Uticaj transfera, individualnih sklonosti i vrsta testova na usvajanje engleskih nazala kod srpskih učenika

Abstract

The paper makes an attempt at investigating the effect of three different factors on the acquisition of English nasal consonants by Serbian EFL learners. The factors include negative L1 transfer, individual aptitude in terms of imitation and pronunciation monitoring, as well as the pronunciation testing task type. The research consisted of two parts: pronunciation recording and the questionnaire for the participants. Nasal consonants are not typically considered as problematic in the process of SLA and we sought to explore the fact more thoroughly. Target sound production was tested through word list reading containing 20 target tokens in different contexts, and spontaneous speech, where the participants had to retell a well-known children’s story in English. Individual aptitude was measured via a specially designed questionnaire. The results of the acoustic analysis of the participants’ production were discussed and compared to the native speakers’ pronunciations.