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From Utterances to Speech Acts

By Mikhail Kissine

"Kissine offers a new theory of speech acts which is philosophically sophisticated and builds on work in cognitive science, formal semantics, and linguistic typology. This highly readable, brilliant essay is a major contribution to the field."

--François Recanati, Institut Jean-Nicod

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Academic Paper

Title:	Vocabulary size matters: The assimilation of second-language Australian English vowels to first-language Japanese vowel categories
Author:	Rikke L. Bundgaard-Nielsen
Email:	click here to access email
Institution:	University of Western Sydney
Author:	Catherine T. Best
Institution:	University of Western Sydney
Author:	Michael D. Tyler
Institution:	University of Western Sydney
Linguistic Field:	Applied Linguistics; Psycholinguistics
Subject Language:	English Japanese
Abstract:	Adult second-language (L2) learners’ perception of L2 phonetic segments is influenced by first-language phonological and phonetic properties. It was recently proposed that L2 vocabulary size in adult learners is related to changes in L2 perception (perceptual assimilation model), analogous to the emergence of first-language phonological function (i.e., attunement to the phonological identity of words) associated with the “vocabulary explosion” at 18 months. In a preliminary investigation of the relationship between L2 perception and vocabulary size, Japanese learners of Australian English identified Australian English vowels, provided goodness of fit ratings, and completed a vocabulary size questionnaire. We adopted a “whole-system” approach, allowing learners to apply all native vowel system possibilities to the full L2 vowel system. Learners with a larger L2 vocabulary were more consistent in their vowel assimilation patterns, compatible with the L2 perceptual assimilation model.

	This article appears in Applied Psycholinguistics Vol. 32, Issue 1, which you can read on Cambridge's site or on LINGUIST .

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