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Hispanic Linguistics: Current issues and new directions
Edited by Alfonso Morales-Front, Michael J. Ferreira, Ronald P. Leow and Cristina Sanz
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 26] 2020
► pp. 11–32

The development of intonation in L2 Spanish

A perceptual study

| Florida State University
| Florida State University
| Florida State University
This study explores the perceptual development of intonation in questions and statements in L2 Spanish. It presents cross-sectional data from 189 L2 learners from five different proficiency levels and 10 Spanish native controls. Participants performed an intonation matching task consisting of deciding whether sentences presented aurally and visually matched. Perception accuracy and reaction time results are consistent with the gradual acquisition of intonational cues, particularly for statements and yes-no questions. Statements are identified faster and more accurately than yes-no questions, suggesting that the latter are harder to process and acquire. Consistent with Trimble (2013) and Nibert (2005, 2006), our findings suggest that intermediate II learners are beginning to acquire the intonational cues that distinguish statements from yes-no questions in Spanish.
Keywords: intonation, perception, cross-sectional study, acquisition of L2 Spanish, statements, yes-no questions, L1 transfer, processing
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Methodology
    • 2.1Participants
    • 2.2Materials
    • 2.3Procedure
    • 2.4Analysis
    • 2.5Hypotheses
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Perception accuracy
    • 3.2Reaction times
    • 3.3Instructor type
    • 3.4D-prime analysis
  • 4.Discussion
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgment
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 13 May 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.26.01bra
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Cited by (3)

Cited by three other publications

George, Angela
2024. Chapter 6. L2 intonation perception in learners of Spanish. In Perspectives on Input, Evidence, and Exposure in Language Acquisition [Language Acquisition and Language Disorders, 69], ► pp. 144 ff. DOI logo
Casillas, Joseph V., Juan José Garrido-Pozú, Kyle Parrish, Laura Fernández Arroyo, Nicole Rodríguez, Robert Esposito, Isabelle Chang, Kimberly Gómez, Gabriela Constantin-Dureci, Jiawei Shao, Iván Andreu Rascón & Katherine Taveras
2023. Using intonation to disambiguate meaning: The role of empathy and proficiency in L2 perceptual development. Applied Psycholinguistics 44:5 ► pp. 913 ff. DOI logo
Trimble, John
2023. Chapter 4. Acquiring dialect-specific yes-no question intonation during study abroad in Venezuela. In Study Abroad and the Second Language Acquisition of Sociolinguistic Variation in Spanish [Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 37], ► pp. 112 ff. DOI logo

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