Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-jbqgn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-24T17:24:27.791Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effect of speech rhythm and speaking rate on assessment of pronunciation in a second language

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2019

Leona Polyanskaya  and
Mikhail Ordin
Leona Polyanskaya*
Affiliation:
Basque Centre on Cognition, Brain and Language
Mikhail Ordin
Affiliation:
Basque Centre on Cognition, Brain and Language; and Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science
*
*Corresponding author. Email: l.polyanskaya@bcbl.eu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The study explores the effect of deviations from native speech rhythm and rate norms on the assessement of pronunciation mastery of a second language (L2) when the native language of the learner is either rhythmically similar to or different from the target language. Using the concatenative speech synthesis technique, different versions of the same sentence were created in order to produce segmentally and intonationally identical utterances that differed only in rhythmic patterns and/or speaking rate. Speech rhythm and tempo patterns modeled those from the speech of French or German native learners of English at different proficiency levels. Native British English speakers rated the original sentences and the synthesized utterances for accentedness. The analysis shows that (a) differences in speech rhythm and speaking tempo influence the perception of accentedness; (b) idiosyncratic differences in speech rhythm and speech rate are sufficient to differentiate between the proficiency levels of L2 learners; (c) the relative salience of rhythm and rate on perceived accentedness in L2 speech is modulated by the native language of the learners; and (d) intonation facilitates the perception of finer differences in speech rhythm between otherwise identical utterances. These results emphasize the importance of prosodic timing patterns for the perception of speech delivered by L2 learners.

Keywords

foreign accentpronunciation assessmentspeech ratespeech rhythmtiming patterns
Type
Original Article
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 40 , Issue 3 , May 2019 , pp. 795 - 819
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019. 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, C. (1979). English speech rhythm and the foreign learner. Berlin: du Gruyter.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson-Hsieh, J., & Koehler, K. (1988). The effect of foreign accent and speaking rate on native speaker comprehension. Language Learning, 38, 561–613.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson-Hsieh, J., & Venkatagiri, H. (1994). Syllable duration and pausing in the speech of intermediate and high proficiency Chinese ESL speakers. TESOL Quarterly, 28, 807–812.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arvaniti, A. (2012). The usefulness of metrics in the quantification of speech rhythm. Journal of Phonetics, 40, 351–373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arvaniti, A., & Rodriquez, T. (2013). The role of rhythm class, speaking rate and F0 in language discrimination. Laboratory Phonology, 4, 7–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, R. E., Baese-Berk, M. M., Bonnasse-Gahot, L., Kim, M., Van Engen, K., & Bradlow, A. (2011). Word durations in non-native English. Journal of Phonetics, 39, 1–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Best, C. T. (1995). A direct realist perspective on cross-language speech perception. In Strange, W. (Ed.). Speech perception and linguistic experience: Issues in cross-language research (pp. 171–204). Timonium, MD: York Press.Google Scholar
Boersma, P. (2001). Praat, a system for doing phonetics by computer. Glot International, 5, 341–345.Google Scholar
Bond, Z. S., & Fokes, J. (1985). Non-native patterns of English syllable timing. Journal of Phonetics, 13, 407–420.Google Scholar
Bunta, F., & Ingram, D. (2007). The acquisition of speech rhythm by bilingual Spanish- and English-speaking four- and five-year-old children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 50, 999–1014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byrd, D. (2000). Articulatory vowel lengthening and coordination at phrasal junctures. Phonetica, 57, 3–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clopper, C. G., & Smiljanic, R. (2011). Effects of gender and regional dialect on prosodic patterns in American English. Journal of Phonetics, 39, 237–245.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clopper, C. G., & Smiljanic, R. (2015). Regional variation in temporal organization in American English. Journal of Phonetics, 49, 1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cutler, A., & Norris, D. (1988). The role of strong syllables in segmentation for lexical access. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 14, 113–121.Google Scholar
Dasher, R., & Bolinger, D. (1982). On pre-accentual lengthening. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 12, 58–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dauer, R. (1983). Stress-timing and syllable-timing reanalyzed. Journal of Phonetics, 11, 51–62.Google Scholar
