Unravelling the complexities of intonational learning and transfer in second language speech

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An important aspect of speech is intonation, i.e. the variation of pitch while speaking. Not only does intonation play an important role in conveying meaning, it also provides the listener with information about the speaker, including aspects of their identity (such as gender or age), affective state (whether the speaker is happy, sad, etc.), and social status or class. It is well known that languages differ in intonation, so that intonation is sometimes referred to as the melody of a language. Since a good deal of the impression we derive about speakers depends on the way we use pitch in speech, such language-specific differences may cause considerable misunderstanding between speakers from different cultural backgrounds and many stereotypes associated with different social groups or communities may in fact stem from them. It is therefore important to establish what the basis is of cross-language differences in intonation, and how they are realised by L2 learners with an L1 which differs from the target language in some properties of intonation. From a scientific point of view, establishing this tells us about how languages are learned and stored, and how the L1 and L2 interact with one another. On the practical side, if we can gain a basic understanding of which properties of intonation are susceptible to transfer from the L1, it would eventually allow improved language courses and improve cross-language communication. For example, the relatively flat and low intonation of German learners of English may make them sound 'bleak, dogmatic or pedantic, and as a result, English listeners may consider them uncompromising and self-opinionated' (Trim 1988, as quoted in Grabe 1998), an example which illustrates that impressions based on intonation may lead to ill-founded stereotypes about national or linguistic groups. This fellowship will support the completion of a series of research articles in peer-reviewed, international journals, which address the question of cross-language differences in intonation and how they are produced by L2 learners. Intonation can be varied in a number of ways: through variations in its inventory of intonation patterns; the way these patters are realised (e.g. are they produced in a high register? Or are they rather flat?); their frequency of use (which pattern is more commonly used?); and their use to signal intonational function (e.g. to highlight parts of an utterance, or to distinguish statements from questions). The series of articles will explore L2 intonation along these dimensions of intonation, and establish which cross-language differences are more susceptible to transfer from the L1 at different stages of proficiency. Findings will be publicised by means of a workshop, conference presentations, and presentations to users (such as the L2 learners themselves).