Fluency-related Temporal Features and Syllable Prominence as Prosodic Proficiency Predictors for Learners of English with Different Language Backgrounds.

Heini Kallio,Antti Suni,Juraj Šimko

doi:10.1177/00238309211040175

Abstract

Prosodic features are important in achieving intelligibility, comprehensibility, and fluency in a second or foreign language (L2). However, research on the assessment of prosody as part of oral proficiency remains scarce. Moreover, the acoustic analysis of L2 prosody has often focused on fluency-related temporal measures, neglecting language-dependent stress features that can be quantified in terms of syllable prominence. Introducing the evaluation of prominence-related measures can be of use in developing both teaching and assessment of L2 speaking skills. In this study we compare temporal measures and syllable prominence estimates as predictors of prosodic proficiency in non-native speakers of English with respect to the speaker’s native language (L1).The predictive power of temporal and prominence measures was evaluated for utterance-sized samples produced by language learners from four different L1 backgrounds: Czech, Slovak, Polish, and Hungarian. Firstly, the speech samples were assessed using the revised Common European Framework of Reference scale for prosodic features. The assessed speech samples were then analyzed to derive articulation rate and three fluency measures. Syllable-level prominence was estimated by a continuous wavelet transform analysis using combinations of F0, energy, and syllable duration.The results show that the temporal measures serve as reliable predictors of prosodic proficiency in the L2, with prominence measures providing a small but significant improvement to prosodic proficiency predictions. The predictive power of the individual measures varies both quantitatively and qualitatively depending on the L1 of the speaker. We conclude that the possible effects of the speaker’s L1 on the production of L2 prosody in terms of temporal features as well as syllable prominence deserve more attention in applied research and developing teaching and assessment methods for spoken L2.

Highlights

The ability to speak proficiently is often the ultimate goal associated with mastering a second or foreign language (L2)
The results show that the temporal measures serve as reliable predictors of prosodic proficiency in the L2, with prominence measures providing a small but significant improvement to prosodic proficiency predictions
As we did not control for the general language proficiency levels of the participants prior to speech data collection, the prosodic proficiency grade distributions vary among the L1 groups

Summary

Introduction

The ability to speak proficiently is often the ultimate goal associated with mastering a second or foreign language (L2). Oral L2 proficiency includes many facets, but a core skill in spoken communication is pronunciation on both segmental (individual sounds) and suprasegmental or prosodic (e.g., intonation, rhythm, and stress) levels. While the well-known language learning theories have focused on the segmental aspects of pronunciation (Best et al, 1994; Flege, 1995; Kuhl, 1993), prosody has received increased attention among L2 researchers in the past decade (Isaacs, 2018). Prosodic features form the backbone of speech, providing the structure that links individual sounds to one another, and shapes both linguistic and paralinguistic meanings. The investigation of prosodic factors that can affect spoken language proficiency is of interest to basic science and to applied research related to language pedagogy and assessment. This study continues the scrutiny of prosodic aspects of oral language proficiency with a focus on global and local temporal features in speech

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