Second Language Speech Perception and Production ― Acquisition of Phonological Contrasts in Japanese

Toda (Japanese applied linguistics, Waseda U., Tokyo) examines the acquisition of phonological durational contrasts in Japanese, using acoustic techniques to investigate the mechanisms of English-speaking learners' speech perception and production. She finds that several processes other than negative transfer operate in the formation of English-Japanese interlanguage phonology, among them positive transfer, overexaggeration, phonetic approximation, and implementation strategies. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Takako Toda is Associate Professor, Graduate School of Japanese Applied Linguistics, Waseda University.