Accommodation in native-nonnative interactions: Going beyond the “what” to the “why” in second-language research

Zuengler, Jane

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511663673.007

Cited by 57 publications

(37 citation statements)

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“…A myriad of terms have been used to describe speakers' interpersonal adjustments, including convergence (Giles et al, 1991;Pardo, 2006), alignment (Pickering and Garrod, 2006), entrainment (Brennan, 1996), synchrony (Edlund et al, 2009), mimicry (Pentland, 2008) and chameleon effect (Chartrand and Bargh, 1999). The terms child-directed speech or motherese (Fernald et al, 1989) have also been employed to describe speakers' accommodation when talking to infants or children, foreign talk or foreignese (Ferguson, 1975;Zuengler, 1991;Smith, 2007) when interacting with non-native speakers and Lombard effect (Van Summers et al, 1988;Zeine and Brandt, 1988) when accommodating to a noisy environment. In this paper, the term accommodation is used in a generic way, covering all types of accommodation and defined as the way speakers adjust their speech to that of their interlocutor, adapting or differentiating it.…”

Section: Forms and Situational Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating automatic measurements of prosodic accommodation and its dynamics in social interaction

Looze

Scherer

Vaughan

et al. 2014

Speech Communication

101

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Spoken dialogue systems are increasingly being used to facilitate and enhance human communication. While these interactive systems can process the linguistic aspects of human communication, they are not yet capable of processing the complex dynamics involved in social interaction, such as the adaptation on the part of interlocutors. Providing interactive systems with the capacity to process and exhibit this accommodation could however improve their efficiency and make machines more socially-competent interactants.At present, no automatic system is available to process prosodic accommodation, nor do any clear measures exist that quantify its dynamic manifestation. While it can be observed to be a monotonically manifest property, it is our hypotheses that it evolves dynamically with functional social aspects.In this paper, we propose an automatic system for its measurement and the capture of its dynamic manifestation. We investigate the evolution of prosodic accommodation in 41 Japanese dyadic telephone conversations and discuss its manifestation in relation to its functions in social interaction. Overall, our study shows that prosodic accommodation changes dynamically over the course of a conversation and across conversations, and that these dynamics inform about the naturalness of the conversation flow, the speakers' degree of involvement and their affinity in the conversation.

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Section: Forms and Situational Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating automatic measurements of prosodic accommodation and its dynamics in social interaction

Looze

Scherer

Vaughan

et al. 2014

Speech Communication

101

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Conversely, in an earlier study, Beebe (1981, in Zuengler, 1991 explored the pronunciation of Chinese-Thai children and adults, who were interviewed in Thai by an ethnically Chinese and an ethnically Thai interlocutor. Beebe (ibid.…”

Section: Phonetic Imitation In Non-native Speechmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phonetic Imitation of Vowel Duration in L2 Speech

Zając

2013

RiL

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This paper reports the results of a pilot study concerned with phonetic imitation in the speech of Polish learners of English. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether native speakers of Polish imitate the length of English vowels and to determine whether the extent of phonetic imitation may be influenced by the model talker being a native or a non-native speaker of English. The participants were asked to perform an auditory naming task in which they indentified objects and actions presented on a set of photos twice, with and without the imitation task. The imitation task was further sub-divided depending on the model talker being a native or non-native speaker of English (a native Southern British English speaker and a native Polish speaker fluent in English). As the aim was to investigate the variability in durational characteristics of English vowels, the series of front vowels /æ e ɪ iː/ were analysed in the shortening and lengthening b_t vs. b_d contexts. The results of the study show that the participants imitated the length of the investigated vowels as a result of exposure to the two model talkers. The data suggest that the degree of imitation was mediated both by linguistic and social factors and that the direction of convergence might have been affected by the participants’ attitude toward L2 pronunciation.

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“…As alluded to in Varonis and Gass (1985b), this work focuses almost exclusively on interactions involving NSs and NNSs, the modifications being made by the NSs (resulting in "foreigner talk"). Modifications include slower speech rate, shorter and simpler sen-291 tences, more questions and question tags, greater pronunciation articulation, and less use of contractions (Zuengler, 1992). Even when nonnatives interact together, that is, when natives are not involved, the language and forms of interaction are compared (by the researcher) to NS interactions, the supposition being that NS interactions are the norm.…”

Section: Input Modification Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

On Discourse, Communication, and (Some) Fundamental Concepts in SLA Research

Firth

Wagner²

1997

The Modern Language Journal

1,200

304

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This article argues for a reconceptualization of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research that would enlarge the ontological and empirical parameters of the field. We claim that methodologies, theories, and foci within SLA reflect an imbalance between cognitive and mentalistic orientations, and social and contextual orientations to language, the former orientation being unquestionably in the ascendancy. This has resulted in a skewed perspective on discourse and communication, which conceives of the foreign language speaker as a deficient communicator struggling to overcome an underdeveloped L2 competence, striving to reach the "target" competence of an idealized native speaker (NS). We contend that SLA research requires a significantly enhanced awareness of the contextual and interactional dimensions of language use, an increased "ernie" (i.e., participant-relevant) sensitivity towards fundamental concepts, and the broadening of the traditional SLA data base. With such changes in place, the field of SLA has the capacity to become a theoretically and methodologically richer, more robust enterprise, better able to explicate the processes of second or foreign language (SjFL) acquisition, and better situated to engage with and contribute to research commonly perceived to reside outside its boundaries. New Series of Monographs and Textbooks on Women in German Literature WOMEN IN GERMAN LITERATURE IS A NEW SERIES OF MONOGRAPHS AND TEXTBOOKSfocusing on female authors and on women's issues in German literature from the Middle Ages to the present. These studies present edited texts and research in women's literary history, as well as feminist analysis, theory, and criticism. The first volumes are scheduled to appear in 1998.Persons wishing to have a manuscript considered for inclusion in the Women in German Literature series should submit a letter of inquiry with an abstract of the manuscript to the general editor.

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Accommodation in native-nonnative interactions: Going beyond the “what” to the “why” in second-language research

Cited by 57 publications

References 0 publications

Investigating automatic measurements of prosodic accommodation and its dynamics in social interaction

Investigating automatic measurements of prosodic accommodation and its dynamics in social interaction

Phonetic Imitation of Vowel Duration in L2 Speech

On Discourse, Communication, and (Some) Fundamental Concepts in SLA Research

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