ABSTRACT
The vast majority of Spanish varieties exhibit three liquids at the phonemic level, namely, two rhotics, a voiced alveolar tap, /ɾ/, and a voiced alveolar trill, /r/, along with one voiced lateral approximant, /l/. Of particular interest for L2 liquid production is that English only has one of these, the voiced lateral approximant, at the phonemic level. In recent years, a number of studies have treated the L2 production of Spanish liquids, primarily with regard to students whose L1 is English. This chapter not only encourages researchers to further our knowledge from the novel findings of these recent studies, but also considers their implications for the classroom. To this end, the chapter first gives a brief overview of the Spanish liquid inventory. Additionally, it discusses English liquids before reviewing the literature on L2 production of Spanish liquids. Then, it offers practical suggestions for the classroom based on previous findings and the author’s own experience with teaching phonetics and phonology.
