Sociolinguistic Conditioning of Phonetic Category Realisation in Non-Native Speech

The realisation of phonetic categories reflects a complex relationship between individual phonetic parameters and both linguistic and extra-linguistic conditioning of language usage. The present paper investigates the effect of selected socio-linguistic variables, such as the age, the amount of language use and cultural/social distance in English used by Polish immigrants to the U.S. Individual parameters used in the realisation of the category ‘voice’ have been found to vary in their sensitivity to extra-linguistic factors: while the production of target-like values of all parameters is related to the age, it is the closure duration that is most stable in the correspondence to the age and level of language proficiency. The VOT and vowel duration, on the other hand, prove to be more sensitive to the amount of language use and attitudinal factors

The use of parametric tests in the study of vowel duration cue for voicing in the following word final consonant in Polish english

Chapter TenZadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 zostało dofinansowane ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej nauk

Review of Pronunciation fundamentals: Evidence-based perspectives for L2 teaching and research; Authors: Tracey M. Derwing and Murray J. Munro; Publisher: John Benjamins, 2015; ISBN: 9789027213273; Pages: 208

Book Revie

Acculturation strategy and language experience in expert ESL speakers: An exploratory study

Acculturation and language proficiency have been found to be inter-related both from the perspective of second language acquisition (Schumann, 1978, 1986) and socio-psychological adaptation in cross-cultural contacts (Ward, Bochner, & Furnham, 2001). However, the predictions as to the effect of a particular strategy on success differ, with assimilation believed to create most favourable conditions for SLA and integration for general well-being. The present study explores acculturation patterns in three expert users of English as a second language, recent Polish immigrants to the UK, in relation to their language experience. The qualitative data were collected with the use of a questionnaire and analysed with respect to language experience and socio-affective factors. The analysis aimed at better understanding of the relationship between language learning in a formal context and language use in a natural setting on the one hand and the relationship between language expertise and acculturation strategy choice on the other. The results show that in spite of individual differences, expert language users tend to adopt an assimilation rather than integration acculturation strategy. This may suggest that attitudes are related to expertise in English as a second language in a more conservative way than advocated by cross-cultural approaches

Linguistic and Cultural Acquisition in a Migrant Community; Editors: David Singleton, Vera Regan and Ewelina Debaene; Publisher: Multilingual Matters; 2013; ISBN: 9781847699893; Pages: 200

Book revie

Exploring Pitch Accent as an Element of Fluency in L2 English Academic Presentations – a Proficiency-based Sampling Report

The study explores the effectiveness of raising prosodic awareness in teaching academic presentations to a mixed proficiency group of adult Polish students majoring in English from the perspective of prosody as well as utterance fluency measures. A 15-week course included a 4-week prosody practice with focus on pausing and pitch accent. In the course students produced two speeches of approximately the same length: an impromptu before the practice and a prepared presentation after the practice. The speeches were recorded and analysed for the number of pitch accents and pauses. The data for three students, representing different general L2 proficiency levels are discussed in this paper. The results of prosodic performance operationalized as the pause to pitch accent ratio show the greatest benefit of prosody training in the case of the lowest proficiency level student. The analysis of selected utterance fluency measures shows a positive effect of prosody practice across speakers, providing additional support for the relevance of pitch accent in academic presentations in L2. The study has theoretical and practical implications, as it suggests the need to include pitch accent/pause proportion in utterance fluency measures in fluency studies as well as in pedagogical practice

Preface

Synchronic variability in the area of phonetics, phonology, vocabulary, morphology and syntax is a natural feature of any language, including English. The existence of competing variants is in itself a fascinating phenomenon, but it is also a prerequisite for diachronic changes. This volume is a collection of studies which investigate variability from a contemporary and historical perspective, in both native and non-native varieties of English. The topics include Middle English spelling variation, lexical differences between Middle English dialects, Late Middle and Early Modern English forms of address, Middle English negation patterns, the English used by Polish immigrants living in London, lexical fixedness in native and non-native English used by Polish learners, and the phenomenon of phonetic imitation in Polish learners of English. The book should be of interest to anyone interested in English linguistics, especially English phonetics and phonology as well as history of English, historical dialectology and pragmatics