Category Archives: Dialect acquisition

Article – Manchester/Polish STRUT

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An article by Rob Drummond is now available in The Journal of English Linguistics. 

Drummond, Rob. 2012. The Manchester Polish STRUT: Dialect Acquisition in a Second Language. Journal of English Linguistics. Prepublished September 13, 2012.

http://eng.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/06/22/0075424212449172.abstract

This study investigates the acquisition of a local variant of the STRUT vowel in the speech of Polish migrants living in Manchester, United Kingdom. While the local accent has no distinction between STRUT and FOOT, the incoming Polish speakers arrive using something close to the standard pedagogical model of British English pronunciation, which clearly separates the two. Measuring the change in production toward the local variant along with corresponding social factors suggests that, in addition to the experiential factors of length of residence and having a native-speaker partner, attitude toward Manchester also affects the degree of vowel change, with a more positive attitude encouraging a greater degree of acquisition. The results are discussed in the context of individuals’ attitudes and use of the STRUT vowel as part of the process by which they position themselves in relation to the target community.

New article on L2 sociolinguistic variation

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MMU Lecturer Dr Rob Drummond has just had an article published in the latest issue of English World-wide – ‘Glottal variation in /t/ in non-native English speech: pattern of acquisition’. 32 (3): 280-308.

Journal access here

Abstract

This paper explores the linguistic and social factors behind the acquisition of glottal variation in English /t/ by native Polish speakers living in Manchester, UK. It investigates the speech of 40 Polish adults of varying levels of English language proficiency, who have been in Manchester for varying lengths of time, in order to establish what might be encouraging or prohibiting the acquisition of this widespread linguistic feature. Using quantitative sociolinguistic methods, factors such as level of English, length of residence, age, gender, motivation and attitude are considered in accounting for the variation in acquisition. Findings suggest that in addition to level of English and length of residence effects there is a fairly robust gender difference, with women tending to use glottal variants more frequently than men. This gender difference is explored in more detail with reference to a gender as practice type approach.

 

Invited talk – Usage based linguistics and SLA

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Dr Rob Drummond (MMU Lecturer) has been invited to give a talk at the ESRC Centre for Research on Bilingualism in Theory & Practice at Bangor University on 21st Feb. His talk is entitled ‘Explaining variation in the acquisition of a local vowel variant in bilingual Polish/English speakers living in Manchester’ and looks at the acquisition of the local STRUT variant from a usage-based perspective. Abstract available here.

Invited talk – Dialect acquisition in a second language

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Dr Rob Drummond (MMU Lecturer) has been invited to give a talk for the Language in Context Research Group at The University of Edinburgh on 16th Feb. His talk is entitled ‘Dialect acquisition in a second language – a usage-based explanation of vowel variation’ and looks at the variation in the pronunciation of the STRUT vowel by native Polish speakers living in Manchester.