Pronunciation

Alexandra Morales Reyes and Begoña Arechabaleta conducted a phonological analysis of the “r” sound as in “pera” (pear) and “perro” (dog) or “burro" (donkey) in Spanish. The “r” and the “rr” sounds are acquired late by Spanish-speaking children and are very difficult for adult second language learners of Spanish.

In order to test whether younger learners have less difficulties producing these sounds, the children were asked to name 12 words containing the Spanish “r” sounds (e.g. naranja ‘orange’, carro ‘car’). Findings indicate that our young learners can produce these sounds in a native-like way after being exposed to Spanish for only two years. This study demonstrates that being exposed to Spanish from an early age is crucial to acquire a more native-like pronunciation.

Arechabaleta, Begoña and Morales Reyes, Alexandra “The Acquisition of Spanish Rhotics by Child L2 and L3 Learners of Spanish” – Presented at the Spanish in the USA conference, CUNY Graduate Center, 2014.