Second language acoustic–prosodic entrainment in conversation and storytelling

Abstract

Prosodic entrainment is the tendency for individuals to modify their acoustic-prosodic speech behaviors to converge with the behaviors of their interlocutors. Evidence of entrainment in the native language (L1) is robust, yet research regarding its development in the second language (L2) is sparse. To examine prosodic entrainment in spoken dialogues, we developed a natural speech corpus in which spontaneous conversations of 30 young adults were collected. Data from 15 dyadic groups of participants in the conversation and the story-telling sessions in both their native language (Mandarin Chinese) and L2 (English) were collected and analyzed. Prosodic entrainment has been examined with the low-level prosodic features, a bundle of the acoustic measure (i.e., f0, speaking rate), and voice measures (i.e., jitter and NHR). Individual difference measures (i.e., attention to details, communication skills) are also examined, and their correlations with the prosodic features are reported. The research is expected to contribute to the study of L2 prosody acquisition and human–machine interaction as well as future research in turn-taking, conversational analysis, and individual differences in L1 and L2 speech behaviors.