What does advanced L2 pronunciation look like?

This study investigates ultimate attainment in second language (L2) Spanish pronunciation by examining the production of L2 Spanish stops, approximants, and rhotics by first language (L1) speakers of American English who immigrated to central Spain and have lived there for a large portion of their lives. As a group, the learners' pronunciations were much closer to the native speaker norms than those of less advanced learners in previous studies, yet no learner achieved native-like pronunciation for any of the consonant groups. Nonetheless, the results of the present study show that advanced learners are characterized by considerable development beyond the pronunciation of less advanced learners and that they do acquire some native-like aspects in their pronunciation.