Acoustic convergence of voicing when shadowing an unfamiliar language and a non-native accent

Abstract

Previous work has established that speakers are able adjust the acoustic properties of their speech in order to mimic their interlocuter or speech model with whom they share a native language (e.g., Pardo, 2013). However, it is less clear whether convergence to accented speech and/or unfamiliar languages is also a possibility. The goal of the present study is to investigate acoustic convergence between two groups of native English speakers (N = 15 in each group) and a speaker of Russian-accented English versus a speaker of Russian. The study consisted of four experimental phases: baseline, exposure, shadowing, and post-test. Participants in both groups shadowed acoustically identical material, although one group was informed that they were hearing Russian-accented English words (ACC-ENG condition), while the second group was told that they were shadowing Russian words (RUS condition). Initial analysis of the VOT durations of participants’ voiceless stops indicated that only participants in the RUS group converged towards the models’ shorter VOT during shadowing, although this convergence did not generalize to participants’ pronunciation of English words during the post-test. Additional data analysis is ongoing. This presentation will also discuss results with respect to their implications for theories of speech accommodation and non-native speech learning.