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Objective: This study investigated the degrees of lenition, or consonantal weakening, in the production of Spanish stop consonants by native English speakers during a study abroad (SA) program. Lenition is a key phonological process in Spanish, where voiced stops (/b/, /d/, /ɡ/) typically weaken to fricatives or approximants in specific phonetic environments. For L2 learners, mastering this subtle process is essential for achieving native-like pronunciation. Methods: To assess the learners’ progress in acquiring lenition, we employed Phonet, a deep learning model. Unlike traditional quantitative acoustic methods that focus on measuring the physical properties of speech sounds, Phonet utilizes recurrent neural networks to predict the posterior probabilities of phonological features, particularly sonorant and continuant characteristics, which are central to the lenition process. Results: The results indicated that while learners showed progress in producing the fricative-like variants of lenition during the SA program and understood how to produce lenition in appropriate contexts, the retention of these phonological gains was not sustained after their return. Additionally, unlike native speakers, the learners never fully achieved the approximant-like realization of lenition. Conclusions: These findings underscore the need for sustained exposure and practice beyond the SA experience to ensure the long-term retention of L2 phonological patterns. While SA programs offer valuable opportunities for enhancing L2 pronunciation, they should be supplemented with ongoing support to consolidate and extend the gains achieved during the immersive experience.
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This content will become publicly available on September 2, 2026
Individual differences in language acquisition: The impact of study abroad on native speakers learning English
This study investigated the acquisition of lenition in Spanish voiced stops (/b, d, ɡ/) by native English speakers during a study-abroad program, focusing on individual differences and in昀氀uencing factors. Lenition, characterized by the weakening of stops into fricative-like ([β], [ð], [ɣ]) or approximant-like ([β̞], [ð̞], [ɣ̞ ]) forms, poses challenges for L2 learners due to its gradient nature and the absence of analogous approximant forms in English. Results indicated that learners aligned with native speakers in recognizing voicing as the primary cue for lenition, yet their productions diverged, favoring fricative-like over approximant-like realizations. This preference re昀氀ects the combined in昀氀uence of articulatory ease, acoustic salience, and cognitive demands. Individual variability in learners’ trajectories highlights the role of exposure to native input and sociolinguistic engagement. Learners bene昀椀tting from richer, informal interactions with native speakers showed greater alignment with native patterns, while others demonstrated more limited progress. However, native input alone was insuf昀椀cient for learners to internalize subtler distinctions such as place of articulation and stress. These 昀椀ndings emphasize the need for combining immersive experiences with targeted instructional strategies to address articulatory and cognitive challenges. This study contributes to the understanding of L2 phonological acquisition and offers insights for designing more effective language learning programs to support lenition acquisition in Spanish.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2037266
- PAR ID:
- 10639701
- Publisher / Repository:
- Elsevier B.V.
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Speech Coomunication
- ISSN:
- 0167-1393
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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