Accent, Comprehensibility, and Confidence in Second and Third Languages of Adolescents: How Do They Relate to Language Proficiency and Language Interactions?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Elin Thordardottir ◽  
Guðlaugur Hávarðarson
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Comfort Level ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Educational Placement ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Incidental Exposure ◽  
Language Exposure

Purpose This study examines the degree to which adolescents in Iceland are judged by native Icelandic speakers to have a foreign accent both in Icelandic and in English, two languages that are learned under different conditions, as the community and school language, and through school and incidental exposure. Method Fifty-eight adolescents, 27 with Icelandic as their first language (L1), 21 as their second language (L2), and 10 as one of two L1s read passages in Icelandic and English. Twelve untrained native speakers of Icelandic rated the degree of foreign accent, comprehensibility, and confidence level and selected from multiple-choice options what they thought was the L1 of the speakers. Results Significant group differences were found in Icelandic but not in English. L2 speakers had a significantly greater foreign accent than the other groups in Icelandic; however, there was substantial overlap with some L2 speakers judged to be native and some L1 speakers judged as nonnative. All groups had a significantly greater accent in English than in Icelandic. Accent was judged more sternly than comprehensibility and confidence and related differently to vocabulary proficiency. Conclusions Accent is typically not considered in studies of bilingual attainment in children for purposes of clinical assessment or educational placement but should be given closer attention. The study confirms previous findings that many young L2 learners have a detectable foreign accent. The overlap with L1 speakers also raises questions about the ideal of a native accent. More research is needed on how accent relates to bilingual and multilingual proficiency and on its impacts on comfort level, ease of communication, choice of language, and language exposure.

First language effects on the identification and evaluation of second language speech

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-194
Author(s):  
Anne-France Pinget
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language Aptitude ◽  
Content Type ◽  
It Impacts ◽  
Language Effects

Abstract In Belgium, Dutch as spoken by Francophone learners is relatively frequent in political, commercial or educational contexts. While the characteristics of this second language (L2) variety have been studied extensively, there is to date no systematic report of how it is evaluated by either native speakers of Dutch or non-natives. Previous studies conducted in other language contexts have found that non-natives tend to be very critical towards L2 accents similar to their own. The main goal of the present study is to investigate the extent to which the listener’s first language (L1) impacts ratings of the fluency, accentedness and comprehensibility of L2 Dutch as spoken by Francophone learners and how it impacts the identification of the speakers’ L1. Specifically, we compared ratings by three groups of listeners: Francophone learners of Dutch, native speakers of Belgian Dutch and native speakers of Netherlandic Dutch. Moreover, the extent to which three additional cognitive and environmental factors influence L2 ratings is examined: listeners’ familiarity with the L2 variety, their language aptitude and language proficiency. The results show that the majority of native and non-native listeners recognized the speakers’ L1 (French). Non-native listeners perceived L2 speech as less fluent, less comprehensible and more accented than natives did, which corroborates the previously reported critical attitudes towards a shared L2 accent. Moreover, subtle differences in accent and fluency ratings were found between the Netherlandic Dutch and the Belgian Dutch listeners. No clear effects of other cognitive and environmental factors appeared in the ratings.

Phonetic, Phonological, and Language Skills of Children with a Cleft Palate

2003 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 460-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Morris ◽  
Anne Ozanne
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Cleft Palate ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Expressive Language ◽  
Speech Development ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Language Measures

Objective To evaluate the language, phonetic, and phonological skills at age 3 years of two groups of young children with a cleft palate, with different expressive language proficiency at 2 years of age. Design Two groups of children with a cleft palate with differing abilities in early expressive language skills were identified at age 2 years. Comparisons across groups were made over a range of speech and language measures at age 3 years. Participants Twenty children with cleft palate were allocated to two groups dependent on expressive language abilities at age 2 years. One group had normal language development, and the second group had been identified as having significantly delayed (8 to 12 months’ delay) expressive language development. Main Outcome Measures The children were assessed at 3 years of age using standardized assessments and spontaneous speech samples. Comparisons between the two groups were made on a range of language measures including comprehension, expressive language, and speech. Results Group differences were found on both language and speech abilities at age 3 years. Significant group differences were found in expressive language, percentage of consonants correct, phonetic inventory, and phonological process usage. The group with delayed early expressive language abilities at 2 years continued to have expressive language difficulties at 3 years of age and had more disordered speech development, compared with the nondelayed group. Conclusions A subgroup of children with a cleft palate was identified who exhibited delays in early expressive language and continued to have delayed language and disordered phonological patterns at a later age. Support for three possible etiologies including a structural/anatomical deficit, cognitive/linguistic delay, or language/phonological disorder are discussed.

