Abstract
Previous work on non-native speech rhythm has often drawn on L2 phonological theory for the interpretation of findings. The explicit confrontation of theory-derived hypotheses with data remains scarce, however. This paper illustrates how a hypothetico-deductive approach can contribute to our understanding of L2 speech rhythm. We consider cross-sectional data on prominence alternations in German learner speech from the viewpoint of two dynamic frameworks: The Ontogeny Phylogeny Model (OPM) and the Linguistic Theory of L2 Phonological Development (LTD). While both theories deal with L1-independent, universal forces in L2 acquisition, the OPM further considers the role of L1 transfer, similarity, and markedness. The predictions we formulate based on the two models lead us to pursue distinct methodological strategies. While our reading of the OPM prompts us to measure speech rhythm as a single, global category of speech, the LTD suggests a more nuanced, componential approach to L2 rhythm. Our application of the OPM confronts us squarely with the limited utility of rhythm metrics for L2 speech research and points to a number of issues at the theory-data interface. Overall, the LTD generates more informative predictions and provides a richer framework for the empirical study of prominence grading in L2 speech.
I wish to thank the editor, two anonymous reviewers, and Ole Schützler for helpful comments and attention to detail.
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Notes
- 1.
While the terms ‘stress-timing’ and ‘syllable-timing’ are not descriptively adequate, they may be considered, at a general level of classification and comparison, a useful shorthand description. In the interest of simplicity, these labels will be used to refer to rhythm prototypes whose phonological and prosodic profiles are characteristic of language varieties that have been traditionally assigned to these rhythm classes. I will use single quotation marks as a signal to distance myself from the original, literal meaning of these terms.
- 2.
Images with the symbols
in the figure caption have been published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (CC BY 4.0, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) in the accompanying OSF project (https://osf.io/25kq4/). - 3.
A reviewer raised the question of why these two models were chosen. Since the model proposed by Major (2001) may be considered a unification of several contributions including Lado (1957) and Eckman (1977, 1991), it covers the explanatory notions proposed in those accounts (i.e. transfer, markedness, and language universals). The only remaining model that is directly applicable to the acquisition of rhythm, then, is Archibald (1994), which is restricted to prominence grading at the lexical level, however.
- 4.
All BrE and AmE informants reported that both of their parents’ native language was English. Neither group can be considered as representing a well-defined variety of English. Nevertheless, with the reported minimal education level of all subjects being a bachelor’s degree, the native speakers recorded in this study may be described as speaking an educated variety of English. Most BrE informants (MAge = 27; SD = 6) had grown up in the London area and the Midlands. Native speakers of AmE (MAge = 24; SD = 5) were predominantly from the northeastern part of the US.
- 5.
The choice of these particular metrics was motivated by the following considerations: (i) in the interest of simplicity, the focus in the present study is restricted to the analysis of vocalic intervals, (ii) these metrics are widely used in the literature comparing different languages (see Fig. 1 and Appendix 1), and (iii) they feature prominently in previous work on speech rhythm in German Learner English (e.g. Ordin et al. 2011; Li & Post 2014; Ordin & Polyanskaya 2015).
- 6.
The purpose of information criteria is to provide an assessment of how well the model—in our case, the pattern (horizontal vs. linear vs. U-shaped trend)—is likely to generalize to new observations (i.e. other speakers from the population of L1 German learners of English). Information criteria help the researcher guard against ‘overfitting’, that is, reporting and interpreting idiosyncratic features of the sample in hand, which may not replicate in a new sample of observations. They report what is referred to as the out-of-sample predictive accuracy, with lower values signaling higher accuracy, that is, a higher goodness rating.
- 7.
Three knots were chosen to keep the flexibility at a reasonable level. See R code for further details.
- 8.
It should be noted that existing research, including the present study, offers limited information on genuinely developmental patterns due to its cross-sectional nature. In order to make reliable statements about change across different stages of L2 development, longitudinal data would be required. Nevertheless, current knowledge about cross-sectional patterns consistently points to a steady increase in temporal prominence grading across proficiency levels.
- 9.
For this data set, the log transformation was less successful at establishing within-speaker symmetry.
- 10.
