Groups Of Speakers Research Articles

An exploratory study of intonational variation in L1 and L2 English speakers’ pragmatic production of high imposition requests and refusals

Abstract This exploratory study examined the intonational patterns and corresponding speech act strategies in L1 and L2 English speakers’ production of high imposition requests and refusals that were elicited using video-based multiple turn discourse completion tasks (DCTs). The participants, 34 L1 American English speakers and 14 high-proficiency L2 English speakers, recorded their oral responses to 10 multiple-turn video-based DCTs. Using Brazil’s (1997) framework, the collected speech samples were analyzed for tone choices in each tone unit. Pragmatic strategies in the produced speech acts were analyzed by adapting the existing coding frameworks (Beebe et al., 1990; Blum-Kulka et al., 1989). The extracted tone choices and lexico-mathematical strategies were compared between the two language groups. The results preliminarily revealed differences in the use of tones by L1 and L2 English speakers in performing requests and refusals. Moreover, while the employed speech act strategies were largely similar between the two speaker groups, the associated tone choices showed contrasting usage patterns.

Asymmetrical Equivalence Classification – Cluster Affrication vs. Lenis Stops in the Speech of Polish Learners of English

According to the Speech Learning Model (Flege 1995), successful L2 phonological acquisition is facilitated by the formation of new phonetic categories in the L2. However, category formation may be hindered by equivalence classification, wherein speakers perceptually merge L1 and L2 sounds. This study examines L1 Polish learners of English, including a phonetic parameter that has received minimal attention: affrication of /tr-dr/ clusters in English. Two groups of speakers, comprising B1 level and C2 level learners, produced word lists containing both initial /tr-dr/ clusters, as well as singleton voiced stops /b, d, g/. The results revealed an asymmetry: both groups failed to suppress pre-voicing in /b, d, g/, but were successful in producing affricated clusters. A new category has therefore been formed for the clusters, but not for the singleton stops. Phonological implications of this finding are discussed.

Bidialectal variety switching: the effects of language use and social contexts

While previous research shows that bilinguals' ability to mix and switch between two separate languages is influenced by both cross-language similarity and language use contexts, little attention has been paid to bidialectal populations. Given the linguistic and sociolinguistic differences between bilingualism and bidialectalism, it is thus unclear to what extent mechanisms underlying bidialectal variety switching resemble those underlying bilinguals. To investigate the effects of cross-variety phonological distance and variety use contexts on variety switching, we tested two groups of Chinese speakers in a bidialectal auditory word recognition task. Both groups speak a regional dialect (Chengdu Mandarin or Cantonese) as their native language and are also highly proficient in Standard Mandarin. Participants' language background and linguistic experience are collected by a language background questionnaire. Mixing and switching between two varieties are costly for bidialectal speakers in comprehension. Mixing costs can be attributed to variety switches instead of the mere presence of a mixed-variety context. While variety switch and mixing costs are not influenced by cross-variety phonological distance, they are modulated by variety dominance and habitual variety use contexts. This study highlights the similarities between bidialectals and bilinguals in language processing, as well as the significance of recognizing between- and within-group differences in conducting psycholinguistics research with multilingual populations.

Prestígio Social das Línguas da Guiné-Bissau avaliado pelos seus falantes

Guinea-Bissau is known as a “swamp of lan-guages” (Intumbo, 2007), being made up of more than two dozens of languages, namely the native African languages, Kryiol (Guineense) and Por-tuguese. This contact situation has its origins on the historical process of colonization that gath-ered of different ethnic-groups, their languages and cultures in the territory of Guinea-Bissau, as it happened throughout West Africa. In this paper, we seek to understand the prestige that Guinean speakers attribute to each of their languages, tak-ing into account the conditions of multilingualism that characterize this African country. To do this, we asked three groups of speakers – secondary school students, university students and adults – the question “Do you feel you are more valued speaking Portuguese or Kriol? Why?”. The results show that, among the languages spoken in the country, Portuguese is the most prestigious lan-guage for younger speakers, but not for those in the last group. This phenomenon signals the continuous influence of Portuguese, the only lan-guage of teaching and administration, even after decolonization.

