The hierarchies of phonetic realization of focus in second language speech

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to examine the phonetic realization of focus in L2 Mandarin by L1 American English speakers and in L2 English by L1 Beijing Mandarin speakers. The production data in both experiments indicated an acoustical hierarchy of duration > intensity > F0 at the sentential level. This hierarchy was correlated with another hierarchy in sentence location relative to focus: pre-focus > in-focus > post-focus. In other words, L2 learners tended to produce more nativelike patterns of duration than intensity, and intensity than F0, to code focus. These patterns were more salient in pre-focus condition than in-focus condition, and in in-focus condition than post-focus condition. These findings are consistent with Wu and Chung (2011, ICPhS) and Chen, Xu and Guion-Anderson (2014, Phonetica) that bilingual learners used more duration and intensity than F0 and more in-focus expansion than post-focus compression to code focus in L2 speech. Post-focus compression of F0 was the most difficult acoustic cue in phonetically realizing L2 focus. The nativelikeness of focus realization in L2 speech increased with the increase of L2 experience. [This work was supported by the National Science Foundation of China #61573187 and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities in China NJUSTWGY14001.]