Phonetic variations of F0 range in L1 and L2: a Comparison Between English and Japanese Native Speakers
Date
2019-07-25
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Abstract
This study analyzed pitch range production in English and Japanese sentences uttered by native and non-native speakers. I conducted two experiments: 1) pitch range production in L1 (Experiment One); 2) pitch range production in L1 and L2 (Experiment Two). My research questions focused on the pitch range in L2, testing whether it is characterized by a narrower pitch range compared to L1. I also tested the effect of elicitation method and the effect of transfer from L1s. Experiment One showed that Japanese has a higher pitch level than English but the pitch range did not differ significantly. The results of Experiment Two supported the hypothesis that pitch range is narrower in L2, except for female English speakers. The effect of elicitation method was confirmed, with L2 speakers using a wider pitch range after hearing a native prompt than after reading from text materials. The effect of L1 transfer needs further investigation.
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Keywords
pitch range, L2 acquisition
Citation
Qiu, M. (2019). Phonetic variations of F0 range in L1 and L2: a Comparison Between English and Japanese Native Speakers (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.