A Comparison of Early and Late Second-Language Learners of English through Their Production of /i/ and /ɪ/

Abstract

[eng] The difference between the second language pronunciation of early learners and late learners has been emphasized over the last decades as a considerable number of studies have proved that the majority of individuals who start their acquisition of L2 phonology earlier in life have a better accent. Relevant theories such as the Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) or the Speech Learning Model (SLM) agree on the fact that the age of learning affects L2 pronunciation, however, their arguments are dissimilar, being the ones of the SLM generally preferred. Apart from the CPH and the SLM, the Perceptual Assimilation Model of Second Language Speech Learning (PAM-L2) has also gained importance within the field of L2 acquisition. The present study, which aims to compare the speech production of early and late learners of English and focuses on the production of /i/ and /ɪ/ by both types of beginners through a selection of words, shows that the participants who started learning English at an earlier age have clearly obtained better results, as it was hypothesized; nevertheless, it has also been found that late learners have not lost the capacity to pronounce in a native-like fashion. The findings are related to the SLM, to the PAM-L2, and to the influence of both the quantity and the quality of the phonological input the participants received.