Blistering barnacles! What language do multilinguals swear in?!

The present contribution focuses on the effects of language dominance / attrition, context of acquisition, age of onset of learning, frequency of general use of a language and sociodemographic variables on self-reported language choice for swearing. The analysis is based on a database to which 1039 multilinguals contributed through a web based questionnaire. Results suggest that, according to the self-reports, swearing happens most frequently in the multilinguals’ dominant language. Mixed instruction, an early start in the learning process, and frequent use of a language all contribute to the choice of that language for swearing. Sociodemographic variables were not found to have any effect. Frequency of language choice for swearing was found to be positively correlated with perceived emotional force of swearwords in that language. Quantitative results based on answers to close-ended questions corresponded to participants’ responses to open-ended questions

Epenthetic vowels in Japanese: A perceptual illusion?

In four cross-linguistic experiments comparing French and Japanese hearers, we found that the phonotactic properties of Japanese (very reduced set of syllable types) induce Japanese listeners to perceive ``illusory'' vowels inside consonant clusters in VCCV stimuli. In Experiments 1 and 2, we used a continuum of stimuli ranging from no vowel (e.g. ebzo) to a full vowel between the consonants (e.g. ebuzo). Japanese, but not French participants, reported the presence of a vowel [u] between consonants, even in stimuli with no vowel. A speeded ABX discrimination paradigm was used in Experiments 3 and 4, and revealed that Japanese participants had trouble discriminating between VCCV and VCuCV stimuli. French participants, in contrast had problems discriminating items that differ in vowel length (ebuzo vs. ebuuzo), a distinctive contrast in Japanese but not in French. We conclude that models of speech perception have to be revised to account for phonotactically-based assimilations

The Effect of Speech Elicitation Method on Second Language Phonemic Accuracy

The present study, a One-Group Posttest-Only Repeated-Measures Design, examined the effect of speech elicitation method on second language (L2) phonemic accuracy of high functional load initial phonemes found in frequently occurring nouns in American English. This effect was further analyzed by including the variable of first language (L1) to determine if L1 moderated any effects found. The data consisted of audio recordings of 61 adult English learners (ELs) enrolled in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses at a large, public, post-secondary institution in the United States. Phonemic accuracy was judged by two independent raters as either approximating a standard American English (SAE) pronunciation of the intended phoneme or not, thus a dichotomous scale, and scores were assigned to each participant in terms of the three speech elicitation methods of word reading, word repetition, and picture naming. Results from a repeated measures ANOVA test revealed a statistically significant difference in phonemic accuracy (F(1.47, 87.93) = 25.94, p = .000) based on speech elicitation method, while the two-factor mixed design ANOVA test indicated no statistically significant differences for the moderator variable of native language. However, post-hoc analyses revealed that mean scores of picture naming tasks differed significantly from the other two elicitation methods of word reading and word repetition. Moreover, the results of this study should heighten attention to the role that various speech elicitation methods, or input modalities, might play on L2 productive accuracy. Implications for practical application suggest that caution should be used when utilizing pictures to elicit specific vocabulary words–even high-frequency words–as they might result in erroneous productions or no utterance at all. These methods could inform pronunciation instructors about best teaching practices when pronunciation accuracy is the objective. Finally, the impact of L1 on L2 pronunciation accuracy might not be as important as once thought

Private Speech as Social Action

An important theoretical construct within the Vygotskian sociocultural approach to second language learning is private speech. Within a conversation-analytic framework, an agnostic stance is taken in this paper toward the possible intrapsychological function(s) of private speech in order to (1) illustrate how private speech can be identified within the details of talk-in-interaction and (2) how private speech can be understood as social action. It is argued that attention to the details of how private speech is produced is important in order to show how private speech has been identified as such; that viewing private speech as social action allows for a more emic perspective; and that, at least within interaction, private speech is social not just in origin, but each time that it is produced

Finnish upper secondary school students’ use of backchannels in an English spoken performance test

