Suprasegmental features (i.e., features realized through pitch, volume, and/or duration changes) are particularly difficult for second language learners. This has led to the creation of many different methods of training, often employing the use of experimenter or instructor-created training materials. However, the use of authentic materials for…

In recent years, Third Language Acquisition (TLA) in Cross-Linguistic Influence (CLI) research has been debated regarding background languages' impact on learning a target language. While Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research often emphasizes the primary influence of the first language (L1) on the target language, it does not discount the…

This dissertation explores first language (L1) transfer and second language (L2) transfer processes and models, such as the full transfer/full access model (FT/FA), the representational deficit/interpretability hypothesis, and the feature reassembly hypothesis (FRH). The typological proximity model (TPM), the cumulative enhancement model (CEM),…

Advances in Natural Language Processing (NLP) over the past decade have largely been driven by the scale of data and computation used to train large neural network-based models. However, these techniques are inapplicable to the vast majority of the world's languages, which lack the vast digitized text datasets available for English and a few other…

The United States government is perennially in need of employees with proficiency in critical foreign languages to communicate with foreign counterparts and maintain relationships worldwide. In order to fulfill this need, the government devotes significant resources training federal employees to advanced levels of language proficiency through…

In the current globalized world, English is an international language that makes it possible for people from different language backgrounds to communicate with each other. In this situation, English users in EIL (English as an international language) should be able to comprehend various accents spoken by English speakers from all over the world.…

There has been increasing L3 research on L3 transfer selectivity, especially concerning which factor triggers crosslinguistic influence during L3 acquisition. According to Slabakova's (2016) Scalpel Model, every linguistic property has distinct and unique input factors regarding L3 acquisition such as high/low frequency or positive/negative input.…

Using Self Study in Teach Education (S-STEP), this research examined the ways in which my utilization of Linguistic Landscape (LL) as a pedagogical tool contributed to developing teacher candidates as future educators. In doing so, this study aims to highlight the use of LL as an effective pedagogical tool for developing Critical Multilingual…

Adult learners often have difficulty reaching high proficiency levels in a foreign language, and curriculum experts are on a constant quest for innovative practices in foreign language learning. The problem addressed by this study was that even with the implementation of different pedagogical approaches, including immersion and technology…

This dissertation contributes new data to the debate on the source and manner of transfer in third language (L3) acquisition. The "L1 Status Factor" (L1SF, e.g., Hermas, 2010; Leung, 2002; Lozano-Pozo, 2003) maintains that the transfer source is the native language (L1), whereas the "L2 Status Factor" (L2SF, Bardel & Falk,…

This dissertation examines the linguistic and cultural difficulties faced by Non-Native English-speaking (NNES) peace officers in the United States, emphasizing English training and job preparedness. The research adopts an explanatory sequential mixed-method design, including quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis. This study…

The dissertation explored the effectiveness of perceptual training with English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), for both the perception and production of three problematic vowel contrasts, /ae/-/[open-mid front unrounded vowel]/, /[near-close near-front unrounded vowel]/-/[open-mid front unrounded vowel]/, /[near-close near-front unrounded…

As gentrifying dual language (DL) schools in the United States increasingly attract students with linguistic, racial, and socioeconomic privilege, a key consideration is whether these schools are intentionally supporting the specific needs and assets of emergent bilingual (EB) students from Latinx families. This dissertation of practice examined…

Second language (L2) learners often have difficulty perceiving L2 sound contrasts when the first-language (L1) and L2 sounds are acoustically similar and these similar L2 sounds correspond to an existing L1 sound (Flege, 1995). To improve L2 learners' perception of sound contrasts, researchers have used high-variability phonetic training (HVPT)…

Miniature language learning has been widely used to study the causality of language universals. However, factors that have been shown to affect language acquisition in other paradigms are understudied in miniature language learning, which calls into question results that claim to uncover universal biases. In this dissertation, I ask how the…