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Transfer into L3 English : Global accent in German-dominant heritage speakers of Turkish

Lloyd-Smith, Anika ; Gyllstad, Henrik LU and Kupisch, Tanja LU (2017) In Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 7(2). p.131-162
Abstract

This study is concerned with L3 acquisition in heritage speakers (HSs). The goals are to incorporate HSs into L3 acquisition research and investigate the role of language dominance for predicting L3 transfer. We analyze global accent in German-Turkish early bilinguals, HSs of Turkish, who acquired English as their L3. Twenty native-speaker judges determined accent strength and accent source in the speech of 18 bilinguals as well as 15 controls (L1 English, L1 German, L1 Turkish) when speaking English. Results show, firstly, that bilinguals are perceived as less accented than L1 Turkish speakers and similar to L1 German speakers. Secondly, unlike L1 controls, there is no uniform accent source for HSs when speaking their L3. Our results... (More)

This study is concerned with L3 acquisition in heritage speakers (HSs). The goals are to incorporate HSs into L3 acquisition research and investigate the role of language dominance for predicting L3 transfer. We analyze global accent in German-Turkish early bilinguals, HSs of Turkish, who acquired English as their L3. Twenty native-speaker judges determined accent strength and accent source in the speech of 18 bilinguals as well as 15 controls (L1 English, L1 German, L1 Turkish) when speaking English. Results show, firstly, that bilinguals are perceived as less accented than L1 Turkish speakers and similar to L1 German speakers. Secondly, unlike L1 controls, there is no uniform accent source for HSs when speaking their L3. Our results question the role of age of acquisition, while being generally consistent with the TPM. However, HSs seem to benefit from bilingual experience and structure-based transfer can be overpowered by high proficiency.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Global accent, Heritage speakers, L3 acquisition
in
Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism
volume
7
issue
2
pages
32 pages
publisher
John Benjamins Publishing Company
external identifiers
  • scopus:85017346192
  • wos:000406040000001
ISSN
1879-9264
DOI
10.1075/lab.15013.llo
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
8c84299f-27b4-431c-bd9d-3bbf129ca2f1 (old id 7869686)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:15:57
date last changed
2022-04-27 20:16:57
@article{8c84299f-27b4-431c-bd9d-3bbf129ca2f1,
  abstract     = {{<p>This study is concerned with L3 acquisition in heritage speakers (HSs). The goals are to incorporate HSs into L3 acquisition research and investigate the role of language dominance for predicting L3 transfer. We analyze global accent in German-Turkish early bilinguals, HSs of Turkish, who acquired English as their L3. Twenty native-speaker judges determined accent strength and accent source in the speech of 18 bilinguals as well as 15 controls (L1 English, L1 German, L1 Turkish) when speaking English. Results show, firstly, that bilinguals are perceived as less accented than L1 Turkish speakers and similar to L1 German speakers. Secondly, unlike L1 controls, there is no uniform accent source for HSs when speaking their L3. Our results question the role of age of acquisition, while being generally consistent with the TPM. However, HSs seem to benefit from bilingual experience and structure-based transfer can be overpowered by high proficiency.</p>}},
  author       = {{Lloyd-Smith, Anika and Gyllstad, Henrik and Kupisch, Tanja}},
  issn         = {{1879-9264}},
  keywords     = {{Global accent; Heritage speakers; L3 acquisition}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{131--162}},
  publisher    = {{John Benjamins Publishing Company}},
  series       = {{Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism}},
  title        = {{Transfer into L3 English : Global accent in German-dominant heritage speakers of Turkish}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/lab.15013.llo}},
  doi          = {{10.1075/lab.15013.llo}},
  volume       = {{7}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}