The realization of Spanish Diphthongs by Norwegian Learners.

Abstract

Research in Spanish phonology as a foreign language has primarily concentrated on its acquisition by English L1 speakers. However, this study explores the perception of syllabification of vowel sequences (VS) in Spanish as a third language (L3) by Norwegian first- language speakers (L1). This research investigates potential Cross-Linguistic Interference (CLI) on the production of the vowel sequences in Spanish L3. Given the absence of an existing corpus for this language combination, to gather the required data, a small-scale experiment was conducted with adult participants who spoke Spanish as an L3, Spanish native speakers were also part of the experiment as the control group. The experiment involved two tasks where participants selected the syllabification option for a set of words in both Spanish and Norwegian. Using the online platform Gorilla, I aimed to reach 27 individuals from different ages (20 -70), levels of acquisition (Basic – Advanced) and backgrounds. These participants were categorised into two groups based on their L. The data was analysed in two parts, the first part consisted of general data obtained from the descriptive statistics and the second part consisted of a theoretical analysis using OT to determine the phonological processes that occurred in Spanish L3. Overall, the analyses carried out showed that (1) the level of acquisition affects the production and perception of VS. and, (2) The phonological processes found were as result of CLI from the L1, especially in rising sonority sequences. In this work, I suggest a set of constraints to analyse Spanish L3 nu Norwegian L1.