Cultural Identification and Second Language Pronunciation of Americans in Norway.

• Autores: Karen Lybeck
• Localización: Modern language journal, ISSN 0026-7902, Vol. 86, Nº 2, 2002, págs. 174-191
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Schumann’s Acculturation Theory as presented in The Pidginization Process: A Model for Second Language Acquisition (1978) predicts that the degree of a learner’s success in second language (L2) acquisition depends upon the learner’s degree of acculturation. Attempts to test this theory have not been particularly fruitful due to the lack of an adequate measure of acculturation and the particular linguistic markers selected to measure success in L2 acquisition. This study proposes to measure sojourners’ acculturation in terms of their social exchange networks (Milroy & Wei, 1995). It measures L2 success in terms of pronunciation, which in the view of many scholars (Guiora, Beit–Hallahmi, Brannon, Dull, & Scovel, 1972; Labov, 1972; Scovel, 1988) is the strongest linguistic marker of a speaker’s cultural identification. Using this framework, the current study provides strong evidence in support of Schumann’s Acculturation Theory. The acculturation experiences and L2 pronunciation of 9 American women residing in Norway are described and the relationship examined. It is concluded that learners who developed positive network connections with native speakers of Norwegian evidenced more native–like pronunciation than those who had greater difficulty establishing such relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]