People
attain varying levels of proficiency in learning a language that is not their
mother tongue. While some may sound almost like native speakers, most end up
speaking with a recognizable `accent.' What ingredients make up a foreign
accent, and to what extent is learning a second language like learning a first
one? These are some of the concerns of the field of second language acquisition
(SLA). Second Language Phonology, in the series Language Acquisition and
Language Disorders, focuses on acquisition of the phonology, the sound system,
of a second language.
(Quote from Second
Language Phonology by John Archibald John Benjamins 1998.)