Cover not available
Part of
Transfer Effects in Multilingual Language Development
Edited by Hagen Peukert
[Hamburg Studies on Linguistic Diversity 4] 2015
► pp. 191–220

Assessing foreign language speech rhythm in multilingual learners

An interdisciplinary approach

| University of Hamburg
| University of Hamburg
| University of Hamburg

The present study investigates the rhythmic properties of the non-native speech produced by multilingual learners with Mandarin Chinese as a heritage language who acquire French and English as foreign languages in the German school context. Data collected from monolingual German and monolingual Chinese learners serve as control materials. For the production of the syllable-timed speech rhythm of French, it is shown that monolingual learners with (syllable-timed) Mandarin Chinese as L1 perform more target-like than learners with (stress-timed) German as L1, while the latter produce the stress-timed rhythm of the foreign language English in a more target-like way. The multilingual learners with Mandarin Chinese as a heritage language obtain intermediate values for both French and English, as a function of their personal attitudes towards the languages of the sample and depending on the degree of multilingual and phonological awareness. We conclude that, in addition to linguistic factors such as the syllable- or stress-timedness of the languages involved, cross-linguistic influence in prosody is also constrained by certain extra-linguistic factors. Depending on the interplay of these factors, the multilingual learners can have an advantage over the German monolinguals in learning French and over the Chinese monolinguals in learning English in that the speech rhythm of their background languages may be positively transferred to the foreign languages. Our findings suggest that a multilingual linguistic background constitutes no disadvantage for the learning of foreign languages and that multilingual and phonological awareness should be promoted in contexts of foreign language learning in both learners and teachers.

Keywords: intonation, multilingual awareness, phonological awareness, speech rhythm, think-aloud protocol
Published online: 29 April 2015
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/hsld.4.09gab
References
Abercrombie, D
1967 Elements of General Phonetics. Edinburgh: EUP.Google Scholar
Auer, P
2001 Silben- und akzentzählende Sprachen. In Language Typology and Language Universals. An International Handbook, M. Haspelmath, E. König, W. Oesterreicher & W. Raible (eds), 1391–1399. Berlin: De Gruyter.Google Scholar
Auer, P. & Uhmann, S
1988 Silben- und akzentzählende Sprachen. Literaturüberblick und Diskussion. Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft 7: 214−259. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Benet, A., Gabriel, C., Kireva, E. & Pešková, A
2012 Prosodic transfer from Italian to Spanish: Rhythmic properties of L2 speech and Argentinean Porteño. In Proceedings of Speech Prosody 2012, Q. Ma, H. Ding & D. Hirst (eds). Shanghai: Tongji University Press. [URL] (14 November 2013).Google Scholar
Boersma, P. & Weenink, D
2011 Praat: Doing Phonetics by Computer, Version 5.3. [URL] (13 April 2011).
Boula de Mareüil, P. & Vieru-Dimulescu, B
2006 The contribution of prosody to the perception of foreign accent. Phonetica 63: 247–267. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chen, H
2012 Second language timing patterns and their effects on native listeners’ perceptions. Concentric: Studies in Linguistics 36: 183–212.Google Scholar
Crystal, D
1995 Documenting rhythmical change. In Studies in General and English Phonetics, J.W. Lewis (ed.), 174-179. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Dasher, R. & Bolinger, D
1982 On pre-accentual lengthening. Journal of the International Phonetic Association 12: 58–69. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dauer, R.M
1987 Phonetic and phonological components of language rhythm. In Proceedings of the Eleventh International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS 1987), T.V. Gamkrelidze (ed.), 447–450. Talinn, Estonia: Academy of Sciences of the Estonian SSR.Google Scholar
Dellwo, V
2006 Rhythm & Speech Rate: A variation coefficient for deltaC. In Language and Language Processing, P. Karnowski & I. Szigeti (eds), 213–241. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Dellwo, V. & Wagner, P
2003 Relations between language rhythm and speech rate. In Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences , M.-J. Solé, D. Recasens & J. Romero (eds), 461–474. Barcelona: Casual Productions.
