The acquisition of the interdental fricative in the Spanish of study-abroad students in Seville, Spain
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Abstract
Using a variationist approach, this study explores the acquisition of a sociophonological phenomenon, the interdental fricative [θ] by L2 learners of Spanish in a study-abroad context in Seville, Spain. Recent research by Moyer (2013) and Jiang and Dewaele (2015) reinforce the belief that studies on L2 acquisition and phonological development should incorporate individual differences, such as the ‘ideal L2 self’ (as operationalized Dörnyei, 2010), into sociolinguistic research. In the attempt to fill the gap existing in the literature investigating how Spanish learners acquire regional sociophonological variables, this study examines the frequency with which L2 learners of Spanish produce the interdental fricative [θ], if they follow native speakers’ tendencies of ceceo and distinction, and the linguistic and extralinguistic variables that may condition their production of the interdental fricative. The results of the statistical analysis indicate that participant, orthographic representation, interview, and stress were are significant variables in conditioning the production of the interndental fricative in this case study. Of the six participants, only two produced the interdental fricative indicating that the interdental fricative is a dialectal feature that is slow to acquire and that is highly variable among learners.
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