AFFECTIVE PROSODY IN CHILDREN AND YOUNG NEURO-TYPICAL LISTENERS FOR MALAYALAM LANGUAGE

Affective prosody would refer to the perception of the emotional state of a speaker based on the prosodic aspects of one’s speech. The affective prosody is often studied in individuals with right hemisphere damage or non-native speakers solely because the perception of affective prosody is localized to the right hemisphere and the non-native speakers are reliant on affective prosody as they are deprived of linguistic prosody. The current study was carried out with the aim of investigating if the affective prosody varies as a function of age. The study was carried out on two groups of non-native speakers of Malayalam of 8-12 years and 18-25 years respectively. Different sentence types were presented to these participants in auditory modality and the results showed that the performance of participants in the age range of 18-25 years performed better compared to individuals of the age-range 8-12 years showing that the development of affective prosody would show a developmental trend.

Enhancement of laryngeal contrasts in non-native English clear speech: a comparison between L2-immersed sequential bilinguals and L1-immersed speakers.

Clear speech, a speaking style used to mitigate communicative circumstances affecting the transmission or decoding of speech signal, often involves the enhancement of language-specific phonological contrasts, including laryngeal contrasts. This study investigates the role of language dominance in the implementation of language-specific laryngeal contrasts in L2 clear speech. Two groups of Korean-English speakers (L1 Korean) were tested: a relatively less Korean-dominant L2-immersed group of sequential bilinguals (N = 30) and a strongly Korean-dominant L1-immersed group (N = 30), with dominance assessed based on the results of the Bilingual Language Profile. Participants read a set of English minimal pairs differing in the voicing of word-initial stops (e.g., tab vs. dab), and their acoustic enhancement strategies were compared with those of native English speakers (N = 20). As correlates of the English laryngeal contrast, voice onset time (VOT) and onset f0 were measured. Results showed that both bilingual groups enhanced English laryngeal contrast in clear speech via voiceless VOT lengthening, similarly to native English speakers, but to a smaller extent than native speakers. Both bilingual groups also implemented a greater degree of onset f0 difference between voiced and voiced English stops than native English speakers did, although no enhancement of this parameter was observed in their clear speech. Surprisingly, no significant differences were found between L2- and L1-immersed speakers, suggesting a lack of language immersion effect on the acoustic enhancement strategies in L2 clear speech. We discuss possible explanations for this finding and propose directions for future research.

Variation in the bird-name lexicon in Qaqet (East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea)

Abstract Birds are of great cultural importance to the Qaqet-Baining people of East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea. In this paper, we investigate whether there are differences in people’s ability to name common birds in the local environment, and focus primarily on the variables gender and location. We showed pictures of local birds to small groups of Qaqet speakers in two villages—one located in an area of significant deforestation—and asked them to name them. Overall, men were able to name more birds, as were people from the village associated with greater forest cover. Our results show that gender, environmental degradation and shift to the local lingua franca Tok Pisin may all be responsible for the variation in Qaqet people’s ethno-ornithological lexicon.

제2언어 습득에서의 전이 현상 연구

We are living in an era of acquiring more than two languages in an internationalized and multicultural society. As a second language in the international community, standard Chinese is still one of the languages that receives a lot of attention. This study examined the influence of the second language on the first language in the process of learning Chinese as a second language. Specifically, an experiment was conducted on the calculation of closed sounds in standard Chinese and Korean for native Chinese speakers and Korean students studying in China to compare and analyze the acoustic characteristics (H1-H2) of the vocal type. As a result of the analysis, significant changes were found in the realization of H1-H2 of the Korean stop, which is the native language, by a group of high-level speakers using a second language as a standard Chinese. These results of this study are significant as another basis for supporting the impact of the language environment faced by bilingual users on the output of second languages and the backward transfer phenomenon of their first language during second language acquisition.

