eprintid: 10066317
rev_number: 16
eprint_status: archive
userid: 608
dir: disk0/10/06/63/17
datestamp: 2019-01-22 12:22:51
lastmod: 2021-09-19 23:52:26
status_changed: 2019-01-22 12:22:51
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Saito, K
title: The role of aptitude in second language segmental learning:The case of Japanese learners’ English /ɹ/ pronunciation attainment in classroom settings
ispublished: pub
divisions: UCL
divisions: B16
divisions: B14
divisions: J77
keywords: Aptitude, foreign language learning, second language speech, pronunciation, English /ɹ/
note: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
abstract: Building on the extensive work conceptualizing, developing, and validating foreign language aptitude for successful second language acquisition (e.g., Skehan, 2015, in Applied Linguistics), the current project expounded the cognitive abilities relevant and instrumental to adult Japanese classroom learners’ pronunciation attainment of English /ɹ/. The speech production of 50 Japanese participants was elicited, acoustically analyzed, and linked to different aspects of their aptitude profiles (phonemic coding, associative memory, and sequence recognition). Whereas those with higher phonemic coding demonstrated better performance in a relatively easy dimension of English /ɹ/ pronunciation (lower F2 for tongue retraction), those with greater associative memory demonstrated more advanced performance in the relatively difficult dimensions of English /ɹ/ pronunciation (longer transition duration for phonemic length; lower F3 for labial/alveolar/pharyngeal constrictions). The role of incidental learning aptitude (i.e., sequence recognition) remained unclear. The findings here indicate that explicit aptitude related to phonological analysis and memory may play a key role in predicting the incidence of advanced second language segmental proficiency attainment in classroom settings.
date: 2019-01
date_type: published
publisher: Cambridge University Press
official_url: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716418000528
oa_status: green
full_text_type: other
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 1621756
doi: 10.1017/S0142716418000528
lyricists_name: Saito, Kazuya
lyricists_id: KSAIT59
actors_name: Saito, Kazuya
actors_id: KSAIT59
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: Applied Psycholinguistics
volume: 40
number: 1
pagerange: 183-204
issn: 0142-7164
citation:        Saito, K;      (2019)    The role of aptitude in second language segmental learning:The case of Japanese learners’ English /ɹ/ pronunciation attainment in classroom settings.                   Applied Psycholinguistics , 40  (1)   pp. 183-204.    10.1017/S0142716418000528 <https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716418000528>.       Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10066317/1/AP2019.pdf