Acoustic Sources of Accent in Second Language Japanese Speech

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaori Idemaru ◽  
Peipei Wei ◽  
Lucy Gubbins
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
American English ◽  
First Language ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
Prosodic Features ◽  
Acoustic Measurements ◽  
Acoustic Characteristics ◽  
Chinese Speakers

This study reports an exploratory analysis of the acoustic characteristics of second language (L2) speech which give rise to the perception of a foreign accent. Japanese speech samples were collected from American English and Mandarin Chinese speakers ( n = 16 in each group) studying Japanese. The L2 participants and native speakers ( n = 10) provided speech samples modeling after six short sentences. Segmental (vowels and stops) and prosodic features (rhythm, tone, and fluency) were examined. Native Japanese listeners ( n = 10) rated the samples with regard to degrees of foreign accent. The analyses predicting accent ratings based on the acoustic measurements indicated that one of the prosodic features in particular, tone (defined as high and low patterns of pitch accent and intonation in this study), plays an important role in robustly predicting accent rating in L2 Japanese across the two first language (L1) backgrounds. These results were consistent with the prediction based on phonological and phonetic comparisons between Japanese and English, as well as Japanese and Mandarin Chinese. The results also revealed L1-specific predictors of perceived accent in Japanese. The findings of this study contribute to the growing literature that examines sources of perceived foreign accent.

Voicing Assimilation in Czech and Slovak Speakers of English: Interactions of Segmental Context, Language and Strength of Foreign Accent

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Radek Skarnitzl ◽  
Pavel Šturm
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
English Speaker ◽  
British English ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects ◽  
Slavic Languages ◽  
Language Groups

This study focuses on voicing assimilation across word boundaries in the speech of second language (L2) users. We compare native speakers of British English to speakers of two West Slavic languages, Czech and Slovak, which, despite their many similarities, differ with respect to voicing assimilation rules. Word-final voicing was analysed in 30 speakers, using the static value of voicing percentage and the voicing profile method. The results of linear mixed-effects modelling suggest an effect of first language (L1) transfer in all L2 English speaker groups, with the tendency to assimilate being correlated with the strength of foreign accent. Importantly, the two language groups differed in assimilation strategies before sonorant consonants, as a clear effect of L1-based phonetic influence.

scholarly journals When a seven is not a seven: Self-ratings of bilingual language proficiency differ between and within language populations

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 516-536 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRENDAN TOMOSCHUK ◽  
VICTOR S. FERREIRA ◽  
TAMAR H. GOLLAN
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Classification Accuracy ◽  
Picture Naming ◽  
The Self ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Population Differences ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Population Comparisons ◽  
Language Membership

Self-ratings of language proficiency are ubiquitous in research on bilingualism, but little is known about their validity, especially when the same scale is used across different types of bilinguals. Self-ratings and picture naming data from 1044 Spanish–English and 519 Chinese–English bilinguals were analyzed in five between- and within-population comparisons. Chinese–English bilinguals scored more extremely than Spanish–English bilinguals, and in opposite directions at different endpoints of the self-ratings scale. Regrouping bilinguals by dominant language, instead of language membership, reduced discrepancies but significant group differences remained. Population differences appeared even in English, though this language is shared between populations. These results demonstrate significant problems with self-ratings, especially when comparing bilinguals of different language combinations; and subgroups of bilinguals who speak the same languages but vary in acquisition history and/or dominance. Objective proficiency measures (e.g., picture naming or proficiency interviews) are superior to self-ratings, to maximize classification accuracy and consistency across studies.

Structure of the second language mental lexicon: how does it compare to native speakers' lexical organization?

2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alla Zareva
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Word Association ◽  
First Language ◽  
General Assumption ◽  
Lexical Organization ◽  
Lexical Knowledge ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
L2 Learners

One of the questions frequently asked in second language (L2) lexical research is how L2 learners' patterns of lexical organization compare to those of native speakers (NSs). A growing body of research addresses this question by using word association (WA) tests. However, little research has been done on the role of language proficiency in the associative patterning of L2 learners' lexical knowledge, especially the way it affects the quantitative and the qualitative patterns of meaning connections. Similarly, no research attention has been devoted to the strength of the relationship between these patterns, although the general assumption seems to be that they are interrelated. To address these issues, first some traditional distinctions that first language (L1) WA researchers make between the qualitative and quantitative features of WA domains are discussed. Next, the application of WA tests in L2 studies and some of the most significant findings concerning L2 learners' vocabulary structure are briefly reviewed. Finally, a study involving native speakers ( n = 29), L2 advanced ( n = 29) and L2 intermediate learners of English ( n = 29) is presented. Results suggest that differences in the organization of lexical knowledge between L2 speakers and NSs are quantitative rather than qualitative.