Is a quantifier mismatch a problem for L1 Japanese learners of English?

After identifying a linguistic difference between the English quantifier most and the Japanese quantifier hotondo ‘most’ we set out to find if the semantic difference between the two would constitute a learning problem for Japanese second language (L2) learners of English. The difference we hypothesized between the two is that English most is considered “more than half,” while hotondo is “nearly all.” As this semantic difference is not explicitly taught in a classroom environment, acquisition by learners would need to take place through experiencing most in contexts where they might receive contextual clues. An examination of a corpus indicated that contextual clues towards such a semantic difference would be unavailable or rarely available. Two sets of experiments (Experiments 1 and 2) were conducted using the Truth Value Judgment Task methodology. The results of Experiment 1 showed that L2 speakers treated most as meaning “nearly all” but that the level of learner proficiency has an effect. The upper intermediate L2 learner group (Experiment 1a) behaved more like the L1 English speaker group (Experiment 1b) than the lower proficiency L2 group (Experiment 1c). Experiment 2, testing Japanese L1 speakers on their interpretation of Japanese hotondo ‘most,’ revealed that while a majority of participants treated hotondo as “almost all,” there was, somewhat unexpectedly, a group of speakers who interpreted hotondo to mean “more than half.” Therefore, although the possibility cannot completely be eliminated that the result of Experiment 1a is due to L1 transfer, if some Japanese learners of English can unlearn the incorrect meaning, then some prior, if not innate, knowledge that makes the process possible must be available to them.

Lawful limits on freedom of expression for private communications ‘in public life’

This is a case note on Hamzy v Commissioner of Corrective Services NSW, a 2022 decision in which the Court of Appeal of the Australian state of New South Wales interpreted the right to freedom of expression, which is enshrined in international human rights law. The decision shows the difficulty of protecting choice of a language as part of freedom of expression both where the semantic import of that choice is undervalued when assessing the reasonableness of a State imposing a language choice and where the lawful exception for a State to restrict the freedom by mandating a language for its public interactions is unduly expanded. The case also reveals the vulnerability of a language speaker group to racialised linguistic discrimination without straightforward recourse.

СОЦИОЛИНГВИСТИЧКИ ПРИСТУП ГОВОРУ СЕЛА СТАЈКОВЦА

The paper presents the results of sociolinguistic research on the speech of Stajkovce village. The speech of Stajkovce village belongs to the Prizren-South Moravian dialect. The goal is to present the representation of four most important dialectal features through gender, age and educational levels of speakers from the village of Stajkovce, in order to determine the status of the dialect among different speakers. The research was conducted with the help of recording the spontaneous speech of the respondents, in which participated sixteen speakers of different age, education and gender. All speakers were classified into four age groups, where respondents of both sexes were equally represented, and into three educational groups. Four dialectal features were observed. The transcribed and accented material was analyzed by quantitative analysis. Quantitative analysis resulted in frequency indices, frequency scales and diagrams. Based on the obtained values, a qualitative analysis was performed. The results show that the lowest preservation of dialect features in the separated age groups occurred in subjects aged 15 to 20 years, while the highest preservation of dialect features occurred in subjects aged 40 to 60 years. In addition, there are differences in the representation of dialect features among speakers of different genders within the same age groups. The group of speakers with primary school education had the lowest frequency indices, and the group of speakers with secondary school education had the highest indices. At the end, conclusions are offered about the threat of observed dialectic traits.

