scholarly journals The left and right periphery in native and non-native speech – A comparative study between French L1/L2, Spanish L1/L2 and Swedish L1

Author(s):  
Lars Fant ◽  
Inge Bartning ◽  
Rakel Österberg

AbstractHigh-proficient Swedish users of L2 French and Spanish were compared with native speakers of French, Spanish and Swedish with regard to how the syntactic peripheries in natural colloquial speech are structured. Two different though interrelated aspects were included: thus a cross-linguistic analysis comparing the three native speaker groups is combined with an analysis addressing the question of the upper limits of L2 acquisition. All left peripheral (LP) and right peripheral (RP) constituents of a corpus of 110,759 words were classified in a taxonomy relying both on syntactic and functional-pragmatic criteria. The cross-linguistic analysis showed that French and Spanish L1 speakers produced significantly longer LP sequences than the Swedish L1 speakers, who, in turn, put conspicuously more weight on the RP. Significant differences between the three languages were also found with regard to several LP and RP constituent categories. The L2 acquisition-oriented analysis showed that with few exceptions the high-proficient L2 users behaved like L1 users. Although a few interlanguage-related phenomena could be observed, no instances of any clear transfer from the speaker’s L1 appeared in either L2 speaker group.

2006 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARTIN HOWARD ◽  
ISABELLE LEMÉE ◽  
VERA REGAN

This article is situated within the recent strand of SLA research which applies variationist sociolinguistic methods to the study of the acquisition of sociolinguistic variation by the L2 speaker. Whilst that research has tended to focus on the study of morphological and morphosyntactic variables, this article aims to investigate a number of acquisitional trends identified in previous research in relation to phonological variation, namely the variable deletion of /l/ by Irish advanced L2 speakers of French in both an instructed and study abroad environment. Based on quantitative results using GoldVarb 2001, the study further illuminates the difficulty that the acquisition of sociolinguistic variation poses to the instructed L2 speaker, who is found to make minimal use of informal sociolinguistic variants. In contrast, contact with native speakers in the native speech community is seen to allow the L2 speaker to make considerable sociolinguistic gains, not only in relation to the acquisition of the informal variant in itself, but also in relation to the underlying native speaker grammatical system as indicated by the constraint ordering at work behind use of the variable.


2011 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 10-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lieven Buysse

Abstract This paper investigates how foreign language learners use discourse markers (such as so, well, you know, I mean) in English speech. These small words that do not contribute much, if anything at all, to the propositional content of a message but modify it in subtle ways, are often considered among the last elements acquired in a foreign language. This contribution reports on close scrutiny of a corpus of English-spoken interviews with Belgian native speakers of Dutch, half of whom are undergraduates majoring in Commercial Sciences and half of whom are majoring in English Linguistics, and sets it off against a comparable native speaker corpus. The investigation shows that the language learners exhibit a clear preference for “operative discourse markers” and neglect or avoid “involvement discourse markers”. It is argued that in learner speech the former take on functions typically fulfilled by the latter to a greater extent than in native speech, and that in some cases the learners revert to a code-switching strategy to cater for their pragmatic needs, bringing markers from Dutch into their English speech. Finally, questions are raised as to the place of such pragmatic devices in foreign language learning.


Author(s):  
Yolanda Joy Calvo-Benzies

This paper focuses on non-native accents in ESP classrooms. In particular it looks at native and non-native speakers of English accents used in the audio material accompanying six ESP textbooks. In a second study, a group of undergraduate ESP students of Law and Tourism were asked to assess some of the non-native speakers accents found in these materials, focussing on aspects such as fluency, pronunciation, intelligibility and foreign accent. More specifically, they were asked to rate the following non-native accents of speakers in English: French, German, Polish, Chinese and Spanish. Results from the first part of the study show that native speaker models continue to be present in ESP textbooks to a far higher degree than non-native ones. In the second part, the non-native accents that students rated most positively were those of German and Polish speakers, and those seen in the most negative terms were French and Spanish. In general, the Law students tended to value native accents more than non-native ones, whereas students of Tourism broadly accept both native and non-native accents.


1987 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shoshana Blum-Kulka ◽  
Edward A. Levenston

Our main aim in this paper is to explore the interlanguage pragmatics of learners of Hebrew and English. We focus on the use of pragmatic indicators, both lexical (please/bevaqaŝa; perhaps/ulay) and grammatical (e.g., the difference between could I borrow and could you lend), with particular reference to deviations from native-speaker norms in the speech of non-native speakers. The analysis follows the analytical framework developed for the Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realization Project (CCSARP). Data from two sets are analyzed: (a) native and non-native Hebrew, and (b) native and non-native English (with occasional reference to other CCSARP data sets). The results suggest that non-native speakers' misuse of pragmatic indicators can have serious interactional consequences, ranging from inappropriateness to pragmatic failure.


