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Appropriate Tone Accent Production in L2-Swedish by L1-Speakers of Somali

Tronnier, Mechtild LU and Zetterholm, Elisabeth LU (2014) In Concordia Working Papers in Applied Linguistics 5. p.722-736
Abstract
It has been suggested that speakers with an L1 with lexical tones may have an advantage when it comes to perceptually discriminating between different tones in another tone language (Kaan, Wayland, Bao & Barkley, 2007). Other studies in L2-learning show that this is not entirely the case (van Dommelen & Husby 2009, So & Best 2010). A model of typological pitch prominence (Schaefer & Darcy, 2013) suggests that speakers of an L1 with a higher pitch prominence can perceive tonal contrast in another tone language better than those with an L1 of a lower pitch prominence. This study addresses the question: if Somali L1-speakers make a systematical distinction in the tonal pattern when producing Swedish words with the two tonal... (More)
It has been suggested that speakers with an L1 with lexical tones may have an advantage when it comes to perceptually discriminating between different tones in another tone language (Kaan, Wayland, Bao & Barkley, 2007). Other studies in L2-learning show that this is not entirely the case (van Dommelen & Husby 2009, So & Best 2010). A model of typological pitch prominence (Schaefer & Darcy, 2013) suggests that speakers of an L1 with a higher pitch prominence can perceive tonal contrast in another tone language better than those with an L1 of a lower pitch prominence. This study addresses the question: if Somali L1-speakers make a systematical distinction in the tonal pattern when producing Swedish words with the two tonal accents – as both languages are of similar pitch prominence according to Schaefer and Darcy – and also to what extent they produce a tonal pattern assigned to either one of the tone accents. The adequate distinction is identified as such by native speakers/listeners of Swedish. Results revealed that a big discrepancy still remains between the number of correct identifications of the stimuli produced by the L1-speakers of Swedish and those produced by L2-speakers of Swedish with Somali as their L1. Having a typologically similar L1 does not seem to give enough support to handle the tone accent distinction in Swedish L2 adequately. (Less)
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author
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organization
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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Concordia Working Papers in Applied Linguistics
volume
5
pages
722 - 736
publisher
Concordia University, Department of Education, COPAL
ISSN
2292-4248
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Linguistics and Phonetics (015010003)
id
cb9e60db-ff83-415a-8c5a-2d042ea4ba4f (old id 4927069)
alternative location
http://doe.concordia.ca/copal/documents/46_Tronnier_Zetterholm_Vol5.pdf
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:54:06
date last changed
2018-11-21 20:10:07
@article{cb9e60db-ff83-415a-8c5a-2d042ea4ba4f,
  abstract     = {{It has been suggested that speakers with an L1 with lexical tones may have an advantage when it comes to perceptually discriminating between different tones in another tone language (Kaan, Wayland, Bao & Barkley, 2007). Other studies in L2-learning show that this is not entirely the case (van Dommelen & Husby 2009, So & Best 2010). A model of typological pitch prominence (Schaefer & Darcy, 2013) suggests that speakers of an L1 with a higher pitch prominence can perceive tonal contrast in another tone language better than those with an L1 of a lower pitch prominence. This study addresses the question: if Somali L1-speakers make a systematical distinction in the tonal pattern when producing Swedish words with the two tonal accents – as both languages are of similar pitch prominence according to Schaefer and Darcy – and also to what extent they produce a tonal pattern assigned to either one of the tone accents. The adequate distinction is identified as such by native speakers/listeners of Swedish. Results revealed that a big discrepancy still remains between the number of correct identifications of the stimuli produced by the L1-speakers of Swedish and those produced by L2-speakers of Swedish with Somali as their L1. Having a typologically similar L1 does not seem to give enough support to handle the tone accent distinction in Swedish L2 adequately.}},
  author       = {{Tronnier, Mechtild and Zetterholm, Elisabeth}},
  issn         = {{2292-4248}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{722--736}},
  publisher    = {{Concordia University, Department of Education, COPAL}},
  series       = {{Concordia Working Papers in Applied Linguistics}},
  title        = {{Appropriate Tone Accent Production in L2-Swedish by L1-Speakers of Somali}},
  url          = {{http://doe.concordia.ca/copal/documents/46_Tronnier_Zetterholm_Vol5.pdf}},
  volume       = {{5}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}