English interdental fricative production in Dutch heritage speakers living in Canada

Abstract

This study investigates the production of/θ/and/∂/by three groups of English-speakers in the community of Norwich, Ontario, Canada. English monolinguals, heritage Dutch speakers (early bilinguals), and L1 Dutch/L2 English speakers (late-learning bilinguals)/θ/and/∂/production was measured in both naturalistic and reading tasks. Heritage Dutch speakers produce [θ] and [∂] at similar rates to Monolingual English speakers, but the two groups exhibit different allophonic realizations, especially when/∂/is word-initial and/θ/is word-medial. This study suggests that despite their ability to produce [θ] and [∂], Dutch heritage speakers may manipulate the inherently variable English/θ/and/∂/production to communicate their Dutch cultural identity. This is the first study to examine both heritage Dutch bilinguals in Canada and non-English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom Dutch English.