Intonational Features of Spontaneous Narrations in Monolingual and Heritage Russian in the U.S.—An Exploration of the RUEG Corpus

This article presents RuPro, a new corpus resource of prosodically annotated speech by Russian heritage speakers in the U.S. and monolingually raised Russian speakers. The corpus contains data elicited in formal and informal communicative situations, by male/female and adolescent/adult speakers. The resource is presented with its architecture and annotation, and it is shown how it is used for the analysis of intonational features of spontaneous mono- and bilingual Russian speech. The analyses investigate the length of intonation phrases, types and number of pitch accents, and boundary tones. It emerges that the speaker groups do not differ in the inventory of pitch accents and boundary tones or in the relative frequency of these tonal events. However, they do differ in the length of intonation phrases (IPs), with heritage speakers showing shorter IPs also in the informal communicative situation. Both groups also differ concerning the number of pitch accents used on content words, with heritage speakers using more pitch accents than monolingually raised speakers. The results are discussed with respect to register differentiation and differences in prosodic density across both speaker groups.

Teaching Russian in a Multilingual Educational Context

In this article the author refers to her own extensive experience of teaching Russian as a foreign language in an academic multilingual environment. When teaching Russian in multilingual academic contexts, especially with beginners, the problem inevitably arises of finding correlations between the students’ established language structures and the new imparted knowledge. In conditions where the entire educational process at university takes place in three official languages, Russian is offered as an optional course. The teacher is then faced with a series of tasks involving the organization of work within a diverse group of students with different language and cultural backgrounds, as well as the need to choose a metalanguage. The methods of observation and analysis allow conclusions to be drawn about the significant influence exerted by various linguistic characteristics of the second language, including its phonetical, lexical, and grammatical aspects, on the process of learning Russian as a foreign language. The process of teaching Russian not as a “second” language but rather within a “third” language paradigm in a multilingual context inevitably implies taking into account the previous experience of students, which serves as both a catalyst and a delaying mechanism. In the article the author describes how teaching Russian as a foreign language in a bilingual German and Italian academic context stimulates the students’ mechanisms of reflection and awareness of the peculiarities of their own languages. This includes the opportunity offered to students to distance themselves from their native language and, through the prism of the second language with which they are already familiar, examine their own native language as well as the new language being studied. The experience of teaching in a multilingual environment allows conclusions to be drawn about the effectiveness of the principles of intercultural communication, including when the students’ native languages are different. As a rule, research carried out on such principles has shown their effectiveness within groups of speakers of close languages.

Heritage speaker pragmatics

Abstract The current study investigated request production in Russian as a Heritage language (HL), with a special focus on the role of cross-linguistic influence (CLI) of the majority societal language (here SL-Hebrew) and Age of Onset of Bilingualism (AOB). Ninety-seven adult participants were recruited in four groups: three groups of Russian-Hebrew bilinguals with various AOBs of SL-Hebrew – before the age of 5 (n = 32), between the ages of 5–13 (n = 20), after the age of 13 (n = 19) – and a control group of monolingual Russian speakers (n = 26). The study elicited 20 requests in formal and informal contexts through oral role-plays. The results indicate that heritage speakers acquire the basics of prototypical Russian request strategies across various social contexts. The results also show effects of CLI and AOB in the pragmatic competence of HL-speakers. When faced with linguistic difficulties to express requests, HL speakers resort to the use of compensatory strategies leading to the creation of novel structures. These novel structures are a combination of conventions that are characteristic of the Russian acquired in childhood and transfer from the dominant SL. The study makes an important contribution to the understanding of HL pragmatic development by investigating the effects of CLI and AOB.

Assistance in the Preparation of Scientific Articles in the National Journal for Teachers

