Investigating L2 Phonological Acquisition from Different Perspectives: An Introduction to the Special Issue

Building on the existing literature including recent Special Issues, edited volumes, and feature articles on the study of second language (L2) phonetics and phonology (e.g., Archibald et al., 2021; Hansen-Edwards and Zampini, 2008; Nagle and Baese-Berk, 2022; Wayland, 2021), this Special Issue sets out to showcase the vibrant theoretical and empirical work that is being undertaken in this field of research. We aimed to attract contributions in different sub-domains of L2 phonetics and phonology including work that investigates the interface between different linguistic domains as well as across modalities. It was also one of our aims to challenge the over-representation of the so-called WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, and Democratic) contexts in social sciences, applied linguistics, and, more specifically, in second language speech and phonology (see Leung, 2025) by including research from wider contexts and from participants who are under-represented.