gap. The sample consisted of 406 bilingual children with German as their second language (L2) and 46 different first languages. Receptive and expressive German language competence (L2) were measured with a standardized language...