Chapter 8 Channeling Charlie: Suprasegmental pronunciation in a second language learner’s performance of others’ voices
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Leah Moreno
Abstract
This chapter explores interlanguage in use by analyzing suprasegmental pronunciation in narratives recounted by Heriberto, an adult immigrant who began learning and using English in his late teens. Within these narratives, Heriberto performed the ‘voices’ of people whom he had interacted with in the past, including the voices of coworkers, former roommates, and even a student who attended the school where he worked. The quotes within his narrative are not direct quotes in a strict sense but align with the phenomenon of ‘constructed dialogue’ (Yule 1998). Some of the most interesting work on constructed dialogue comes from a sociocultural framework. Specifically, there is a small but growing body of research that applies Bakhtin’s ([1934] 1981) constructs of multivoicedness and heteroglossia to the voice performance of multilingual speakers and second language learners (Broner and Tarone 2001; LaScotte 2016, 2019; LaScotte and Tarone 2019; LaScotte, Meyers, and Tarone 2023). Following these studies, I utilize Bakhtin’s construct of multivoicedness in my analysis of the participant’s suprasegmental pronunciation when performing voices in constructed dialogue. Through qualitative and quantitative analysis, including comparisons of suprasegmental pronunciation features in the participant’s base style and in his performances of other voices, I examine the way his stylization in double voicing reflects varieties of English commonly enacted in the local culture. Stimulated recall was employed to explore the participant’s insights into his own use of others’ voices. This chapter concludes by reflecting on second language acquisition and agency, considering these findings, and suggesting possible implications for the teaching of pronunciation in the second language classroom.
Abstract
This chapter explores interlanguage in use by analyzing suprasegmental pronunciation in narratives recounted by Heriberto, an adult immigrant who began learning and using English in his late teens. Within these narratives, Heriberto performed the ‘voices’ of people whom he had interacted with in the past, including the voices of coworkers, former roommates, and even a student who attended the school where he worked. The quotes within his narrative are not direct quotes in a strict sense but align with the phenomenon of ‘constructed dialogue’ (Yule 1998). Some of the most interesting work on constructed dialogue comes from a sociocultural framework. Specifically, there is a small but growing body of research that applies Bakhtin’s ([1934] 1981) constructs of multivoicedness and heteroglossia to the voice performance of multilingual speakers and second language learners (Broner and Tarone 2001; LaScotte 2016, 2019; LaScotte and Tarone 2019; LaScotte, Meyers, and Tarone 2023). Following these studies, I utilize Bakhtin’s construct of multivoicedness in my analysis of the participant’s suprasegmental pronunciation when performing voices in constructed dialogue. Through qualitative and quantitative analysis, including comparisons of suprasegmental pronunciation features in the participant’s base style and in his performances of other voices, I examine the way his stylization in double voicing reflects varieties of English commonly enacted in the local culture. Stimulated recall was employed to explore the participant’s insights into his own use of others’ voices. This chapter concludes by reflecting on second language acquisition and agency, considering these findings, and suggesting possible implications for the teaching of pronunciation in the second language classroom.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Chapter 1 Introduction to heteroglossia and language play in multilingual speech 1
- Chapter 2 Getting serious about language play: Language play, interlanguage variation and second language acquisition 17
- Chapter 3 Voice, stance, and role in Chinese immersion second graders’ language use 43
- Chapter 4 Escríbalo en tu own words, güey 67
- Chapter 5 Pedagogical language play in a beginning L2 Chinese classroom 91
- Chapter 6 Translanguaging and language play 117
- Chapter 7 Language play and social positioning in L2 narrative retells 137
- Chapter 8 Channeling Charlie: Suprasegmental pronunciation in a second language learner’s performance of others’ voices 161
- Chapter 9 Coda: Pedagogical implications and applications for language play beyond second/foreign language learning 191
- Subject Index 205
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Chapter 1 Introduction to heteroglossia and language play in multilingual speech 1
- Chapter 2 Getting serious about language play: Language play, interlanguage variation and second language acquisition 17
- Chapter 3 Voice, stance, and role in Chinese immersion second graders’ language use 43
- Chapter 4 Escríbalo en tu own words, güey 67
- Chapter 5 Pedagogical language play in a beginning L2 Chinese classroom 91
- Chapter 6 Translanguaging and language play 117
- Chapter 7 Language play and social positioning in L2 narrative retells 137
- Chapter 8 Channeling Charlie: Suprasegmental pronunciation in a second language learner’s performance of others’ voices 161
- Chapter 9 Coda: Pedagogical implications and applications for language play beyond second/foreign language learning 191
- Subject Index 205
