USING PROSODY TO PREDICT UPCOMING REFERENTS IN THE L1 AND THE L2

Anouschka Foltz

doi:10.1017/s0272263120000509

Abstract

AbstractWhile monolingual speakers can use contrastive pitch accents to predict upcoming referents, bilingual speakers do not always use this cue predictively in their L2. The current study examines the role of recent exposure for predictive processing in native German (L1) second language learners of English (L2). In Experiment 1, participants followed instructions to click on two successive objects, for example,Click on the red carrot/duck. Click on the green/GREEN carrot(where CAPS indicate a contrastive L + H* accent). Participants predicted a repeated noun following a L + H* accent in the L1, but not in the L2, where processing was delayed. Experiment 2 shows that after an exposure period with highly consistent prosodic cues, bilinguals engaged in predictive processing in both their L1 and L2. However, inconsistent prosodic cues showed different effects on bilinguals’ L1 and L2 predictive processing. The results are discussed in terms of exposure-based and resource-deficit models of processing.

Highlights

Abundant evidence in the literature shows that listeners engage in predictive processing in their native language (Kamide, 2008)
The current study focuses on the use of prosody, contrastive pitch accents, as a cue to predict upcoming referents in German–English bilinguals’ L1 and L2
The current study explores the effect of recent exposure to inconsistent versus consistent prosodic cues on bilinguals’ ability to use prosody as a cue to predict upcoming referents

Summary

Introduction

Abundant evidence in the literature shows that listeners engage in predictive processing in their native language (Kamide, 2008). There is abundant evidence that nonnative (L2) speakers do not engage in predictive processing to the same extent as native (L1) speakers (Kaan, 2014) This general finding is reflected in Grüter et al.’s (2017) hypothesis that L2 learners have Reduced Ability to Generate Expectations (RAGE). The current study focuses on the use of prosody, contrastive pitch accents, as a cue to predict upcoming referents in German–English bilinguals’ L1 and L2. The current study explores the effect of recent exposure to inconsistent versus consistent prosodic cues on bilinguals’ ability to use prosody as a cue to predict upcoming referents

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion