Fall 2021 organized by Professor Erik Willis
October 27, 2021
Speakers: Manuel Díaz-Campos (Professor), Erik Willis (Associate Professor), and Matthew Pollock (Ph.D. candidate)
“The Perception of Coda /ɾ/ and /L/ in Dominican Spanish: Diversity, Geography, and Sociolinguistic Variation”
Abstract:
The present study contributes to knowledge of perceptual matters with an analysis of coda liquids that provides data on the sociolinguistic evaluation of Spanish speakers in the Dominican Republic of distinct regional variants. We adopt an indexical field analysis that contributes to the sociolinguistic understanding of complex social attributes of variants, going beyond traditional perspectives based on the perceived prestige of linguistic phenomena.
November 10, 2021
Speaker: Natalie Povilonis de Vilchez (Postdoctoral Research Scholar)
“Inter and Intraspeaker Variation in Articulatory Conflict Resolution: Vowel Lowering and Consonant Place Adaptation in Chanka Quechua”
Abstract:
An articulatory conflict in Quechua Chanka arises due to: Raised tongue body for /i/ and /u/, and retracted tongue for /χ/. The speaker will cover the following points: background on vowel lowering in Southern Quechua, overview of cross-linguistic resolution strategies, project description (questions, hypotheses, methodology), experiment results and the significance of those results.
Spring 2022 organized by Professor Erik Willis
January 28, 2022
Speaker: Megan DiBartolomeo (Ph.D. candidate)
“Teaching and learning pragmatics in the modern language classroom”
Abstract:
This presentation is a practice job talk for a teaching-focused position. First, I will briefly contextualize my research within the field of instructed second language acquisition. I will operationalize second language pragmatics and discuss what is investigated in this field. Next, I will outline my research agenda with a focus on my dissertation, which explores the instruction of apologies in the college-level Spanish classroom. I will then present my future research plans involving the acquisition of pragmatics during study abroad and the intersection of pragmatics and individual differences. Finally, I will discuss how I will involve undergraduate students in my research, and how I will support student-driven research.
February 25, 2022
Speaker: Megan Solon (Lecturer)
“Acquisition of sociophonetic competence: Exploring the relationship between preference and production”
Abstract:
Sociophonetic competence, a component of sociolinguistic and, thus, communicative competence (Canale & Swain, 1980; Geeslin et al., 2018), has been explored both in learner production (Geeslin & Gudmestad, 2008; Kennedy Terry, 2016; Raish, 2015) and perception, broadly conceived (Chappell & Kanwit, 2021; Schmidt, 2018). Still, little is known about the relationship between learners’ ability to account for sociophonetic variation in the input and their likelihood to produce such variation. This study explores learners’ preference for specific sociophonetic variants on an aural preference task and their patterns of production of these variants in semi-spontaneous speech.
March 25, 2022
Speaker: Gibran Delgado (Visiting Lecturer)
“Análisis sociofonético de la vibrante múltiple en el español de Puerto Rico”
Abstract:
La vibrante múltiple en el español de Puerto Rico ha sido de gran interés debido a la variante posterior (Alers-Valentín,1999; Arias Alvarez, 2018; Delgado-Díaz & Galarza, 2015, 2016; Delgado-Díaz, Galarza & Díaz-Campos, 2021; Dillard,1962; Graml, 2009; Hammond, 1987; Holmquist, 2008; López-Morales, 1983, 2003; Luna, 2010; Medina-Rivera, 1999; Navarro-Tomás, 1948; Ortiz-López, en prensa; Valentín-Márquez, 2007). Sin embargo, esta línea de investigaciones no ha descrito de forma contundente las variantes anteriores de /r/ en este dialecto. Por consiguiente, el propósito de esta investigación es analizar las realizaciones anteriores de /r/. Asimismo, el presente trabajo tiene como meta identificar una vía de cambio por la cual se reducen el número de oclusiones de la vibrante múltiple.
April 15, 2022
Speakers: Rachel Garza and Shelby Bruun (Ph.D. candidates)
“More than occlusions: Heritage and L2 perception of Spanish taps and trills”
Abstract:
This presentation compares the perception of variable productions of /r/ within L2 and heritage speakers of Spanish. The /ɾ/-/r/ contrast in Spanish has been described as being governed primarily by just one acoustic correlate: a difference in number of occlusions (Hammond 2000, Hualde, 2005). Studies show, however, that L1 and L2 speakers alike frequently produce non-canonical rhotic realizations in tap/trill contexts, particularly in spontaneous speech (e.g., Bradley, 2006; Face, 2006; Henriksen & Willis, 2010; Oslon, 2012; Melero-García, 2015). Many of these non-canonical realizations do not rely on the number of occlusions as a distinguishing acoustic cue; for example, English retroflex /ɹ/. This variation in production has perceptual implications for the listener. For example, Melero-García & Cisneros (2020) considered tap-trill perception in L2 learners and native speakers of Spanish. Both groups categorically distinguished non-canonical /r/ productions based on duration alone, though the effect was stronger in native speakers who identified segments of 50ms or less as an /ɾ/. The present studies seek to fill a gap in previous research via a replication of Melero-García & Cisneros (2020) in heritage speakers of Spanish as well as conducting an /r/ perception task in L2 learners at the advanced undergraduate level.
The College of Arts