Deterding, D
1994 The rhythm of Singapore English. In Proceedings of the Fifth Australian International Conference on Speech Science and Technology , R. Togneri (ed.), 316–321. Canberra: Australian Speech Science and Technology Association.
2001 The measurement of rhythm: A comparison of Singapore and British English. Journal of Phonetics 29: 217–230. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Duanmu, S
2007 The Phonology of Standard Chinese, 2nd edn. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Elsner, D
2007 Hörverstehen im Englischunterricht der Grundschule. Ein Leistungsvergleich zwischen Kindern mit deutscher Muttersprache und Deutsch als Zweitsprache. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
2010 ‘Ich habe was, was du nicht hast …’ Oder: Welchen Mehrwert hat die Mehrsprachigkeit für den Fremdsprachenunterricht? IMIS Beiträge Themenheft 37: 99–119.Google Scholar
Fagyal, Z
2010 Accents de banlieue: aspects prosodiques du français populaire en contact avec les langues de l’immigration. Paris: L’Harmattan.Google Scholar
Fagyal, Z., Kibbee, D. & Jenkins, F
2006 French. A Linguistic Introduction. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fletcher, J
2010 The prosody of speech: Timing and rhythm. In The Handbook of Phonetic Sciences, 2nd edn, W.J. Hardcastle, J. Laver & F.E. Gibbon (eds), 523–602. Malden MA: Wiley-Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fuchs, R
2012 A duration-based account of speech rhythm in Indian English. Poster presented at the 13th Conference on Laboratory Phonology (LabPhon 13), University of Stuttgart, 29 July.
Gabriel, C., Hu, A., Diao, L. & Thulke, J
2012 Transfer, phonological awareness und Mehrsprachigkeitsbewusstsein: Zum Erwerb des französischen Sprachrhythmus durch Schüler/innen mit chinesischem Sprachhintergrund im deutschen Schulkontext. Bericht aus einem laufenden Forschungsprojekt. Zeitschrift für Fremdsprachenforschung 23: 53−76.Google Scholar
Gabriel, C. & Kireva, E
2014a Prosodic transfer in learner and contact varieties: Speech rhythm and intonation of Buenos Aires Spanish and L2 Castilian Spanish produced by Italian native speakers. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 36(2): 257–281. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2014b Speech rhythm and vowel raising in Bulgarian Judeo-Spanish. In Proceedings of Speech Prosody 2014 , N. Campbell, D. Gibbon & D. Hirst (eds), 728–732. Dublin: SproSIG. [URL] (31 May 2014).
Grabe, E. & Low, E.L
2002 Durational variability in speech and the rhythm class hypothesis. In Papers in LabPhon 7, C. Gussenhoven & N. Warner (eds), 515–546. Berlin: De Gruyter.Google Scholar
Gussenhoven, C
2004 The Phonology of Tone and Intonation. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gut, U
2009 Introduction to English Phonetics and Phonology. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
2012 Rhythm in L2 speech. Speech and Language Technology Speech and Language Technology (Technologia Mowy i Języka) 14-15: 83–94.Google Scholar
Hu, A
2011 Migrationsbedingte Mehrsprachigkeit und schulischer Fremdsprachenunterricht. In Forschung, Sprachenpolitik, Lehrerbildung. Umgang mit Heterogenität und Differenz, H. Faulstich-Wieland (ed), 121–140. Baltmannsweiler: Schneider Hohengehren.Google Scholar
IPA (International Phonetic Association)
1999 Handbook of the International Phonetic Association. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Jian, H.-L
2004 On the syllable timing in Taiwan English. In Proceedings of Speech Prosody 2004 , K. Hirose (ed.), 247–250. Nara, Japan. [URL] (14 November 2013).
