The second time around: the effect of formal instruction on VOT production upon return from study abroad

The present study aims at assessing L2 phonological development, while control-
ling for proficiency level, as a result of a 2-month formal instruction (FI) period
following a 3-month period spent abroad in a country where the learners’ target
language was spoken. It examines voice onset time (VOT) production of English
voiceless stops in initial stressed position by Catalan/Spanish EFL learners. It is in-
tended as a follow-up of Mora’s (2008) study, which yielded no significant effects
at the end of the stay abroad (SA) only. It is hypothesized that the FI period should
allow students to focus on their phonology, away from the pressing demands of
daily communication during SA. No explicit attention is paid to phonology in class.
Speech samples were collected from 13 participants, through two tasks, upon their
return from SA and immediately after a 2-month period of FI. No significant effect
of the FI period preceded by a SA term on informants’ VOTs was found. Profi-
ciency level seems to have played a role in VOT production. Speaking style, vowel
height and place of articulation were found to significantly affect VOT produc-
tion of voiceless stops, in line with previous findings. A baseline group of natives
showed the same numerical tendency. The lack of impact resulting from a FI pe-
riod preceded by a SA term adds further support for the suggestion made by some
authors (Darcy et al. 2012; Gordon & Darcy 2012; Calvo Benzies 2014) that explicit
attention to phonology in FI should act as a potential factor to effectively improve
L2 phonological development.