Speech Rhythm Production In A Multilingual Setting

Abstract

Algerian learners majoring in English as a foreign language have already been exposed to a second standard language, French, early in their learning curriculum, in addition to their mother tongue, dialectal Arabic. This multilingual profile of Algeria has been proved to affect different aspects of English acquisition mainly in the area of phonetics and phonology. However, studies dealing with the influence of the previously linguistic systems on the production of L3 speech rhythm are very scant. Therefore, the present study is conducted to classify the interlanguage rhythm and to find out whether it is conceived as a stress-timed vs. syllable-timed dichotomy or as a continuum. Audio recordings of 63 third year Algerian EFL students at Mentouri Brothers University, Constantine were segmented into vowels and consonants' sequences, and their derived rhythm metrics (%V and ∆C) were calculated using PRAAT, speech analysis software. The results of the two measured rhythm metrics yield that the informants' speech rhythm is rather 'intermediate' , merging a stress-timed ∆C and a syllable-timed %V. Accordingly, this study reveals that crosslinguistic interference in the area of phonology touches not only segments but also speech rhythm.