Dellwo, V. (2006). Rhythm and speech rate: A variation coefficient for deltaC. In Karnowski, P. & Szigeti, I. (Eds.). Language and language-processing (pp. 231–241). Frankfurt am Main: Lang.Google Scholar
Derwing, T., Munro, M., & Wiebe, G. (1998). Evidence in favour of a broad framework for pronunciation instruction. Language Learning, 48, 393–410.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dutoit, T., Pagel, V., Pierret, N., Bataille, F., & van der Vrecken, O. (1996). The MBROLA project: Towards a set of high-quality speech synthesizers free of use for non-commercial purposes. Philadelphia, PA: ICSLP.Google Scholar
Flege, J. (1988). Factors affecting the degree of perceived foreign accent in English sentences. Journal of Acoustical Society of America, 91, 370–389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flege, J. E. (1995). Second language speech learning: Theory, findings, and problems. In Strange, W. (Ed.). Speech perception and linguistic experience: Issues in cross-language research (pp. 233–277). Timonium, MD: York Press.Google Scholar
Gervain, J., Nespor, M., Mazuka, R., Horie, R., & Mehler, J. (2008). Bootstrapping word order in prelexical infants: A Japanese-Italian cross-linguistic study. Cognitive Psychology, 57, 56–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goldstein, L. (1988). Some notes on syllable structure in articulatory phonology. Phonetica, 45, 140–155.Google Scholar
Grabe, E., & Low, L. (2002). Acoustic correlates of rhythm class. In Gussenhoven, C. & Warner, N. (Eds.), Laboratory phonology (Vol. 7, pp. 515–546). New York: de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Grenon, I., & White, L. (2008). Acquiring rhythm: A comparison of L1 and L2 speakers of Canadian English and Japanese. In Chan, H., Jacob, H. & Kapia, E. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 32nd Boston University Conference on language development (pp. 155–166). Somerville, MA: Cascadlila.Google Scholar
Guion, S., Flege, J., Liu, H., & Yeni-Komshian, G. (2000). Age of learning effects on the duration of sentences produced in a second language. Applied Psycholinguistics, 21, 205–228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henriksen, N., & Fafulas, S. (2017). Prosodic timing and language contact: Spanish and Yagua in Amazonian Peru. Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 10, 225–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jarosz, A. F., & Wiley, J. (2014). What are the odds? A practical guide to computing and reporting Bayes factors. Journal of Problem Solving, 7, 2–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jun, S.-A. (2014). Prosodic typology: By prominence type, word prosody, and macro-rhythm. In Jun, S.-A. (Ed.). Prosodic typology: II. The phonology of intonation and phrasing (pp. 520–540). Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kang, O. (2010). Relative salience of suprasegmental features on judgments of L2 comprehensibility and accentedness. System, 38, 301–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kang, O., Rubin, D., & Pickering, L. (2010). Suprasegmental measures of accentedness and judgements of language learner proficiency in oral English. Modern Language Journal, 94, 554–566.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, J., Davis, C., & Cutler, A. (2008). Perceptual tests of rhythmic similarity: II. Syllable rhythm. Language and Speech, 51, 343–359.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lennon, P. (1990). Investigating fluency in EFL: A quantitative approach. Language Learning, 40, 387–417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Low, L., Grabe, E., & Nolan, F. (2000). Quantitative characterizations of speech rhythm: Syllable-timing in Singapore English. Language and Speech, 43, 377–401.Google Scholar
Mehler, J., Dupoux, E., Nazzi, T., & Dehaene-Lambertz, G. (1996). Coping with linguistic diversity: The infant’s viewpoint. In Morgan, J. & Demuth, K. D. (Eds.), From signal to syntax: Bootstrapping from speech to grammar in early acquisition (pp. 101–116). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Mooshammer, C., Goldstein, L., Nam, H., McClure, S., Saltzman, E., & Tiede, M. (2012). Bridging planning and execution: Temporal planning of syllables. Journal of Phonetics, 40, 374–389.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Munro, M., & Derwing, T. M. (1998). The effects of speaking rate on listener evaluations of native and foreign-accented speech. Language Learning, 48, 159–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Munro, M. J., & Derwing, T. M. (2001). Modeling perceptions of the accentedness and comprehensibility of L2 speech. The role of speaking rate. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 23, 451–468.Google Scholar
Murty, L., Otake, T., & Cutler, A. (2007). Perceptual tests of rhythmic similarity: I. Mora rhythm. Language and Speech, 50, 77–99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nazzi, T., Bertoncini, J., & Mehler, J. (1998). Language discrimination by newborns: Toward an understanding of the role of rhythm. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 24, 756–766.Google ScholarPubMed