1982 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evangeline Marios Varonis ◽  
Susan Gass

This study presents data collected from both natural settings and controlled experiments in order to describe native speaker responses to non-natives and to discuss what variables of a non-native's speech might elicit these responses. We present the results of three experiments. The first investigates native speaker reactions to requests for information by both native and non-native speakers in a natural setting. Experiment two is a controlled study focussing on two variables of non-native speech—pronunciation and grammar—and the response of native speakers to these variables. Experiment three examines the relationship between these variables and native speaker comprehension. Experiment four focuses on the effect of ordering on comprehensibility. We then discuss the role all of these factors play in the comprehensibility of non-native speech. We suggest that comprehensibility is achieved through a complex interaction of many factors and that it is comprehensibility which largely contributes to the use of foreigner talk by native speakers.


2021 ◽  
pp. 026765832110176
Author(s):  
Timothy Gupton ◽  
Silvia Sánchez Calderón

We examine the second language (L2) acquisition of variable Spanish word order by first language (L1) speakers of English via the acquisition of unaccusative and transitive predicates in various focus-related contexts. We employ two bimodal linguistic tasks: (1) acceptability judgment task (B-AJT) and (2) appropriateness preference task (B-APT). Both present contextualized prompts similar to previous studies, followed by response options with accompanying audio to control for intonation and pauses. Results suggest a number of key findings: (1) by the high intermediate level, L2ers acquire the relevant syntactic and syntax information structure interface competencies for both predicate types; (2) native speakers and L2 groups exhibit optionality, and only differ in nuanced ways; and (3) advanced learners show signs of acquiring syntactic and syntax–information structure competencies in numerous contexts, but display minor differences regarding optionality with corrective focus, an interface incorporating multiple interfaces (syntax–prosody pragmatics). Unlike the predictions of the Interface Hypothesis (IH), this subtle, non-native-like divergence is characterized by divergent knowledge of optionality similar to that found among native speakers. Attempting to understand more completely the development of native-speaker optionality, we also conduct a corpus study of child-directed Spanish from CHILDES and find that, although syntactic theory explains much of the data, it cannot account for all of the variability in the data. Results suggest that children are exposed to apparent optionality from the earliest stages.


1994 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Bennett

This article addresses the question of L1 transfer in L2 acquisition of reflexive binding. It incorporates recent research on Binding Theory which focuses on the relationship between morphological complexity of anaphors and the occurrence of long-distance binding of reflexives (cf. Yang, 1983; Pica, 1987; Hellan, 1988; Battistella, 1989; Huang and Tang, 1989; Cole et al., 1990; Progovac, 1992). Reflexives typically fall into two categories: simple (X0) reflexives that may take long-distance antecedents and complex (XP) refle xives that may not. Acquisition of the English binding pattern by native speakers of Serbo-Croatian requires recognition of the morphological com plexity of English reflexives. Prior to reanalysis, learners are predicted to transfer the L1 X0anaphor type and incorrectly assign long-distance antece dents to English XP reflexives.The interpretation of English reflexives by native speakers of Serbo- Croatian was investigated using two types of written sentence comprehension tasks. A picture identification task and a multiple-choice questionnaire were administered to intermediate ( n = 20) and advanced (n = 20) L2 learners and a group of English native speaker controls (n = 20). Results consistent across task type support the transfer hypothesis and suggest learners have access to Universal Grammar in second language acquisition.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 284-296
Author(s):  
Paweł Korpal ◽  
◽  
Mikołaj Sobkowiak ◽  

The main objective of the study was to test the applicability of Bent and Bradlow’s matched interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit to the Danish-Polish language pair. We aimed to verify whether it was easier for Polish students of Danish to understand a Danish native speaker or a Polish speaker with a proficient command of Danish. Sixteen Polish students, divided into two groups of eight, listened to two recordings of two Danish texts: one recorded by a native speaker of Danish and the other one — by a native speaker of Polish who is a graduate of Danish philology from a Polish university. Before the experiment, all of the recordings were evaluated in terms of traces of foreign accent using a 7-point Likert scale, the experts being native speakers of Danish. The evaluators assessed the Polish native speaker’s pronunciation as proficient, but they identified certain segmental and suprasegmental features in his speech that are common indicators of a foreign accent in Danish. During the experiment, participants were asked to fill in each recording transcript with twenty missing words. The analysis of the results revealed that the participants scored higher when listening to the text recorded by the Polish speaker. Hence, the matched interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit was observed in a study using Polish as L1 (native language) and Danish as a foreign language. The study may provide a valuable insight into the question of non-native speech perception, foreign-accented speech and the veracity of the matched interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit for the Polish–Danish language pair.