scholarly journals A Corpus-based Study of Collocation Production of Chinese EFL Learners

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 66
Author(s):  
Bowen Gao ◽  
Lin Zhu ◽  
Lin Zhu ◽  
Ziyan Luo ◽  
Ziyan Luo
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
School Students ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Language Influence

It is of great difficult for EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners to acquire collocation. This research investigated V + N collocation production of Chinese middle school university EFL learners based on TECCL (Ten-thousand English Composition of Chinese Learners) corpus, aiming at discovering the difficulties in collocation usage. In the study, collocations in the writing samples were identified manually and evaluated by dictionaries, corpus and native speakers as right or wrong. Collocation accuracy was figured out and errors were examined. Therefore, difficulties in collocation usage were discovered. The data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively to yield the following three findings: first, middle school students and university students respectively produced 79% and 83% correct collocations among their collocation production. Second, collocation accuracy did not improve significantly as overall L2 (second language) proficiency increases. Third, wrong choice of verb and noun was the largest problem for Chinese EFL learners. The results also suggested that L1 (first language) influence and deficiency in L2 knowledge affected collocation usage. Based on these findings, pedagogical implications were discussed.

Impact of early home language exposure on phonological and orthographic skills and their contributions to English literacy abilities in English monolingual and Chinese–English bilingual adults

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEPHANIE H. M. YEONG ◽  
JANET FLETCHER ◽  
DONNA M. BAYLISS
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Word Reading ◽  
First Language ◽  
English Word ◽  
Orthographic Processing ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Phonological Skills ◽  
Reading And Spelling ◽  
English Monolingual

ABSTRACTRelatively little is known about the importance of phonological and orthographic processing skills for reading and spelling in monolingual and bilingual adults. We compared these underlying skills, using a series of phonological and orthographic tasks, in English monolingual (n = 28), English first language and Chinese second language bilingual (n = 21), and Chinese first language and English second language bilingual adults (n = 22) who were equally proficient in reading and spelling English, and examined the contributions of these skills to English word reading and spelling for each group. The results showed group differences in phonological processing, with English monolingual adults having better phonological skills than both groups of bilingual adults. No significant group differences were found for orthographic processing. Regression analyses showed phonological skills were a unique predictor of English word reading for both bilingual groups, but not for the English monolingual group. Orthographic skills were a significant predictor of English word spelling, but only for the English monolingual adults. This suggests there may be a long-lasting influence of being exposed to two contrasting languages on skills underlying literacy in bilingual individuals.

THE ROLE OF THE FIRST LANGUAGE IN SECOND LANGUAGE READING

2001 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 469-495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Upton ◽  
Li-Chun Lee-Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
Second Language Reading ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
L2 Reading ◽  
Comprehension Process

Reading in a second language (L2) is not a monolingual event; L2 readers have access to their first language (L1) as they read, and many use it as a strategy to help comprehend an L2 text. Owing to difficulties in observing the comprehension process, little research has been conducted to determine what role the L1 plays in the reading strategies of L2 readers. Using think-aloud protocols and retrospective interviews with 20 native speakers of Chinese and Japanese at three levels of language proficiency studying in the United States, this study explores further the question of when L2 readers use their L1 cognitive resources and how this cognitive use of the L1 helps them comprehend an L2 text. We conclude by suggesting that the results support a sociocultural view of the L2 reading process.

Foreign Accent in Adult Simultaneous Bilinguals

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanja Kupisch ◽  
Dagmar Barton ◽  
Katja Hailer ◽  
Ewgenia Klaschik ◽  
Ilse Stangen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Current Understanding ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
Heritage Speaker ◽  
L1 And L2

The study reported in this paper examines foreign accent (FA) in adult simultaneous bilinguals (2L1ers). Specifically, we investigate how accent is affected if a first language is acquired as a minority (heritage) language as compared to a majority (dominant) language. We compare the perceived FA in both languages of 38 adult 2L1ers (German-French and German-Italian) to that of monolingual native speakers (L1ers) and late second language learners (L2ers). Naturalistic speech samples are judged by 84 native speakers of the respective languages. Results indicate that the majority language is always spoken without an FA, while results for the heritage language fall between those of L1 and L2 speakers. For the heritage language, we further show that a native accent correlates with length of residence in the heritage country during childhood but not during adulthood. Furthermore, raters have comparatively more difficulties when judging the accent of a heritage speaker. The results of this study add to our current understanding of what factors shape the phonology of a heritage language system in adulthood.

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