Nazzi, T., & Ramus, F. (2003). Perception and acquisition of linguistic rhythm by infants. Speech Communication, 41, 233–243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nolan, F., & Jeon, H.-S. (2014). Speech rhythm: A metaphor? Transactions of the Royal Society B, 369, 20130396. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2013.0396 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ordin, M., & Polyanskaya, L. (2014). Development of timing patterns in first and second languages. System, 42, 244–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ordin, M., & Polyanskaya, L. (2015a). Production and perception of speech rhythm in English as the second language: The case of rhythmically similar L1 and L2. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 316. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00316 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ordin, M., & Polyanskaya, L. (2015b). Acquisition of speech rhythm in a second language by learners with rhythmically different native languages. Journal of Acoustical Society of America, 138, 533–545.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Payne, E., Post, B., Astruc, L., Prieto, P., & del Mar Varnell, M. (2012). Measuring child speech. Language and Speech, 55, 203–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pellegrino, F., Coupé, C., & Marsico, E. (2011). Across-language perspective on speech information rate. Language, 87, 539–558.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polyanskaya, L., & Ordin, M. (2015). Acquisition of speech rhythm in first language. Journal of Acoustical Society of America, 138, EL199–EL204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Polyanskaya, L., Ordin, M., & Busa, M. G. (2017). Relative salience of speech rhythm and speech rate on perceived foreign accent in a second language. Language and Speech, 60(3), 333–355. doi:10.1177/0023830916648720 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prieto, P., del Mar Vanrell, M., Astruc, L., Payne, E., & Post, B. (2012). Phonotactic and phrasal properties of speech rhythm. Evidence from Catalan, English, and Spanish. Speech Communication, 54, 681–702.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quené, H. (2005). Modeling of between-speaker and within-speaker variation in spontaneous speech tempo. Paper presented at the European conference on Speech Communication and Technology (InterSpeech), Lisbon, Portugal, September 4–8.Google Scholar
Quene, H. (2007). On the just noticeable difference for tempo in speech. Journal of Phonetics, 35, 353–362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quené, H., & van Delft, L. (2010). Non-native durational patterns decrease speech intelligibility. Speech Communication, 52, 911–918.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramus, F., & Mehler, J. (1999). Language identification with suprasegmental cues: A study based on speech resynthesis. Journal of Acoustical Society of America, 105, 512–521.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ramus, F., Nespor, M., & Mehler, J. (1999). Correlates of linguistic rhythm in the speech signal. Cognition, 73, 265–292.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roach, P. (1998). Some languages are spoken more quickly than others. In Bauer, L. & Trudgill, P. (Eds.), Language myths (pp. 150–159). London: Penguin.Google Scholar
Segui, J., Dupoux, E., & Mehler, J. (1990). The role of the syllable in speech segmentation, phoneme identification and lexical access. In Altmann, G. (Ed.), Cognitive models of speech processing (pp. 263–280). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Stevens, K. (2002). Toward a model for lexical access based on acoustic landmarks and distinctive features. Journal of Acoustical Society of America, 111, 1872–1891.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tajima, K., Port, R., & Dalby, J. (1997). Effects of temporal correction on intelligibility of foreign-accented English. Journal of Phonetics, 25, 1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, D. S. (1981). Non-native speakers and the rhythm of English. International Review of Applied Linguistics and English Teaching, 19, 219–226.Google Scholar
Tortel, A., & Hirst, D. (2010). Rhythm metrics and the production of L1/L2. Paper presented at the 5th International Conference on Speech Prosody, Chicago.Google Scholar
Turk, A., & Shattuck-Hufnagel, S. (2014). Timing in talking: What is it used for, and how is it controlled? Transactions of the Royal Society B, 369, 20130395. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2013.0395 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Maastricht, L., Krahmer, E., Swerts, M., & Prieto, P. (in press). Learning direction matters. Studies in Second Language Acquisition. doi: 10.1017/S0272263118000062 Google Scholar
Vicenik, C., & Sundara, M. (2013). The role of intonation in language and dialect discrimination by adults. Journal of Phonetics, 41, 297–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, L., & Mattys, S. (2007). Calibrating rhythm: First language and second language studies. Journal of Phonetics, 35, 501–522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiget, L., White, L., Schuppler, B., Grenon, I., Rauch, O., & Mattys, S. (2010). How stable are acoustic metrics of contrastive speech rhythm? Journal of American Acoustical Society, 127, 1159–1569.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed