Investigation of factors behind foreign accent in the L2 acquisition of Japanese lexical pitch accent by adult English speakers
The productions of adult second language (L2) learners are often detected as having a foreign accent by native speakers of the target language. However, there is no clear answer for what kind of problems contribute to L2 learnersâ foreign accent. This thesis aims to investigate potential factors behind foreign accent. We intend to achieve this goal by examining cross-linguistic empirical evidence of the L2 acquisition of Japanese lexical pitch accent by English learners. L2 prosody has been found to significantly influence native speakersâ auditory impression of foreign accent. L2 prosody also allows us to test crosslinguistic differences in the function of the key acoustic correlates of L2 contrasts. In this thesis we examine F0, which signals both lexical pitch accent and phrasal distinctions in Japanese, but which signals only phrasal distinctions, not lexical distinctions, in English. For adult L2 learners to achieve target-like productions, the literature suggests that three abilities are the key factors: 1) learnersâ ability to differentiate the acoustic correlate of the target L2 contrasts, 2) ability to articulate the acoustic correlate of the target L2 contrasts and 3) ability to categorize
Sakamoto, Emi
second language acquisition ; LR speech production ; L2 speech perception ; foreign accent ; lexical pitch accent ; English learners of Japanese
Investigation of factors behind foreign accent in the L2 acquisition of Japanese lexical pitch accent by adult English speakers. The productions of adult second language (L2) learners are often detected as having a foreign accent by native speakers of the target language. However, there is no clear answer for what kind of problems contribute to L2 learnersâ foreign accent. This thesis aims to investigate potential factors behind foreign accent. We intend to achieve this goal by examining cross-linguistic empirical evidence of the L2 acquisition of Japanese lexical pitch accent by English learners. L2 prosody has been found to significantly influence native speakersâ auditory impression of foreign accent. L2 prosody also allows us to test crosslinguistic differences in the function of the key acoustic correlates of L2 contrasts. In this thesis we examine F0, which signals both lexical pitch accent and phrasal distinctions in Japanese, but which signals only phrasal distinctions, not lexical distinctions, in English. For adult L2 learners to achieve target-like productions, the literature suggests that three abilities are the key factors: 1) learnersâ ability to differentiate the acoustic correlate of the target L2 contrasts, 2) ability to articulate the acoustic correlate of the target L2 contrasts and 3) ability to categorize
investigation factor_behind foreign accent acquisition japanese lexical pitch_accent adult english_speaker production adult_second language_learner often detect foreign accent native_speaker target_language however clear answer kind problem contribute learner foreign accent aim_investigate potential factor_behind foreign accent intend achieve_goal examine cross_linguistic empirical_evidence acquisition japanese lexical pitch_accent english_learner prosody find significantly_influence native_speaker auditory impression foreign accent prosody also_allow test crosslinguistic difference function key acoustic correlate contrast examine signal lexical pitch_accent phrasal distinction japanese signal phrasal distinction lexical distinction english adult_learner achieve target like production literature suggest ability key_factor learner ability differentiate acoustic correlate target contrast ability articulate acoustic correlate target contrast ability categorize