Magdalena Wrembel

Magdalena Wrembel is a professor of English linguistics at the Faculty of English, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland. Her main research areas involve multilingualism, third language acquisition, phonetics and phonology, language awareness as well as innovative trends in L2/L3 pronunciation pedagogy.

She has published extensively in edited collections and international journals, she co-edited two special issues of International Journal of Multilingualism as well as a few edited volumes, e.g., Advances in the Investigation of L3 Phonological Acquisition (2018), Achievements and perspectives in SLA of speech (2011). She has co-organised international conferences and workshops, including New Sounds 2010, EuroSLA 2012, SLE 2014 and L3 Workshop 2017 in Poznań. She has been involved in several international projects (as PI), with funding from Polish, Norwegian and German research agencies. She is currently Vice-President of Societas Linguistica Europaea and head of Bilingualism Matters@Poznań.

Abstract

From a multilingual perspective: Cross-linguistic influence in the acquisition of L3 phonetics and phonology

A complex linguistic landscape in the modern world has led to the development of a wider perspective in language acquisition research, going beyond the second language. A growing body of studies into the acquisition of third language phonetics/phonology demonstrates an inherent complexity of the field reflected, among others, in multidirectional dynamic cross-linguistic influence. This talk aims to provide a state-of-the-art overview of related studies as well as some theoretical and methodological considerations in research on L3 phonological acquisition.

The contribution will present new insights into the field that stem from an ongoing Polish-Norwegian project investigating patterns of speech of L1 Polish/L2 English/L3 Norwegian speakers (Across-domain investigations in multilingualism: Modelling L3 acquisition in diverse settings - ADIM). The overview will cover a range of studies including foreign accentedness ratings, perception (vowel assimilation paradigms and EEG evidence) as well as production studies investigating spectral overlap and separation in the three vocalic systems. The discussion of selected results will focus on developmental trajectories of L2 and L3 phonologies; complex cross-linguistic interactions over time and the production and perception interface. Finally, potential implication for L2/L3 pronunciation pedagogy will be drawn.