Exploring the Role of Stay Abroad and Spanish Learners’ Difficulties in the Pronunciation of English Vowels: the Case of /æ/ and /ʌ/.

Abstract

[eng] The field of production and perception in phonological acquisition has been studied throughout the years with different models, such as the Speech Learning Model (SLM) and the Perceptual Assimilation Model of Second Language Speech Learning (PAM-L2); the most common ones. Therefore, and being the English language currently one of the main important languages of the world, the present paper aims at expanding research in the field of stay abroad as a way for second language (L2) learners of English to acquire a better pronunciation. Furthermore, this should be especially beneficial for students in Spain, since the education system of the country does not fit into what is considered a good level of pronunciation. In order to demonstrate how Spanish students are conditioned by this inaccuracy in oral production, the study will focus on two groups of participants: 5 Spanish speakers who learnt a basic level of English and other 5 Spanish speakers who spent a certain period of time studying abroad in an English-speaking country. These participants will be tested on the production of two of the most problematic English vowels for these learners: /æ/ and /ʌ/. In addition, the contrast between the words provided being presented in isolation or in a sentence will also be tested to study how this condition works. Overall, the expected results, which were analyzed by native judges, are confirmed, concluding that staying abroad is favorable for L2 learners and that when they are focused on a particular word, their pronunciation improves.