“Applying the variationist methodology to L2 phonology: the Spanish trill /r/”

Sara Zahler (PhD student, Department of Spanish & Portuguese, Indiana University)

The purpose of this study is to use variationist methodology to examine the factors conditioning variable trill production in the speech of English-speaking learners of Spanish in comparison to those conditioning native-speakers’ trill production. The difficulty in applying variationist methodology to L2 Spanish trill production will be discussed in terms of the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 variation in learner speech. Additionally, two ways of defining the dependent variable (i.e. what constitutes a “target-like” vs. a “non target-like” production) will be employed and discussed in order to better understand variable learner trill production.