The present study investigates some factors affecting the acquisition of second language (L2) phonology by learners with considerable exposure to the target language in an L2 context. More specifically, the purpose of the study is two-fold: (a) to investigate the extent to which participants resort to phonological processes resulting from the transfer of L1 sound-spelling correspondence into the L2 when pronouncing English word-final consonants; and (b) to examine the relationship between rate of transfer and learner profile factors, namely proficiency level, length of residence in the L2 country, age of arrival in the L2 country, education, chronological age, use of English with native speakers, attendance in EFL courses, and formal education. The investigation involved 31 Brazilian speakers living in the United States with diverse profiles. Data were collected using a questionnaire to elicit the participants' profiles, a sentence-reading test (pronunciation measure), and an oral picture-description test (L2 proficiency measure). The results indicate that even in an L2 context, the transfer of L1 sound-spelling correspondence to the production of L2 word-final consonants is frequent. The findings also reveal that extensive exposure to rich L2 input leads to the development of proficiency and improves production of L2 word-final consonants.

No presente estudo foi investigada a relação percepção-produção na aquisição de encontros consonantais iniciados em /s/, em início de palavra, na interlíngua de brasileiros aprendendo inglês como língua estrangeira. Além da interface percepção-produção, foram analisados outros fatores que podem vir a influenciar os dois processos, e.g., percepção deficiente, interferência da língua materna ou uma combinação desses e outros fatores. Os resultados validam parcialmente outros estudos que propõem a influência da percepção sobre a produção. Constatou-se também a supremacia da influência da língua materna em detrimento de fatores como Marcação e Estrutura Silábica Canônica Universal. A estratégia de simplificação silábica usada por todos os sujeitos foi a inserção de uma vogal diante de todos os tipos de encontros consonantais testados. Houve uma certa variação na qualidade da vogal proclítica (/i/ e /I/), sugerindo que os sujeitos que utilizaram a vogal curta podem estar desenvolvendo uma categoria distinta para o padrão silábico testado.The present study investigated the relationship between perception and production in the acquisition of word-initial /s/ clusters in the interlanguage of Brazilians learning English as a foreign language. In addition to the interface between perception and production, other factors that might influence both mental processes, e.g., faulty perception, L1 interference, or a combination of these factors, were taken into account. The results partially support studies which propose that perception influences production. There was also support for the power of L1 interference over Markedness and Universal Canonical Syllable Structure. Epenthesis was the strategy of syllable simplification present in all cluster types. Some subjects, though, resorted to a short epenthetic vowel (/I/), thus indicating that they might be developing a separate category for initial /s/ clusters. 1 I would like to thank Professor Barbara O. Baptista and the two anonymous reviewers for the comments and suggestions. 2 IntroductionIn his review of current trends in interlanguage phonology, Major (1994) observes that research in the area has moved from a single focus on transfer and contrastive analysis, to studies involving markedness, universal development factors and non-linear phonology. Among the issues that have been investigated in the area of interlanguage phonology, one that has been considerably studied is the second language (L2) learners' production of syllabic patterns absent from their first language (L1) inventory. (Silva Filho, 1998; Rebello, 1997;Fernandes, 1997;Abrahamsson, 1997;Carlisle, , 1992Carlisle, , 1994Carlisle, , 1998Eckman & Iverson, 1994;Abrahamsson, 1997; Koerich, forthcoming).Research has indicated that the two most important strategies of syllable simplification found in L2 renditions of illicit syllabic patterns are consonant deletion and vowel epenthesis. The latter is subdivided into prothesis-inserting a vowel before the / / segment (e.g., Brazilian learners may pronounce "sky" a...

This study investigated the intelligibility of English verbs in the simple past inserted in sentences. The verbs were produced by two adult native speakers of English and six adult nonnative speakers, and they were transcribedby 13 adult Brazilian listeners. Results indicated that the intelligibility rate of regular verbs was similar to the irregular ones, and that the intelligibility of verbs produced by BP talkers was similar to the Spanish talkers. The intelligibility rate of German talkers, on the other hand, was lower than the intelligibility of BP and Spanish talkers but higher than the intelligibility of verbs produced by native speakers.

The present study discusses how a group of experienced raters use different types of scales to assess the development of oral proficiency in English as a second language (L2). Raters assigned rates to speech samples first using a holistic scale (CEFR, 2018) and then assigning rates for pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and fluency performance using individual scales. The speech samples were recorded by five Brazilians. There were two data collection sessions, with the second one occurring 7-8 months after the first one. The results indicate high levels of agreement among raters for all scales. Furthermore, the raters detected changes in speakers’ performance in four out of five scales: L2 oral proficiency, vocabulary, grammar, and fluency, and these differences in rates across time were significant for oral proficiency, vocabulary, and fluency. Thus, the different types of scale allow detecting L2 oral proficiency development.

No abstract