The Interplay between Language Proficiency and Phonological Development: A Study on English Codas Produced by Brazilian Learners

Abstract

The present study investigated the correlation between second-language (L2) proficiency and phonological development within a longitudinal frame. Five Brazilian learners of English participated in two data collection sessions with a seven-month interval. Participants completed a paragraph reading task containing several instances of two nasals and a rhotic coda in word-final position, namely, /m n ɹ/. Proficiency was measured via experienced English teachers’ ratings of an image description task. Results revealed cross-linguistic influences on coda production with vowel nasalization and deletion of the nasal codas, as well as frication and deletion of the rhotic coda. /ɹ/ was the segment that displayed considerable improvement over time. Statistical analyses unveiled a strong, significant relationship between proficiency and accuracy scores, but this relationship was not significant in the final data collection. The development of the phonological categories at issue seems to have occurred independently of participants’ oral proficiency.

Keywords

• Phonological development
• Consonant codas