Syllabification and Visual Word Segmentation in Spanish–English Bilinguals

Abstract

This dissertation investigates intuitions about Spanish syllable structure and whether or not word segmentation strategies are affected by these syllabic intuitions. The study utilizes monolingual Spanish speakers, L1 Spanish speakers whoare L2 learners of English and L1 English speakers who are L2 learners of Spanish. For Spanish syllabic intuitions a two-alternative forced choice task is used to gain insights about the initial syllables of CV and CVC trisyllabic words. A visual letter sequence monitoring task is utilized to investigate the use of a syllable-based segmentation strategy when processing Spanish. Support is found for differing Spanish syllabic intuitions between L1 Spanish–L2 English and L1 English–L2 Spanish bilinguals. L1 Spanish speakers have been shown to use a syllable-based segmentation approach to Spanish word segmentation while L1 English speakers have shown only a slight sensitivity to the syllable’s role when segmenting in their L2. Lastly, previous studies in investigating the syllable-based segmentation strategy have included some auditory components, which may have provided additional help in some manner to participants. The current studies here replicate these findings utilizing a completely visual design, which indicates the plausibility of a visual experimental design to study phonological processes.