Author(s):  
Elvi Syahrin ◽  
Tengku Silvana Sinar ◽  
Eddy Setia ◽  
Nurlela Nurlela

This study anchored in the field of Interlanguage Pragmatic (ILP). The approach taken is speech act based. The investigation focuses on realization of polite requests produced by Indonesian learners of Français langue étrangère (FLE) (henceforth abbreviated as ILF) and native speakers of French (henceforth abbreviated as NSF). The model used for the investigation is the Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realization Project (CCSARP) model formulated by Blum-Kulka et al. (1989), modified by Warga (2005) and Bae (2012). The model applied to the analysis of the data is based on three politeness systems of social relationship between speaker and addressee proposed by Scollon and Scollon (2001). Data was be collected by using Written Discourse Completion Test (WDCT). Six out of twelve request situations formulated by Reiter (2000) categorized into each politeness system were selected to be analyzed. The WDCT were tested to 20 ILF; 1 learner of Universitas Negeri Medan and 19 learners of Universitas Negeri Jakarta. The 20 participants are those who are certified of Diplôme d'études en langue française (DELF) of B2 level (advanced level). As the baseline data of the study, the e-mailed data of 20 NSF were also collected. The study found that there is a preference of Indonesian learners of FLE and native speaker of French to use Conventional Indirect strategy in their requests. This strategy, even realized in slightly different number of use, was highly used and considered to be the most polite request by the two groups.


Author(s):  
Владимир Александрович Иванов

В статье рассматриваются слова, вышедшие из употребления в разговорной речи, но сохранившиеся в воспроизведенном виде на чувашском языке в переводе произведения И. В. Гете «Фауст», выполненном Н. А. Андреевым (Урхи). Термин «стилистика», будучи учением об употреблении языка, трактуется нами как индивидуальная манера речи переводчика в процессе выявления архаизмов в чувашском варианте. Дифференциация письменного и разговорного стилей осуществляется с учетом национальных корней. Прерогатива в тексте трагедии принадлежит диалогу, в котором наиболее транспарентно представлены возможности стилистических особенностей употребления древних лексем, ставших для носителей языка архаизмами. Отдельно в качестве выразительных средств языка анализируются устаревшие устойчивые словосочетания, в которых функционально необходимый архаический стиль вызван к жизни пером Урхи, переводчика-самоучки (нем. Dolmetscher, чув. тăлмач, толмач). Семь лексических единиц из числа архаизмов характеризуются выделением двух степеней устарелости в зависимости от их употребления носителем простонародной речи и исследователем, усвоившим современный литературный язык по книгам, в одном лице. Н. А. Урхи освоил речь с молоком матери в самобытном натуральном пространстве во время активного повседневного общения в трудовой деятельности. Языком перевода он овладел своеобразно - благодаря учебникам для самообразования, самоподготовке к экзаменам экстерном, заочной форме обучения, т. е. его становление как переводчика шло дистанционно и долго (стал студентом вуза в возрасте 75 лет). В возрасте 88 лет Н. А. Урхи представил трагедию на своем материнском языке в Центральную библиотеку г. Веймар, тем самым увековечив свое имя в ряду переводчиков классики на чувашский язык. В статье его труд репрезентируется с целью активизации архаизмов в устной и письменной речи, ибо во времена переводчика Н. А. Урхи они были живым голосом современности. The article considers the words that have become obsolete in colloquial speech but preserved in reproduced form in the Chuvash language in the translation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s «Faust» made by N.A. Andreev (Urkhi). The author considers «style» as an individual manner of the translator’s speech in the process of identification of archaisms in the Chuvash language. Written and colloquial styles vary based on the ethnic background. The dialogue plays a prerogative role in the text of the tragedy, in which the possibilities of stylistic features of the use of ancient lexemes are most transparently presented and which have become archaisms for native speakers. The article analyzes as the archaic set phrases in which Urkhi, the Chuvash self-taught translator (German: Dolmetscher, Chuvash: tălmach) brought the archaic style to life. Seven archaisms are characterized by the two degrees of obsolescence depending on their use by both the native speaker of the vulgar language and the researcher of the modern literary language. Urkhi learnt the vulgar speech early in his childhood in an authentic natural environment during daily communication when working. He mastered the language of translation in a peculiar way. Urkhi was able to do that thanks to the textbooks for self-education, passing exams without attending lectures, being an external student. His becoming a translator took him a long time (he became a university student at the age of 75). At the age of 88, Urkhi contributed Goethe’s «Faust» in his mother language to the Central Library of the city of Weimar, thereby perpetuating his name among the translators of the classic literature into the Chuvash language. The article presents his work with the goal of activating the archaisms in oral and written speech, because in the time of Urkhi those archaisms were the living voice of his modernity.


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