The same is true, of course, for comparisons of accents or varieties of the same language. These remarks therefore also apply to the investigation of rhythm in World Englishes.
in the figure caption have been published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (CC BY 4.0, References
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Appendices
Appendix 1
Empirical evidence on vocalic timing patterns in English, German and Spanish: Rhythm metrics based on vocalic intervals and durational measurements
Language | %V | nPVI-V | VarcoV | n | Style | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
German | 46 | 60 | 1 | Reading passage | Grabe & Low 2002 | |
43 | 7 | Reading passage | Dellwo & Wagner, 2003 | |||
42 | 53 | 13 | Free | Russo & Barry, 2008 | ||
41 | 53 | 52 | 8 | Sentences1 | Arvaniti, 2012 | |
38 | 54 | 51 | 8 | Reading passage | Arvaniti, 2012 | |
42 | 54 | 55 | 8 | Free | Arvaniti, 2012 | |
42 | 45 | 41 | 5 | Sentences | Li & Post, 2014 | |
42 | 45 | 41 | 5 | Sentences | Li & Post, 2014 | |
British English | 38 | 73 | 64 | 6 | Sentences | White & Mattys 2007 |
41 | 55 | 55 | 8 | Sentences2 | Prieto et al., 2012 | |
38 | 3 | Reading, retelling | Gut, 2005 | |||
60 | 1 | Reading, retelling | Gibbon & Gut 2001 | |||
41 | 62 | 61 | 9 | Semi-free | Payne et al., 2011 | |
76 | 61 | 10 | Semi-free | Ordin & Polyanskaya, 2015 | ||
41 | 57 | 1 | Reading passage | Grabe & Low 2002 | ||
American English | 44 | 56 | 50 | 8 | Sentences1 | Arvaniti, 2012 |
44 | 54 | 50 | 8 | Reading passage | Arvaniti, 2012 | |
48 | 59 | 66 | 8 | Free | Arvaniti, 2012 | |
46 | 52 | 47 | 5 | Sentences | Li & Post, 2014 | |
52 | 20 | Free | Thomas & Carter, 2006 | |||
English (variety unspecified) | 38 | 10 | Sentences | Low et al., 2000 | ||
42 | 5 | Reading passage | Dellwo & Wagner, 2003 | |||
40 | 4 | Sentences | Ramus et al., 1999 | |||
43 | 44 | 57 | 7 | Reading passage | Dellwo et al. 2009 | |
Spanish | 44 | 4 | Sentences | Ramus et al., 1999 | ||
48 | 36 | 41 | 6 | Sentences | White & Mattys 2007 | |
49 | 48 | 57 | 8 | Sentences1 | Arvaniti, 2012 | |
49 | 45 | 47 | 8 | Reading passage | Arvaniti, 2012 | |
50 | 47 | 66 | 8 | Free | Arvaniti, 2012 | |
48 | 44 | 50 | 6 | Semi-free | Payne et al., 2011 | |
47 | 37 | 36 | 8 | Sentences2 | Prieto et al., 2012 | |
51 | 30 | 1 | Reading passage | Grabe & Low 2002 |
Appendix 2
Materials used in the reading task. Utterances used for the analysis are printed in bold.
-
1.
Do you want to drink something?
Oh, yeah. Can I get another cup of tea, please?
-
2.
Where is your friend Peter from?
Peter? He’s from the north of Germany.
-
3.
Is your brother home?
No. He said that he’s going to be back at eight o’clock.
-
4.
Oh no! We haven’t got any sugar. I want to bake a cake.
No problem. I can get some sugar from the market.
-
5.
Is Sally from England?
She lives in England. But she was born in America.
-
6.
Can I walk to the city centre from here?
It’s too far. You must take the bus to the city centre.
-
7.
How was your trip to England?
Great! The weather was sunny and we took a lot of pictures.
-
8.
Where is the car?
I parked it at the end of the street.
-
9.
What is your sister doing at the moment?
Becky? She’s writing an article for the school magazine.
-
10.
How can I help you?
Can you tell me the way to the cinema, please?
-
11.
Did you like the book?
I did. But the second part of the book was better than the first.
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Sönning, L. (2023). (Re-)viewing the Acquisition of Rhythm in the Light of L2 Phonological Theories. 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_6
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