Production of final boundary tones in declarative utterances by English-speaking learners of Spanish

Zárate-Sández, Germán

doi:10.21437/speechprosody.2018-187

Cited by 6 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…In this study, we examined the variation of uptalks produced by heritage speakers and monolingual speakers of Mexican Spanish. Spanish-English bilinguals' use of uptalk in Spanish has often been regarded as an indication of transfer from English intonation (Buck 2016;Henriksen et al 2010;Méndez Seijas 2019;Trimble 2013;Zárate-Sández 2018). This is because uptalk is generally associated with English, especially the valley girl speech in California English (Ritchart and Arvaniti 2014;Tyler 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although no significant group difference was found, except for the two control groups, there was a moderate inverse relationship between Spanish proficiency and final boundary tone height (i.e., English monolinguals > intermediate proficiency L2 learners > high proficiency L2 learners > very high proficiency L2 learners > heritage speakers > Spanish non-heritage native speakers). While uptalk was not the main purpose of the study, Zárate-Sández (2018) suggested that heritage speakers' and L2 learners' higher boundary tone height compared to non-heritage native speakers may be due to their production of uptalks in some sentences.…”

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Compared to English, uptalk has not been extensively studied in Spanish. English speakers' use of uptalk in Spanish has been considered as an indication of transfer from English phonology (Buck 2016;Henriksen et al 2010;Méndez Seijas 2019;Trimble 2013;Zárate-Sández 2018). Longitudinal studies examining the effects of study abroad experience on L2 Spanish intonation have shown that, after completing study abroad programs in Spanish-speaking countries, some English L2 learners produced fewer uptalks in Spanish than they used to when they first started (Buck 2016;Henriksen et al 2010;Trimble 2013).…”

Section: Uptalk In Spanishmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this study we examine the phonology and phonetics (i.e., forms) of uptalk in heritage Spanish spontaneous speech. The use of uptalk by Spanish heritage speakers in the US has been reported in a few studies (Kim and Repiso-Puigdelliura 2018;Zárate-Sández 2018), but very little is understood on the nature of heritage Spanish uptalk. Zárate-Sández (2018) found that Spanish heritage speakers and English L2 learners of Spanish in Northeastern US produced final boundary tones of declarative sentences with pitch height that was between that of English monolinguals (highest) and Spanish non-heritage native speakers (lowest).…”

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The use of uptalk by Spanish heritage speakers in the US has been reported in a few studies (Kim and Repiso-Puigdelliura 2018;Zárate-Sández 2018), but very little is understood on the nature of heritage Spanish uptalk. Zárate-Sández (2018) found that Spanish heritage speakers and English L2 learners of Spanish in Northeastern US produced final boundary tones of declarative sentences with pitch height that was between that of English monolinguals (highest) and Spanish non-heritage native speakers (lowest). Although no significant group difference was found, except for the two control groups, there was a moderate inverse relationship between Spanish proficiency and final boundary tone height (i.e., English monolinguals > intermediate proficiency L2 learners > high proficiency L2 learners > very high proficiency L2 learners > heritage speakers > Spanish non-heritage native speakers).…”

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Keeping a Critical Eye on Majority Language Influence: The Case of Uptalk in Heritage Spanish

Kim

Repiso-Puigdelliura

2021

Languages

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The goal of this study is to highlight the importance of taking into account variations in monolingual grammars before discussing majority language influence as a possible source of heritage speakers’ divergent grammars. In this study, we examine the production of uptalk in Spanish by heritage speakers of Mexican Spanish in Southern California. Uptalk (i.e., rising intonation contour at the end of a non-question utterance) is frequently associated with California English. Thus, heritage speakers’ use of uptalk is often considered to be influenced from English intonation (i.e., the majority language). Although uptalk in Spanish is not well understood, it has been observed in Mexican Spanish, which calls attention to the importance of investigating uptalk in monolingual Spanish. Using a dyadic interaction task, we obtained spontaneous speech data of 16 heritage speakers and 16 monolingual speakers of Mexican Spanish and compared the phonological and phonetic properties of uptalks produced by the two groups. Our results demonstrated that the heritage speakers and the monolingual speakers produced uptalks with similar frequencies and mainly used L+H* HH% and L* HH% contours. However, the two groups had more differences than similarities. Specifically, heritage speakers’ uptalks presented less dynamic contours and were produced with flatter rises than monolinguals’ uptalks. Heritage speakers’ divergent patterns showed close resemblance with patterns in English, suggesting majority language influence as a valid source of divergence. We discuss possible avenues for future research for a better understanding of the role of majority language influence on heritage Spanish uptalk.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Uptalk In Spanishmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Keeping a Critical Eye on Majority Language Influence: The Case of Uptalk in Heritage Spanish

