Assessing foreign language speech rhythm in multilingual learners
-
Christoph Gabriel
Abstract
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.
Abstract
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.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Transfer effects in multilingual language development 1
-
Psycholinguistic Approaches to Language Transfer
- The relationship between L3 transfer and structural similarity across development 21
- Segmental targets versus lexical interference 53
- Foreign accent in heritage speakers of Turkish in Germany 87
-
Transfer in Language Learning and Language Contact
- Lexical cross-linguistic influence in third language development 111
- Effects of cross-linguistic influence in word formation 129
- Transfer effects in the acquisition of English as an additional language by bilingual children in Germany 147
- Let’s fix it? Cross-linguistic influence in word order patterns of Russian heritage speakers in Germany 161
-
Transfer in Applied Linguistics
- Assessing foreign language speech rhythm in multilingual learners 191
- Cross-linguistic transfer of academic language in multilingual adolescents 221
- Bilingual resources and school context 249
-
Methodology on Transfer
- Do immigrant children profit from heritage language proficiencies? 277
- Automated L1 identification in English learner essays and its implications for language transfer 297
- The nature of the initial state of child L2 grammar 323
- List of Indices 345
- Name Index 349
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Transfer effects in multilingual language development 1
-
Psycholinguistic Approaches to Language Transfer
- The relationship between L3 transfer and structural similarity across development 21
- Segmental targets versus lexical interference 53
- Foreign accent in heritage speakers of Turkish in Germany 87
-
Transfer in Language Learning and Language Contact
- Lexical cross-linguistic influence in third language development 111
- Effects of cross-linguistic influence in word formation 129
- Transfer effects in the acquisition of English as an additional language by bilingual children in Germany 147
- Let’s fix it? Cross-linguistic influence in word order patterns of Russian heritage speakers in Germany 161
-
Transfer in Applied Linguistics
- Assessing foreign language speech rhythm in multilingual learners 191
- Cross-linguistic transfer of academic language in multilingual adolescents 221
- Bilingual resources and school context 249
-
Methodology on Transfer
- Do immigrant children profit from heritage language proficiencies? 277
- Automated L1 identification in English learner essays and its implications for language transfer 297
- The nature of the initial state of child L2 grammar 323
- List of Indices 345
- Name Index 349
