Phonological awareness in L1 and L2 acquisitions: A study on the phonological substitution of syllable initial /n-/ by /l-/ in L1 Cantonese and L2 English by Hong Kong students

Previous studies on Hong Kong Cantonese (Yeung 1980, Bourgerie 1990 and Ho 2004) and Hong Kong English (Au 2002, Hung 2002) indicate that the existence of the substitution of syllable initial /n-/ by /l-/ in the two language varieties. On the basis of previous studies, the present study closely examined the role of phonological awareness playing in this phonological substitution in L1 Cantonese and L2 English of Hong Kong students. The study involved elementary, intermediate and post-intermediate English learners from primary school, secondary school and university in Hong Kong respectively. Six tasks were designed for collecting data, which varied in terms of the amount of speakers attention paid to pronunciation, and the degree of speakers’ phonological awareness of the distinction between /n-/ and /l-/. Results of VARBUL analysis show that compared with other variables, such as gender, age, educational level and English proficiency, the degrees of phonological awareness varied in different contextual styles play the most important role in the phonological substitution in both L1 Cantonese and L2 English. The findings of the study delineates that phonological awareness deserves more attention in phonological development in both L1 and L2.