Differences in the scope of obstruent voicing assimilation in learners' English as a consequence of regional variation in Polish

The question of what factors, and to what extent, shape the phonetic performance of second language learners has been the subject of much debate (see for instance Ioup & Weinberger 1987 or James & Leather 1987). One factor whose importance has remained, and is likely to remain, relatively unchallenged is the influence of the sound system of learners' native language. This effect is usually referred to as L1 transfer in the ESL/EFL literature, as parameters (speech habits, features, realisations, rules, processes, etc. - specific formulations vary with different approaches) of native language (L1) pronunciation are transferred or carried over to the second (L2, learned) language. In the present study I undertake to investigate if, and how, regional differences in Polish with respect to regressive sandhi voicing assimilation may influence the corresponding aspects of learners' English pronunciation. I will also consider some practical implications of the results for pronunciation teaching