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Phonological influence in bilectal speakers of Brazilian and European Portuguese

Kupisch, Tanja LU ; Castro, Tammer ; Krämer, Martin and Westergaard, Marit (2023) In International Journal of Bilingualism 28(3). p.406-423
Abstract
Aims and objectives:
This article investigates naturalistic acquisition of a second dialect (D2), comparing the global accent of speakers of Brazilian Portuguese (BP) exposed to European Portuguese (EP), either as children or as adults (early vs late bilectals). The focus is on the predicted advantage of an early age of onset of the D2, as well as possible crosslinguistic influence from the D2 onto the first dialect (D1).
Design and methodology:
The study is an Accent Rating Task, where 50 raters judged the global accent of 30 BP speakers living in Portugal (15 early + 15 late bilectals), who were recorded in both BP and EP modes. Using a 6-point Likert-type scale, the raters judged whether the speakers sounded Brazilian or... (More)
Aims and objectives:
This article investigates naturalistic acquisition of a second dialect (D2), comparing the global accent of speakers of Brazilian Portuguese (BP) exposed to European Portuguese (EP), either as children or as adults (early vs late bilectals). The focus is on the predicted advantage of an early age of onset of the D2, as well as possible crosslinguistic influence from the D2 onto the first dialect (D1).
Design and methodology:
The study is an Accent Rating Task, where 50 raters judged the global accent of 30 BP speakers living in Portugal (15 early + 15 late bilectals), who were recorded in both BP and EP modes. Using a 6-point Likert-type scale, the raters judged whether the speakers sounded Brazilian or Portuguese and also indicated how certain they were about their judgment.
Data and analysis:
The data consisted of two 10-second audio snippets from each speaker, one in BP and the other in EP mode (altogether 60 items). In addition, there were 10 control items produced by native BP and EP speakers. Several mixed-effects models compared the target groups to each other and to the monolectal controls.
Findings and conclusions:
Both the early and late bilectals were rated as Brazilian in BP mode, but the degree of rater certainty was significantly lower for early than for late bilectals, which was again lower than for BP monolectals. In EP mode, early bilectals were perceived as Portuguese (though the raters were less certain than when rating EP monolectals), while late bilectals were judged as Brazilian.
Originality:
The study adds to the novel but increasing body of research on speakers of two closely related varieties.
Significance and implications:
This research illustrates that bilectalism displays a number of similarities with bilingualism, specifically that there may be significant effects of age of onset of the D2. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Foreign accent, Portuguese, dialects, early bilingualism, age of onset
in
International Journal of Bilingualism
volume
28
issue
3
pages
18 pages
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • scopus:85150921369
ISSN
1367-0069
DOI
10.1177/13670069231156341
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
51b2ef9e-9b11-41bb-bd32-8d5b1664c56d
date added to LUP
2024-10-25 15:19:29
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:03:41
@article{51b2ef9e-9b11-41bb-bd32-8d5b1664c56d,
  abstract     = {{Aims and objectives:<br/>This article investigates naturalistic acquisition of a second dialect (D2), comparing the global accent of speakers of Brazilian Portuguese (BP) exposed to European Portuguese (EP), either as children or as adults (early vs late bilectals). The focus is on the predicted advantage of an early age of onset of the D2, as well as possible crosslinguistic influence from the D2 onto the first dialect (D1).<br/>Design and methodology:<br/>The study is an Accent Rating Task, where 50 raters judged the global accent of 30 BP speakers living in Portugal (15 early + 15 late bilectals), who were recorded in both BP and EP modes. Using a 6-point Likert-type scale, the raters judged whether the speakers sounded Brazilian or Portuguese and also indicated how certain they were about their judgment.<br/>Data and analysis:<br/>The data consisted of two 10-second audio snippets from each speaker, one in BP and the other in EP mode (altogether 60 items). In addition, there were 10 control items produced by native BP and EP speakers. Several mixed-effects models compared the target groups to each other and to the monolectal controls.<br/>Findings and conclusions:<br/>Both the early and late bilectals were rated as Brazilian in BP mode, but the degree of rater certainty was significantly lower for early than for late bilectals, which was again lower than for BP monolectals. In EP mode, early bilectals were perceived as Portuguese (though the raters were less certain than when rating EP monolectals), while late bilectals were judged as Brazilian.<br/>Originality:<br/>The study adds to the novel but increasing body of research on speakers of two closely related varieties.<br/>Significance and implications:<br/>This research illustrates that bilectalism displays a number of similarities with bilingualism, specifically that there may be significant effects of age of onset of the D2.}},
  author       = {{Kupisch, Tanja and Castro, Tammer and Krämer, Martin and Westergaard, Marit}},
  issn         = {{1367-0069}},
  keywords     = {{Foreign accent; Portuguese; dialects; early bilingualism; age of onset}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{406--423}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Bilingualism}},
  title        = {{Phonological influence in bilectal speakers of Brazilian and European Portuguese}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/13670069231156341}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/13670069231156341}},
  volume       = {{28}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}