Tutkielmassa tarkastellaan lukiolaisten minimipalautteiden (backchannels) käyttöä, joka tapahtuu valtakunnallisen englannin suullisen kielitaidon kokeessa. Tutkimuskysymyksiä on kolme: (1) Minkä tyyppisiä minimipalautteita näiden lukiolaisten puheesta löytyy? (2) Kuinka yleisiä ne ovat suhteessa toisiinsa? (3) Mikä voisi selittää mahdolliset erot minimipalautteiden käytössä eri oppilaiden välillä? Lähestyn kolmatta tutkimuskysymystä kolmen eri näkökulman kautta: selittääkö eron taitotaso, tehtävätyyppi vai onko kyse yksilöllisistä eroista? Tutkielmani tukena on Anni Sivukarin pro gradu -tutkielma vuodelta 2015, jossa hän tutki samaa ilmiötä HY-talk-projektissa kerätyllä aineistolla. Vertaan tuloksiani Sivukarin tuloksiin tutkielmani lopussa. Aloitan teoriaosuuden käsittelyn isommasta kokonaisuudesta vuorovaikutustaidot (interactional competence), minkä jälkeen käyn läpi vuorovaikutustaitoihin kuuluvaa vuorovaikutuksellista kuuntelemista (interactional listening), ja erityisesti minimipalautteita. Käsittelen minimipalautteiden jaotteluperusteita sekä eri kieliyhteisöjen eroja minimipalautteiden käytössä. Kuvaan lyhyesti myös puhutun vieraan kielen arviointia ja eurooppalaisen viitekehyksen taitotasoja (EVK) vuorovaikutuksen näkökulmasta. Käytän aineistona FUSE-korpusta (Finnish upper secondary school corpus of spoken English), joka on kaikille avoin verkossa toimiva korpus. Korpus on toteutettu yhteistyössä Helsingin yliopiston kanssa, ja sen tarkoitus on kehittää puhutun englannin kielen opettamista ja arviointia. Korpus koostuu lukiolaisten valtakunnallisen englannin suullisen kielitaidon koesuorituksista. Analyysissa käytetään 20 kokeeseen osallistuneen parin koesuorituksen äänitettä, litteraattia ja oppilaiden suoriutumisesta tehtyä arviointia. Tuloksista käy ilmi, että kaikki minimipalautteiden eri tyypit (minimal responses, reactive expressions, collaborative finishes, repetitions, ja resumptive openers) löytyvät aineistosta. Näiden lisäksi analyysiin on otettu mukaan suomeksi tuotetut minimipalautteet (Finnish occurrences of backchannels). Minimipalautteiden tyypit yleisimmästä vähiten yleisimpään ovat: reactive expressions, minimal responses, resumptive openers, repetitions, collaborative finishes ja Finnish occurrences of backchannels. Selitettäessä oppilaiden eroja minimipalautteiden käytössä tulokset osoittavat, että suomeksi tuotetut minimipalautteet esiintyvät vain heikoimmiksi arvioiduilla puhujilla. Myös tehtävätyypillä näyttää olevan vaikutus siihen, kuinka paljon kukin puhuja tuottaa minimipalautteita: jos tuotettujen minimipalautteiden määrä puhujalla on 31 tai enemmän, on hän silloin ottanut osaa keskusteluun, jonka tehtävätyyppi on ollut ajatuskartta. Yksilölliset erot osoittavat, että alhaisemman taitotason opiskelijat tuottavat enemmän minimipalautteita kuin ylemmän taitotason opiskelijat, mikä on sekä alustavan hypoteesini että Sivukarin tuloksien vastainen. Tulokset liittyen kolmanteen tutkimuskysymykseen eivät osoita olevan kovin selväpiirteisiä

Complaint sequences across proficiency levels: the contribution of pragmatics and multimodality

El objetivo de esta tesis es contribuir a la investigación en pragmática del interlenguaje y multimodalidad. El objetivo principal es explorar como aprendices de lengua en distintos niveles de lengua realizan quejas desde la perspectiva del análisis de la conversación (Kasper, 2006). Un análisis multimodal de la conversación se ha realizado para examinar cómo diferentes modos interactúan en la construcción de la conversación. El marco teórico presentado en el estudio se centró en la naturaleza de la pragmática (Crystal, 1985; Leech, 1983; Thomas, 1983), pragmática del interlenguaje (Kasper & Blum-Kulka, 1993), análisis de la conversación (Sacks et al., 1974), nivel de lengua (e.g. Al-Gahtani & Roever, 2012), el acto de habla de las quejas (e.g. Trosborg, 1995; Laforest, 2002), y la multimodalidad (Jewitt, et al., 2016).The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the research on interlanguage pragmatics and multimodality. The main purpose is to explore how learners at different proficiency levels perform complaints and responses to complaints following a conversation analysis approach (Kasper, 2006). Furthermore, a multimodal conversation analysis is conducted in order to examine how different modes interact in the construction of the conversation. To meet the objectives of the thesis, the theoretical framework presented in the study focused on the nature of pragmatics (Crystal, 1985; Leech, 1983; Thomas, 1983), interlanguage pragmatics (Kasper & Blum-Kulka, 1993), conversation analysis (Sacks et al., 1974), proficiency (e.g. Al-Gahtani & Roever, 2012), the speech act of complaints (e.g. Trosborg, 1995; Laforest, 2002), and multimodality (Jewitt, et al., 2016). This framework served to explore participants' performance of complaints sequences at different proficiency levels, specific conversational features such as backchannel and overlapping, paralanguage and kinesics

Language identification with suprasegmental cues: A study based on speech resynthesis

This paper proposes a new experimental paradigm to explore the discriminability of languages, a question which is crucial to the child born in a bilingual environment. This paradigm employs the speech resynthesis technique, enabling the experimenter to preserve or degrade acoustic cues such as phonotactics, syllabic rhythm or intonation from natural utterances. English and Japanese sentences were resynthesized, preserving broad phonotactics, rhythm and intonation (Condition 1), rhythm and intonation (Condition 2), intonation only (Condition 3), or rhythm only (Condition 4). The findings support the notion that syllabic rhythm is a necessary and sufficient cue for French adult subjects to discriminate English from Japanese sentences. The results are consistent with previous research using low-pass filtered speech, as well as with phonological theories predicting rhythmic differences between languages. Thus, the new methodology proposed appears to be well-suited to study language discrimination. Applications for other domains of psycholinguistic research and for automatic language identification are considered