ERIC Number: EJ928523
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Mar
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0023-8333
EISSN: N/A
Negative Transfer from Spanish and English to Portuguese Pronunciation: The Roles of Inhibition and Working Memory
Trude, Alison M.; Tokowicz, Natasha
Language Learning, v61 n1 p259-280 Mar 2011
We examined negative transfer from English and Spanish to Portuguese pronunciation. Participants were native English speakers, some of whom spoke Spanish. Participants completed a computer-based Portuguese pronunciation tutorial and then pronounced trained letter-to-sound correspondences in unfamiliar Portuguese words; some shared orthographic form with their translation in Spanish or Spanish and English. Spanish-speaking participants were more accurate and made more Spanish-like than English-like errors. Contrary to predictions, non-Spanish speakers made more Spanish-like than English-like errors on cognates. Participants with higher working memory were more accurate and made more Spanish-sounding errors on cognates. The results suggest that the first language is inhibited during second-language production and that higher working memory is associated with an improved ability to inhibit the first language.
Descriptors: Transfer of Training, Short Term Memory, Second Language Learning, Portuguese, English, Spanish, Pronunciation, Native Speakers, Phoneme Grapheme Correspondence, Error Analysis (Language), Correlation, Error Patterns, Role, Inhibition, Computer Assisted Instruction, Second Language Instruction
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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