Sociolinguistic variation in a second language: the influence of local accent on the pronunciation of non-native English speakers living in Manchester A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2010 Rob Drummond School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures 2 Contents List of Figures .................................................................................................................... 5 List of tables ...................................................................................................................... 7 List of abbreviations ......................................................................................................... .9 Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………………….……….……………10 Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... 12 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................. 13 1.1 The history of Manchester ...................................................................................14 1.2 Poles in Manchester ............................................................................................ 16 2: Literature review ..................................................................................................... 22 2.1 L2 phonological acquisition - theoretical background ...................................... 22 2.1.1 The influence of the L1 ................................................................................ 22 2.1.2 The role of perception ................................................................................. 23 2.2 The study of language variation ......................................................................... 25 2.3 Variation and SLA ............................................................................................... 26 2.4 Dialect ................................................................................................................. 33 2.4.1 Perception and attitudes ............................................................................. 33 2.4.2 Dialect acquisition ....................................................................................... 38 2.4.3 Dialect acquisition in a second language ................................................... 44 2.5 Factors influencing variation .............................................................................. 50 2.5.1 Age ............................................................................................................... 50 2.5.2 Length of exposure to L2 ............................................................................. 52 2.5.3 L1 background .............................................................................................. 54 2.5.4 Amount of L1/L2 use .................................................................................... 54 2.5.5 Motivation ................................................................................................... 55 2.5.6 Aptitude and proficiency ............................................................................. 57 2.5.7 Formal instruction ....................................................................................... 58 2.5.8 Social Class ................................................................................................... 59 2.5.9 Gender .......................................................................................................... 60 2.5.10 Identity ......................................................................................................... 65 3: The linguistic features ............................................................................................ 70 3.1 STRUT ................................................................................................................. 70 3.2 Glottal variation in /t/ .......................................................................................... 72 3.3 (ing) ..................................................................................................................... 74 3 3.4 h-dropping .......................................................................................................... 77 4: Methodology ........................................................................................................... 78 4.1 Selecting the participants ................................................................................... 78 4.2 Gathering data .................................................................................................... 80 4.2.1 The conversation ......................................................................................... 80 4.2.2 The picture task ........................................................................................... 82 4.2.3 The word list ................................................................................................ 83 4.2.4 The interview ............................................................................................... 83 4.2.5 The questionnaire ........................................................................................ 84 4.2.6 The Matched Guise Test .............................................................................. 85 4.2.7 Summary of data collection methods ......................................................... 86 4.3 Identifying and coding the linguistic variables ................................................. 87 4.3.1 STRUT .......................................................................................................... 87 4.3.2 Glottal variation in /t/ ................................................................................. 90 4.3.3 ing ................................................................................................................. 93 4.3.4 ‘h’ dropping .................................................................................................. 95 4.4 Native speakers ................................................................................................... 96 4.5 Statistical analysis ............................................................................................... 96 4.6 Social factors: coding .......................................................................................... 98 5: Results ................................................................................................................... 100 5.1 STRUT - Results ................................................................................................ 100 5.1.1 Regression analysis .................................................................................... 108 5.1.2 Lexical frequency .........................................................................................115 5.1.3 Linguistic context ....................................................................................... 119 5.2 STRUT - Discussion ........................................................................................... 125 5.2.1 LOR ............................................................................................................. 125 5.2.2 Local NS partner ......................................................................................... 126 5.2.3 Lexical frequency ........................................................................................ 126 5.2.4 Possibility one – a lexical frequency effect ................................................ 127 5.2.5 Possibility two – a phonetic context effect ................................................ 133 5.2.6 Possibility three – no frequency effect. ...................................................... 136 5.2.7 Phonetic context (without frequency)....................................................... 137 5.2.8 Attitude ....................................................................................................... 137 5.3 Glottal variation in /t/ - Results ......................................................................... 139 5.3.1 Regression analysis ..................................................................................... 143 4 5.4 Glottal variation in /t/ - Discussion ................................................................. 148 5.4.1 Level of English .......................................................................................... 149 5.4.2 Gender ........................................................................................................ 149 5.5 (ing) - Results ..................................................................................................... 152 5.5.1 Regression analysis ..................................................................................... 154 5.5.2 Lexical frequency ........................................................................................ 158 5.6 (ing) - Discussion ............................................................................................... 165 5.6.1 Linguistic constraints ................................................................................. 165 5.6.2 Gender ........................................................................................................ 166 5.6.3 Identity ....................................................................................................... 168 5.7 ‘h’ dropping - Results ........................................................................................