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Second language learners' vocabulary expansion is associated with improved second language vowel intelligibility

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 August 2011

RIKKE L. BUNDGAARD-NIELSEN ,
CATHERINE T. BEST ,
CHRISTIAN KROOS  and
MICHAEL D. TYLER
RIKKE L. BUNDGAARD-NIELSEN*
Affiliation:
University of Western Sydney
CATHERINE T. BEST
Affiliation:
University of Western Sydney
CHRISTIAN KROOS
Affiliation:
University of Western Sydney
MICHAEL D. TYLER
Affiliation:
University of Western Sydney
*
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE Rikke L. Bundgaard-Nielsen, MARCS Auditory Laboratories, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South DC, NSW 1797, Australia. E-mail: r.bundgaardnielsen@uws.edu.au
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Abstract

This paper tests the predictions of the vocabulary-tuning model of second language (L2) rephonologization in the domain of L2 segmental production. This model proposes a facilitating effect of adults’ L2 vocabulary expansion on L2 perception and production and suggests that early improvements in L2 segmental production may be positively associated with an expanding L2 vocabulary. The model was tested in a study of the L2 vowel intelligibility of adult Japanese learners of Australian English, who differed only in the size of their L2 vocabularies. The results support the predicted association between L2 vocabulary size and L2 vowel intelligibility and the prediction that early-phase L2 vocabulary expansion leads to improved L2 production.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 33 , Issue 3 , July 2012 , pp. 643 - 664
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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References

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