Intuitive visualization of intonation for foreign language learners
Fischer, Kerstin ; Niebuhr, Oliver ; Alm, Maria LU
and Schümchen-Schram, Nathalie
(2026)
In Speech Communication
180.
- Abstract
In this paper, we present three studies in which we develop and test different representations of intonation contours and prosodic stress with the aim to provide foreign language learners with a notation that they can easily interpret. Study I addresses learners’ productions of target intonation based on six common notation systems. The results reveal how learners themselves make sense of the different representations and show that learners produce fewest errors in iconic representations with stylized contours. Based on these results, Study II examines the role of complexity of information by experimenting with one- versus two-step presentations of the teaching material. While Study I was carried out as a production task by pairs of... (More)
In this paper, we present three studies in which we develop and test different representations of intonation contours and prosodic stress with the aim to provide foreign language learners with a notation that they can easily interpret. Study I addresses learners’ productions of target intonation based on six common notation systems. The results reveal how learners themselves make sense of the different representations and show that learners produce fewest errors in iconic representations with stylized contours. Based on these results, Study II examines the role of complexity of information by experimenting with one- versus two-step presentations of the teaching material. While Study I was carried out as a production task by pairs of learners, Study II shows in an online perception test with native speakers that a stylized representation with a sparse representation of stress performs best. Study III explores these findings in another production task. The results confirm that the most suitable visualization technique of those investigated is to present stylized intonation contours with the main points of emphasis added, and that a two-step presentation can be helpful.
(Less)
- author
- Fischer, Kerstin
; Niebuhr, Oliver
; Alm, Maria
LU
and Schümchen-Schram, Nathalie
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-05
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Foreign language learning, German as a second language, Intonation, Teaching prosody, Visualization
- in
- Speech Communication
- volume
- 180
- article number
- 103391
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105036225449
- ISSN
- 0167-6393
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.specom.2026.103391
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- e427c3e5-1d39-45c8-b028-10ef08eadbd0
- date added to LUP
- 2026-06-01 14:20:01
- date last changed
- 2026-06-01 14:21:17
@article{e427c3e5-1d39-45c8-b028-10ef08eadbd0,
abstract = {{<p>In this paper, we present three studies in which we develop and test different representations of intonation contours and prosodic stress with the aim to provide foreign language learners with a notation that they can easily interpret. Study I addresses learners’ productions of target intonation based on six common notation systems. The results reveal how learners themselves make sense of the different representations and show that learners produce fewest errors in iconic representations with stylized contours. Based on these results, Study II examines the role of complexity of information by experimenting with one- versus two-step presentations of the teaching material. While Study I was carried out as a production task by pairs of learners, Study II shows in an online perception test with native speakers that a stylized representation with a sparse representation of stress performs best. Study III explores these findings in another production task. The results confirm that the most suitable visualization technique of those investigated is to present stylized intonation contours with the main points of emphasis added, and that a two-step presentation can be helpful.</p>}},
author = {{Fischer, Kerstin and Niebuhr, Oliver and Alm, Maria and Schümchen-Schram, Nathalie}},
issn = {{0167-6393}},
keywords = {{Foreign language learning; German as a second language; Intonation; Teaching prosody; Visualization}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Speech Communication}},
title = {{Intuitive visualization of intonation for foreign language learners}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.specom.2026.103391}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.specom.2026.103391}},
volume = {{180}},
year = {{2026}},
}