Speech accommodation across communication partners by adolescent speakers

Abstract

Communication context has considerable impact on speech production, with speakers accommodating their speech based on the needs and attributes of their communication partner. For instance, speakers demonstrate acoustic-phonetic convergence, wherein they alter their speech characteristics to converge with those of their communication partner (e.g., Borrie & Liss, 2014). This speech modulation promotes closeness, shared identity, and communication effectiveness. While documented in adult speakers, the occurrence and presentation of speech accommodation throughout development is unclear. The current study compared the acoustic characteristics of speech samples produced by adolescent speakers in isolation versus in response to communication partners. Twelve neurotypical male adolescents (13–17 years) read sentences aloud with and without pre-exposure to speech recordings collected from four speakers varying by age and sex. Acoustic correlates of rhythm and prosody were compared across elicitation conditions. ...