The Linguistics Department presents Dr. Sofia Fernandez discussing "Exploring the role of regional phonetic variation in second language acquisition"

Abstract: This study explores second language acquisition, sociophonetic variation, and speech perception, examining how prior linguistic experiences and exposure to regional variations influence the decoding of dialectal cues. It involves 108 English-speaking learners of Spanish, categorized by their exposure to /s/ weakening or retention in Spanish regions. This classification accounts for their linguistic backgrounds, study-abroad experiences, and teacher origins. Participants completed activities such as a language proficiency test, listening comprehension activities, an AX discrimination task, and a language background questionnaire. Data analysis using logistic mixed-effects models revealed that participants exposed to conditions where /s/ changed from reduced to retained in isolated word pairs exhibited lower identification accuracy compared to those exposed to consistent word pronunciations. Additionally, study-abroad participants in /s/-weakening environments demonstrated significant interactions. AX discrimination accuracy strongly predicted listening comprehension, underscoring the role of phonetic variant categorization in language processing. This research highlights the impact of exposure to dialectal variations on learners’ processing skills and pronunciation preferences, emphasizing the importance of recognizing linguistic diversity in language education and second language acquisition research.

Dr. Fernandez is Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese,  New York University. Fernandez is also an alumna of the MA Applied Linguistics program '19.

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