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Novel Methods for Characterising L2 Speech Rhythm

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Speech Rhythm in Learner and Second Language Varieties of English

Abstract

In the current chapter, we are interested in ways of examining the general timing properties of L2 speech (with a focus on how these properties relate to the perception of foreign accent). We consider several novel measures that index the temporal patterns of speech that occur across a hierarchy of time scales. In our view, considering multiple time scales is important since a key property of speech energy is that it fluctuates and correlates across different grain-sizes. Furthermore, whereas traditional indices of L2 speech rhythm are based on measuring speech timing as it relates to the structural aspects of a language (e.g., syllable composition, segmental inventories), the measures we review relate more to aspects of the speech production style of the L2 talker.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Victoria Leong for her tutorial on conducting the S-AMPH analysis and acknowledge the support of an Australian Research Council grant DP150104600.

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Correspondence to Chris Davis .

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Davis, C., Kim, J. (2023). Novel Methods for Characterising L2 Speech Rhythm. In: Fuchs, R. (eds) Speech Rhythm in Learner and Second Language Varieties of English. Prosody, Phonology and Phonetics. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-8940-7_9

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