Patterns of Prominence in Swedish Second Language (L2) Speakers and Native (L1) Speakers of Spanish: Spontaneous Dialogue versus Read Text

Abstract

Abstract This study aims to describe and analyze prosodic differences in prominence realization in both spontaneous and read speech produced by Swedish second language speakers (L2 speakers) in comparison with native speakers (L1 speakers) of Spanish. A further aim of the study is to provide concrete descriptions of the differences between L2 and L1 prominence realization that may serve as tools for language teachers. Phonetic, phonological and to some extent pragmatic aspects will be considered. Results show that the F0 (fundamental frequency) rises in prominent words are steeper and faster in native speech than in L2 speech. Results also show that stressed vowels have longer duration in prominent words in L2 than in L1 Spanish. The number of boundary rises used by both groups differed significantly according to task and group. Pragmatic aspects, such as the use of different intersubjectivity seeking strategies, might explain differences found exclusively in the spontaneous task.