Writing scientific papers aims to express ideas, thoughts and information in the form of writing and a writer is able to distinguish between opinions and facts. The purpose of the service is to improve the ability of teacher professionalism by equipping teachers in terms of strategies for compiling scientific papers correctly in accordance with writing guidelines, and equipping teachers in procedures for publishing scientific articles in accredited journals scientific publications for teachers who are prerequisites for promotion and position, so as to motivate teachers to make more quality scientific work. The method of implementing assistance in writing scientific articles includes activity steps that emphasize the learning process. This mentoring activity is built on the basis of active participation (participation) of trainees in all aspects of training activities, starting from planning, implementation, to the assessment stage of learning activities in training. The implementation of assistance in the preparation of scientific articles in the National Journal for teachers of SMKN 1 Sawit Boyolali is divided into three groups of speakers as follows, namely: 1) Format of writing scientific articles 2) Mendeley, 3) Online Journal System. The results achieved in this activity are that teachers have increased the motivation of teachers to write papers, conceptual articles and research articles and can increase the understanding, ability and skills of teachers writing scientific papers. Teachers have a basic understanding of how to identify, select and formulate topics and titles, compile outlines, collect writing materials, organize, and conceptualize writing, as well as scientific writing and editing using mendeley software. 63.6% of teachers have the intentionto write articles in scientific journals. Teachers enthusiastically participate in community service activities that are attended by 100% of the stipulated conditions. Teachers are able to understand the rules and procedures in writing scientific papers, the process of stages in making articles and guidance in publishing articles with the help of mendeley software.

An Approach to the Lexical Ambiguity Caused by False Cognates in Spanish L2. a Corpus‐Based Exploratory Study

AbstractThis exploratory study aims to offer new insights into the lexical ambiguity in the interlanguage arising from the use of false cognates. The study is based on written texts from two learners' corpora. Utterances including false cognates were retrieved from both corpora and presented to two groups of native speakers who assessed their correctness and stated whether or not they were ambiguous. While the first group was informed beforehand that the sentences had been produced by non‐native speakers (as well as the meaning of the false cognates in their L1), the second group had no information regarding the speakers who wrote them. The goal of this analysis is to shed light on the different perceptions that can arise from native vs. non‐native speakers' productions, focusing on lexical ambiguity.

The socioeconomic trajectories of New Zealand's diverse language communities: A longitudinal perspective

AbstractThe extent of demographic diversity in some migrant‐receiving countries has led to the formation of majority‐minority (or superdiverse) cities, a phenomenon also found in New Zealand. Recognising that demographic diversity is dynamic, sensitive to mobility patterns and shifts in socioeconomic indicators, this study examines diversity through the lens of common (nonofficial) languages (n = 21), by employing customised census data spanning five consecutive census years (1996–2018) that provides insights into ethnicity, religion, education, employment, income, and residential density. Considerable variation was found in the identification with one or more religious and ethnic attributes; while some language speaker groups (LSGs) displayed a strong, stable identification, other cases were characterised by fluctuations and mobility. Similarly, considerable differences between LSGs were found with respect to education, employment and income, which can partially be explained by selective migration. Finally, residential density has increased in secondary cities, particularly among LSGs with more dynamic socioeconomic indicators. The analysis, informed by the different migration histories and settlement experiences of the LSGs, contributes to understanding the dynamic quality of diversity indicators and the relative socioeconomic im/mobility of some groups, and demonstrates how the concepts of superdiversity and hyper‐selectivity can be operationalised.