Jouvet, L
2006 Les petites histoires d’Amandine. Stuttgart: Klett.Google Scholar
Jun, S.-A. & Fougeron, C
2000 A Phonological Model of French Intonation. In Intonation. Analysis, Modelling, and Technology, A. Botinis (ed.), 209–242. Dordrecht: Kluwer.Google Scholar
Kehoe, M., Lleó, C. & Rakow, M
2011 Speech rhythm in the pronunciation of German and Spanish monolingual and German-Spanish bilingual 3-year-olds. Linguistische Berichte 227: 323–352.Google Scholar
Kinoshita, N. & Sheppard, C
2011 Validating acoustic measures of speech rhythm for second language acquisition. In Proceedings of ICPhS 2011, W.-S. Lee & E. Zee (eds), 1086–1089. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong.Google Scholar
Krivokapić, J
2013 Rhythm and convergence between speakers of American and Indian English. Laboratory Phonology 4: 39–65. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kurpaska, M
2010 Chinese language(s): A look through the prism of The Great dictionary of modern Chinese dialects. Berlin: De Gryuter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kvale, S
2007 Doing Interviews. Los Angeles CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Labov, W
2014 The role of African Americans in Philadelphia sound change. Language Variation and Change 26: 1–19. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Legutke, M. & Lortz, W
(eds) 2002 Mein Sprachenportfolio: Entstanden aus einem Pilotprojekt des Landes Hessen, gefördert mit Mitteln des Hessischen Kultusministeriums. Frankfurt: Diesterweg.Google Scholar
Lehiste, Ilse
1970 Suprasegmentals. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Li, A. & Post, B
2012 L2 rhythm development by Mandarin Chinese learners of English. Poster presented at Perspectives on Rhythm and Timing (PoRT), University of Glasgow, 20 July.
Liberman, M. & Prince, A.S
1977 On stress and linguistic rhythm. Linguistics Inquiry 8: 249–336.Google Scholar
Lin, H. & Wang, Q
2007 Mandarin rhythm: An acoustic study. Journal of Chinese Linguistics and Computing 17: 127−140.Google Scholar
Lin, Y.-H
2007 The Sounds of Chinese. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Low, E.L. & Grabe, E
1995 Prosodic patterns in Singapore English. In Proceedings of the XIIIth International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, K. Elenius & P. Branderud (eds), 636–639. Stockholm: Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (Royal Institute of Technology).
Low, E.L., Grabe, E. & Nolan, F
2000 Quantitative characterizations of speech rhythm: Syllable-timing in Singapore English. Language and Speech 43: 377–401. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mairano, P. & Romano, A
2010 Un confronto tra diverse metriche ritmiche usando Correlatore. In La dimensione temporale del parlato. Proceedings of the V National AISV Congress (Assoziazione Italiana di Scienze della Voce) , S. Schmid, M. Schwarzenbach & D. Studer (eds), 79-100. Torriana: EDK.
Martinez, H. & Reinfried, M
(eds) 2006 Mehrsprachigkeitsdidaktik gestern, heute und morgen. Tübingen: Narr.Google Scholar
Mehler, J., Dupoux, E., Nazzi, T. & Dehaene-Lambertz, G
1996 Coping with linguistic diversity: The infant’s viewpoint. In Signal to Syntax: Bootstrapping from Speech to Grammar in Early Acquisition, J.L. Morgan & K. Demuth (eds), 101–116. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Mehlhorn, G
2008 Russisch nach Englisch, Polnisch nach Russisch. Überlegungen zu einer Mehrsprachigkeitsdidaktik der slavischen Sprachen aus phonetischer Sicht. In XIV. JungslavistInnentreffen in Stuttgart, L. Geist & G. Mehlhorn (eds), 117–145. Munich: Kubon & Sagner.Google Scholar
Meißner, F.-J. & M. Reinfried
1998 Mehrsprachigkeitsdidaktik. Konzepte, Analysen, Lehrerfahrungen mit romanischen Fremdsprachen. Tübingen: Narr.Google Scholar
Meng, H., Tseng, C., Kondo, M., Harrison, A. & Viscelgia, T
2010 Studying L2 suprasegmental features in Asian Englishes: A position paper. In 10th annual conference of the International Speech Communication Association 2009 (Interspeech 2009) 6–10 September 2009, Vol. 3, International Speech Communication Association (ed.), 1683–1686. Red Hook NY: Curran.
