Teaching to suppress Polglish processes

Abstract

Advanced second language (henceforth L2) learners in a formal setting can suppress many first language (henceforth L1) processes in L2 pronunciation when provided with sufficient exposure to L2 and meta competence (see Sect. 4 for a definition of this term). This paper shows how imitation in L2 teaching can be enhanced on the basis of current phonetic research and how complex allophonic processes such as nasal vocalization and glottal stop insertion can be suppressed using “repair”—a method of providing learners with adequate input, so that they can use the L1 processes to improve L2 pronunciation.