Plug-and-Play Microphones for Recording Speech and Voice with Smart Devices

Introduction: Smart devices are widely available and capable of quickly recording and uploading speech segments for health-related analysis. The switch from laboratory recordings with professional-grade microphone setups to remote, smart device-based recordings offers immense potential for the scalability of voice assessment. Yet, a growing body of literature points to a wide heterogeneity among acoustic metrics for their robustness to variation in recording devices. The addition of consumer-grade plug-and-play microphones has been proposed as a possible solution. The aim of our study was to assess if the addition of consumer-grade plug-and-play microphones increases the acoustic measurement agreement between ultra-portable devices and a reference microphone. Methods: Speech was simultaneously recorded by a reference high-quality microphone commonly used in research and by two configurations with plug-and-play microphones. Twelve speech-acoustic features were calculated using recordings from each microphone to determine the agreement intervals in measurements between microphones. Agreement intervals were then compared to expected deviations in speech in various neurological conditions. Each microphone’s response to speech and to silence was characterized through acoustic analysis to explore possible reasons for differences in acoustic measurements between microphones. The statistical differentiation of two groups, neurotypical and people with multiple sclerosis, using metrics from each tested microphone was compared to that of the reference microphone. Results: The two consumer-grade plug-and-play microphones favored high frequencies (mean center of gravity difference ≥ +175.3 Hz) and recorded more noise (mean difference in signal to noise ≤ −4.2 dB) when compared to the reference microphone. Between consumer-grade microphones, differences in relative noise were closely related to distance between the microphone and the speaker’s mouth. Agreement intervals between the reference and consumer-grade microphones remained under disease-expected deviations only for fundamental frequency (f0, agreement interval ≤0.06 Hz), f0 instability (f0 CoV, agreement interval ≤0.05%), and tracking of second formant movement (agreement interval ≤1.4 Hz/ms). Agreement between microphones was poor for other metrics, particularly for fine timing metrics (mean pause length and pause length variability for various tasks). The statistical difference between the two groups of speakers was smaller with the plug-and-play than with the reference microphone. Conclusion: Measurement of f0 and F2 slope was robust to variation in recording equipment, while other acoustic metrics were not. Thus, the tested plug-and-play microphones should not be used interchangeably with professional-grade microphones for speech analysis. Plug-and-play microphones may assist in equipment standardization within speech studies, including remote or self-recording, possibly with small loss in accuracy and statistical power as observed in the current study.

The epistemic future in exported grammars: a comparison between two Italo-Romance speech communities

Abstract The analysis of differences and analogies that the (synthetic) epistemic future exhibits in two varieties of the Italo‑Romance dialect of Verbicaro contributes to uncover uncharted aspects of its morphosyntax and uses. The case study presented in this paper is based on different degrees of competence of the speakers of the indigenous variety of north-western Calabria as well as the corresponding exported variety spoken in São Paulo (Brazil). The grammar and use of the epistemic future is fully captured if the analysis of the data is pursued alongside an assessment of the acquisitional history of the speakers. Based on the sociolinguistic account of three different groups of speakers of the exported Verbicarese (monolingual Verbicarese L1, bilingual Verbicarese‑Portuguese, Verbicarese heritage speakers), I provide a structural interpretation of the development of the synthetic epistemic future in both the exported and the indigenous variety. More specifically, I show how glaring parallels can be established between the three relevant groups of speakers of the exported speech community and three distinct stages of evolution of the epistemic future in the indigenous variety. This study also serves as a documentation task for the epistemic future which is rapidly disappearing in Verbicarese.

The Impact of Foreign Language Accent on Expert Listeners' Auditory-Perceptual Evaluations of Dysphonia.

Auditory-perceptual evaluations of dysphonia, though essential for comprehensive voice evaluation, are subject to listener bias. Knowledge of an underlying voice disorder can influence auditory-perceptual ratings. Accented speech results in increased listener effort and delays in word identification. Yet, little is known about the impact of foreign language accents on auditory-perceptual ratings for dysphonic speakers. The purpose of this work was to determine the impact of a foreign language accent on experts' auditory-perceptual ratings of dysphonic speakers. Twelve voice-specializing SLPs who spoke with a General American English (GAE) accent rated vocal percepts of 28 speakers with a foreign language accent and 28 with a GAE accent, all of whom had been diagnosed with a voice disorder. Speaker groups were matched based on sex, age, and mean smoothed cepstral peak prominence. Four linear mixed-effects models assessed the impact of a foreign language accent on expert auditory-perceptual ratings of the overall severity of dysphonia, roughness, breathiness, and strain. The twelve raters demonstrated good inter- and intra-rater reliability (ICC[3, k] = .89; mean ICC = .89). The linear mixed-effects models revealed no significant impact of foreign language accent on ratings of overall severity of dysphonia, roughness, breathiness, or strain. Despite the possibility of increased listener effort and bias, foreign language accent incongruence had no effect on expert listeners' auditory-perceptual evaluations for dysphonic speakers. Findings support the use of auditory-perceptual evaluations for voice disorders across sociolinguistically diverse populations. 3 Laryngoscope, 134:2272-2276, 2024.