On prosodic variation and pronunciation aptitude: A case study of German speakers of English.

Abstract

The present study investigates prosodic variation, as realized by L1 German speakers of varying pronunciation aptitude (below‐average, average, and above‐average) in comparison with native speakers of English. The results demonstrate the frequency of distribution of various pitch contours in read and spontaneous speech samples, English and German, on both the phonological (ToBI pitch accents and boundary tones) and phonetic levels. The latter is analyzed using a parametric intonation model (Moehler 2001). On the phonological level the rising contours, i.e., boundary tones and pitch accents, have a wider distribution in German as well as English productions of the German subjects as compared to the L1 English speakers. In German the percentages in all the aptitude groups are almost equal covering about 50% of all contours. Their English language realizations, on the other hand, are marked by a scarcer distribution of the rising pattern, with the highest percentages in the below‐average and average groups and lowest by the above‐average speakers. Consequently, there is a clearcut tendency for the native pattern in the German speakers’ samples. Nonetheless there is evidence for accommodation to the English variation pattern, which is strongest in the above‐average aptitude group.