This study examines the second language (L2) development of variable /s/-weakening in the spontaneous speech of L2 learners of Spanish who studied abroad in either Dominican Republic, where /s/-weakening is widespread, or central Spain, where /s/-weakening is much less common. Learners’ realizations of /s/ were coded impressionistically and acoustically by measuring voicing, center of gravity, and duration. The results show that regardless of the study abroad location, students did not change the amount of sibilance they produced over time. However, they became more nativelike with respect to /s/-voicing and duration. Additionally, whereas some linguistic factors were found to significantly constrain /s/-weakening across groups, learners did not gain sensitivity to all factors that constrain native-speaker /s/-weakening. Findings suggest that exposure to /s/-weakening during a semester abroad is insufficient for learners to adopt this sociolinguistic variable and other social and cognitive factors likely mitigate its integration into the L2 learners’ phonological systems.

中文翻译：

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留学背景下/S/-弱化的第二语言习得

本研究考察了在 /s/-弱化普遍存在的多米尼加共和国或西班牙中部（在 /s /-弱化不太常见。通过测量发声、重心和持续时间，对学习者对 /s/ 的实现进行印象和声学编码。结果表明，无论出国留学地点如何，学生都不会随着时间的推移改变他们产生的齿音量。然而，它们在 /s/ 的发声和持续时间方面变得更像本地人了。此外，虽然发现一些语言因素显着限制了跨组的 /s/-weakening，但学习者并未对所有限制母语者 /s/-weakening 的因素都敏感。