Perception and production of English Nuclear Accent placement in Spanish L1 learners: The role of L2 aptitude, musical ability and L2 proficiency.
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Date
2026
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Universidad de Concepción
Abstract
Aunque la literatura reconoce la relevancia de los aspectos suprasegmentales en la percepción y producción del inglés como segunda lengua (L2) (Fadilla et al., 2023; Gordon & Darcy, 2018, 2022; Ladegaard & Chan, 2024; Yenkimaleki, 2019, 2021; Zhang & Yuan, 2020), la colocación del acento nuclear ha recibido una atención limitada (Landblom & Ionin, 2022; Nagle & Baese-Berk, 2022). Esta falta de investigación ha dado lugar a una comprensión incompleta de su papel en el procesamiento prosódico del inglés como L2, lo que, a su vez, limita el conocimiento del proceso de adquisición. El siguiente estudio busca acortar esta brecha teórica existente proporcionando hallazgos novedosos en esta área de investigación. El objetivo principal de este estudio fue evaluar la capacidad de aprendientes de inglés como L2, con español como primera lengua (L1), para percibir y producir la colocación del acento nuclear en inglés. Para ello, se evaluó a 53 participantes mediante tareas de percepción (escuchar e identificar) y producción del acento nuclear en una lista de enunciados, considerando contextos no marcados y marcados. Adicionalmente, se analizó el rol de la aptitud lingüística, la habilidad musical y la proficiencia en estas capacidades a través de tres pruebas estandarizadas: La Prueba de Aptitud para Lenguas Modernas (MLAT); la Prueba del Oído Musical (MET); y la prueba de clasificación de Cambridge. En general, los resultados demostraron que la aptitud lingüística fue un predictor débil, mientras que la habilidad musical, específicamente la sensibilidad al ritmo musical, pudo predecir de manera robusta la precisión en la percepción de la colocación del acento nuclear en todos los tipos de oraciones. El efecto de la sensibilidad rítmica se vio positivamente mediado por el incremento en la competencia en inglés. Este estudio profundiza la comprensión del vínculo entre percepción y producción y respalda la inclusión del entrenamiento en prosodia en la adquisición del inglés como L2.
Although the literature acknowledges the relevance of suprasegmental aspects in the perception and production of English as a second language (L2) (Fadilla et al., 2023; Gordon & Darcy, 2018, 2022; Ladegaard & Chan, 2024; Yenkimaleki, 2019, 2021; Zhang & Yuan, 2020), nuclear accent (NA) placement has received limited attention (Landblom & Ionin, 2022; Nagle & Baese-Berk, 2022). This lack of research has resulted in an incomplete understanding of its role in L2 English prosodic processing, which in turn limits insights into the acquisition process. The present study seeks to bridge this existing theoretical gap by providing novel findings in this area of research. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the capacity of L2 learners with Spanish as their first language (L1) to perceive and produce English NA placement. To do so, 53 participants were assessed through NA placement perception (listening and identification) and production tasks involving a list of utterances considering unmarked and marked contexts. Additionally, the role of language aptitude, musical ability, and L2 proficiency in these skills was analysed through three standardized tests: The Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT); the Musical Ear Test (MET), and the Cambridge placement test. Overall, the results demonstrated that language aptitude was a weak predictor, whereas musical ability, specifically sensitivity to musical rhythm, robustly predicted accuracy in the perception of NA placement across all sentence types. The effect of rhythmic sensitivity was positively mediated by increased English proficiency. This study deepens our understanding of the perception-production link and supports the inclusion of prosodic training in English L2 acquisition.
Although the literature acknowledges the relevance of suprasegmental aspects in the perception and production of English as a second language (L2) (Fadilla et al., 2023; Gordon & Darcy, 2018, 2022; Ladegaard & Chan, 2024; Yenkimaleki, 2019, 2021; Zhang & Yuan, 2020), nuclear accent (NA) placement has received limited attention (Landblom & Ionin, 2022; Nagle & Baese-Berk, 2022). This lack of research has resulted in an incomplete understanding of its role in L2 English prosodic processing, which in turn limits insights into the acquisition process. The present study seeks to bridge this existing theoretical gap by providing novel findings in this area of research. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the capacity of L2 learners with Spanish as their first language (L1) to perceive and produce English NA placement. To do so, 53 participants were assessed through NA placement perception (listening and identification) and production tasks involving a list of utterances considering unmarked and marked contexts. Additionally, the role of language aptitude, musical ability, and L2 proficiency in these skills was analysed through three standardized tests: The Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT); the Musical Ear Test (MET), and the Cambridge placement test. Overall, the results demonstrated that language aptitude was a weak predictor, whereas musical ability, specifically sensitivity to musical rhythm, robustly predicted accuracy in the perception of NA placement across all sentence types. The effect of rhythmic sensitivity was positively mediated by increased English proficiency. This study deepens our understanding of the perception-production link and supports the inclusion of prosodic training in English L2 acquisition.
Description
Tesis presentada para optar al grado de Magíster en Lingüística Aplicada.
Keywords
Accents and accentuation, Prosody, Musical ability, Proficiency