Pronunciation and identity in foreign language speech
Presentation Type
Abstract
Faculty Advisor
Anne Edstrom
Access Type
Event
Start Date
25-4-2025 1:30 PM
End Date
25-4-2025 2:29 PM
Description
Much previous research has discussed native speakers' perception of non-native speech. These studies often look at the impacts of certain linguistic features of speech and detail what most non-native speakers should focus on if their goal is to pass as a native speaker. There is however, a gap in the existing literature when reviewing how the non-native speakers feel about these suggestions. This study seeks to fill this gap by examining the differences in how non-native speakers of Spanish feel before and after being advised on how to sound "more native." A second goal of this study is to see if the advice given makes the audio productions of the non-native speakers appear "more natural" to native speakers when compared to their original productions. This study has two hypotheses: 1. When the non-native speaker reads aloud imitating the target language pronunciation, they will feel different than when they read aloud without paying attention to pronunciation. 2. The native speaker listener will interpret the oral presentation in which the learner imitates the target language pronunciation as sounding "more natural."
Pronunciation and identity in foreign language speech
Much previous research has discussed native speakers' perception of non-native speech. These studies often look at the impacts of certain linguistic features of speech and detail what most non-native speakers should focus on if their goal is to pass as a native speaker. There is however, a gap in the existing literature when reviewing how the non-native speakers feel about these suggestions. This study seeks to fill this gap by examining the differences in how non-native speakers of Spanish feel before and after being advised on how to sound "more native." A second goal of this study is to see if the advice given makes the audio productions of the non-native speakers appear "more natural" to native speakers when compared to their original productions. This study has two hypotheses: 1. When the non-native speaker reads aloud imitating the target language pronunciation, they will feel different than when they read aloud without paying attention to pronunciation. 2. The native speaker listener will interpret the oral presentation in which the learner imitates the target language pronunciation as sounding "more natural."
Comments
Poster presentation at the 2025 Student Research Symposium.