Kim

Repiso-Puigdelliura

2021

Languages

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Exploring phonetic predictors of intelligibility, comprehensibility, and foreign accent in L2 Spanish speech

Nagle

Huensch

Zárate-Sández

2023

The Modern Language Journal

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Although current approaches to second language (L2) pronunciation underscore that instruction should concentrate on pronunciation features that help learners be more intelligible (and not necessarily more native like), there is little empirical evidence as to what those features are, especially in languages other than English. To address this gap, this exploratory study examined phonetic predictors of listener-based dimensions-namely, intelligibility, comprehensibility, and foreign accent-in L2 Spanish speech. Samples were taken from 42 Spanish learners of varying proficiency while performing a picture description task, rated for global measures by 80 native Spanish listeners, coded for phonemic errors, and analyzed phonetically for pronunciation features that previous research has reported as challenging for English-speaking learners. Mixedeffects models were fit to the data to examine relationships between the phonetic features and the listener-based dimensions. Results revealed that rising intonation and diphthongization of word-final /o/ predicted intelligibility, rising intonation predicted comprehensibility, and a variety of features were associated with foreign accent. Overall, results confirmed that non-target-like production of L2 pronunciation, including areas known to be challenging for Spanish learners, does not necessarily lead to intelligibility and comprehensibility issues. Based on these findings, we make recommendations regarding what features should be prioritized in L2 pronunciation instruction.

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Empty onset repairs in the semi-spontaneous speech of Spanish child and adult heritage speakers

Repiso-Puigdelliura

2021

International Journal of Bilingualism

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Aims: In this study I investigate whether child and adult Spanish heritage speakers (HS) use English-like strategies to repair word-external empty onsets preceded by consonants (e.g., el.#o.so ‘the (male) bear’). That is, I examine whether HS produce glottal phonation at /C#V/ junctures. I also examine whether stress predicts the use of glottal phonation to repair word-external empty onsets. Design: Semi-spontaneous speech was elicited from a group of child HS (10 females (F), six males (M), mean age = 9.44 years, standard deviation ( SD) = 0.69), adult HS (13 F, two M, mean age = 20.6 years, SD = 1.12), adult Spanish speakers in Mexico (six F, four M, mean age = 22.88 years, SD = 1.64), and long-term Mexican immigrants (seven F, two M, mean age = 45.16 years, SD = 9.49, mean age of arrival = 25.33 years, SD = 9.89). Data and analysis: Type of phonation (i.e., glottal or modal) was categorically coded and compared across groups and stress types. Acoustic measures, such as amplitude difference between the first two harmonic (H1*−H2*) and harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR), were also analyzed to examine gradient group differences. Findings/conclusions: My findings show that child HS and adult HS present higher rates of glottal phonation than Spanish speakers in Mexico. The child HS, but not the adult HS, show higher rates of glottalization than those of long-term immigrants. Lastly, stressed syllables are more often glottalized than unstressed syllables. Originality: In this research I explore connected speech (i.e., word-external empty onsets), an understudied area in heritage language phonology. More specifically, this is the first study that examines empty onset repair strategies in both child and adult HS and analyzes the role of prosodic prominence. Significance and implications: I provide evidence for a greater pressure of the majority language during childhood than during adulthood. My results also show that divergent attainment in heritage language production is conditioned by quality of input.

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Production of final boundary tones in declarative utterances by English-speaking learners of Spanish

Cited by 6 publications

References 9 publications

Keeping a Critical Eye on Majority Language Influence: The Case of Uptalk in Heritage Spanish

Keeping a Critical Eye on Majority Language Influence: The Case of Uptalk in Heritage Spanish

Exploring phonetic predictors of intelligibility, comprehensibility, and foreign accent in L2 Spanish speech

Empty onset repairs in the semi-spontaneous speech of Spanish child and adult heritage speakers

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