Chapter 5: Learning Sounds

This chapter illustrates how the phonological component of mental grammar develops in a language learner, whether in an infant learning their first language, or an adult learning a second, third, or later language. The chapter also explores what it means for a speaker to have an accent.

When you’ve completed this chapter, you will be able to:

• identify the stages in babies’ development of phoneme categories in their L1,
• predict whether a phonemic contrast will be easy or hard for an L2 learner to learn, depending on their L1,
• understand the consequences of accent stigma for speakers and listeners,