Mok, P. & Dellwo, V
2008 Comparing native and non-native speech rhythm using acoustic rhythmic measures: Cantonese, Beijing Mandarin and English. In Proceedings of the 4th Conference on Speech Prosody, P. Barbosa, S. Madureira & C. Reis (eds), 423–426. Campinas, Brazil: Editoria RG/CNPq. [URL] (14 November 2014).Google Scholar
Odlin, T
1989 Language Transfer. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2003 Cross-Linguistic Influence. In The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, C.J. Doughty & M.H. Long (eds), 436–486. London: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ordin, M., Polyanskaya, L. & Ulbrich, C
2011 Acquisition of timing pattern in second language. In Proceedings of the 2th Annual Conference of the International Speech Communication Association (Interspeech 2011) , P. Cosi, R. De Mori, G. Di Fabbrizio & R. Pieraccini (eds), 27–31. Florence, Italy. [URL] (14 November 2013)
Osburne, A.G
2003 Pronunciation strategies of advanced ESOL learners. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 41: 131–141. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pike, K.L
1945 The Intonation of American English. Ann Arbor MI: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Pulzován de Egger, S
2002 Fremdsprache und Rhythmus. Eine Untersuchung zum Sprachrhythmus in Deutsch und Spanisch als Fremdsprache. Marburg: Tectum.Google Scholar
Ramus, F., Nespor, M. & Mehler, J
1999 Correlates of linguistic rhythm in the speech signal. Cognition 73: 265−292. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ramsey, S.R
1987 The Languages of China. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Rauch, D.P, Jurecka, A & Hesse, H.G
2010 Für den Drittspracherwerb zählt auch die Lesekompetenz in der Herkunftssprache: Untersuchung der Türkisch-, Deutsch- und Englisch-Lesekompetenz bei Deutsch-Türkisch bilingualen Schülern. In Migration, Identität, Sprache und Bildungserfolg [Zeitschrift für Pädagogik, Beiheft 55], C. Allemann-Ghionda, P. Stanat, K. Göbel & C. Röhner (eds), 78–100. Weinheim: Beltz.Google Scholar
Roach, P
1982 On the distinction between ‘stress-timed’ and ‘syllable-timed’ languages. In Linguistic controversies, D. Crystal (ed.), 73–79. London: Arnold.Google Scholar
Schmidt, C
2010 Sprachbewusstheit und Sprachlernbewusstheit. In Deutsch als Fremd- und Zweitsprache. Ein internationales Handbuch, H.-J. Krumm, C. Fandrych, B. Hufeisen & C. Riemer (eds), 858–866. Berlin: De Gruyter.Google Scholar
Setter, J
2003 A comparison of speech rhythm in British and Hong Kong English. In Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, M.-J. Solé, D. Recasens & J. Romero (eds), 467–470. Barcelona: Casual Productions.Google Scholar
2006 Speech rhythm in World Englishes: The case of Hong Kong. TESOL Quarterly 40: 763–782. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
White, L. & Mattys, S.L
2007 Calibrating rhythm: First language and second language studies. Journal of Phonetics 35: 501−522. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wiese, R
1996 The Phonology of German. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 1 other publications

Klinger, Thorsten, Hanne Brandt & Tetyana Dittmers
2022. The Making of MEZ – Multilingual Development: A Longitudinal Perspective. Study Design and Methods. In Language Development in Diverse Settings [Edition ZfE, 11], ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 20 april 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.