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                                       THE PRODUCTION OF ARABIC VOWELS BY ENGLISH L2 LEARNERS AND 
                                                                                HERITAGE SPEAKERS OF ARABIC 
                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                BY 
                                                                                                   EMAN SAADAH 
                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                   DISSERTATION 
                                                                     Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements 
                                                                    for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics 
                                                                                        in the Graduate College of the 
                                                                      University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2011 
                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                     Urbana, Illinois 
                             
                            Doctoral Committee: 
                                    Professor Jennifer Cole, Chair 
                                    Professor José Ignacio Hualde 
                                    Professor Elabbas Benmamoun 
                                    Professor Silvina Montrul                                                                             
                                                                                                                    
                             
                            ABSTRACT  
        It is known that adult language learners often struggle to accurately pronounce unfamiliar sounds 
        in the target language, but the extent and duration of the linguistic experience is found to affect 
        native-like production of target segments. In order to explore the variability in speech production 
        between language learners, I compare vowel production between heritage speakers of Arabic 
        (HSs) and English L2 learners. More importantly, this phonetic investigation asks fundamental 
        research questions such as: Whether one or two phonetic/phonological systems coexist in the 
        mental organization of developing bilinguals? If early childhood exposure to the target language 
        as experienced by HSs affects phonetic learning later in life, e.g., when the HS is an adult learner 
        in a traditional classroom setting? Moreover, do bilinguals of varying proficiency levels process 
        their languages in the same way?  
           Depending on the linguistic experience, prior studies of speech production show that 
        bilingual speakers may possess one or two phonetic/phonological systems for the two languages. 
        Furthermore, exposure to the L2 in early childhood facilitates attainment of native-like L2 phone 
        production. Specifically, Flege (1987), Mack (1989), and Guion (2002) show that early 
        bilinguals are capable of acquiring fine-grained phonetic detail of their L2 more than late 
        learners. In the present study, 12 HSs— 6 experienced (EHSs) and 6 inexperienced (IHSs)—as 
        well as 12 L2 learners— 6 advanced (AL2) and 6 beginner (BL2)—were compared with 6 native 
        speakers of Arabic. Subjects produced 2 repetitions for each of 114 CVC monosyllabic words, 
        embedded medially in a fixed carrier phrase. Formant measures of F1 and F2 were taken (in 
        Bark) at vowel midpoint.  
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           Unlike the L2 learners, the results reveal that HSs have acquired two 
        phonetic/phonological systems for Arabic and English, demonstrating the significance of 
        childhood exposure to target sounds in later phonetic attainment. Specifically, more experience 
        in the target language results in more accurate vowel production as shown by EHSs producing 
        values that are closer to target vowels than IHSs and so is the case for AL2 compared to BL2 
        learners. Presenting a great challenge for language educators and language programs in the 
        United States, implications from comparing these distinct populations (HSs and L2 learners) are 
        discussed in relation to phonological theory, specifically, the intersection between second 
        language research (SLA) and teaching of heritage language instruction.  
                       
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                            To my family 
                       
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