Allophone acquisition: exploring the phonological system and the nature of representations
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2010
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Abstract
The core premise of this dissertation is that the phonological system operates across detailed, rich representations, formed by tracking of distributional information in the input. This proposal is explored in a series of perception and production experiments with adult Ll English/L2 Spanish and Ll Spanish-learning children acquiring the Spanish stop-approximant alternation. Allophonic acquisition provides an ideal testing ground for theories regarding the nature of the phonological system and phonological acquisition. Traditionally, allophones are characterized as resulting from categorical rules, which learners implement in their grammar through constraint interaction. In the studies that compose this dissertation, it is argued instead that learners track and store information about the phonological environment for each allophone. The emergent rich representations result from learners' experience with the input. However, a further premise of this dissertation is that not all information will necessarily be available at all stages of learning and under all conditions (see Werker & Curtin, 2005). In the case ofL2 learners, this will be largely a function of the native language filter while for children learning their first language it will be a function of natural biases and the acquisition of a lexicon. These issues are explored within the context of Werker & Curtin's (2005) PRIMIR (Processing Rich Information from Multidimensional Interactive Representations; Curtin & Werker, 2007; Curtin, Byers-Heinlein & Werker, under review) framework that accounts for early language development. PRIMIR is grounded in the assertions that a) representations are exemplar-like in nature and b) the phonological system is sensitive to distributional information in the input. Interacting with these rich representations and distribution-based learning mechanisms are three dynamic filters that direct information pick-up: natural biases, task effects and developmental level. In this dissertation, I further elaborate the framework by adding the L 1 filter effect for L2 learners. The results from the three studies presented here suggest that learners store detailed phonetic information in their representations and experience interacts with their ability to draw upon this information in perception and production tasks. These results lend support to PRIMIR and in general to approaches which view phonological acquisition as sensitive to representations and learners' experience with the input.
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Bibliography: p. 172-193
Includes copies of ethics approval. Original copies with original Partial Copyright Licence form.
Includes copies of ethics approval. Original copies with original Partial Copyright Licence form.
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Citation
Shea, C. E. (2010). Allophone acquisition: exploring the phonological system and the nature of representations (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/3843