English as a Second Language Speakers’ Ability to Replicate Native Speaker Speech Forms When Engaged in Imitative Interaction

Authors

Ariana Avila, Brigham Young University
Dr. Mark Tanner, Brigham Young University

Keywords

second language, replicate native speaker speech forms, imitative interaction

College

Humanities

Department

Linguistics

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to gather acoustic data aimed at empirically assessing the degree to which non-native English speakers can approximate the linguistic features of native speech when engaged in imitative interaction. The focus of my study was to investigate the degree to which ESL learners living in an English speaking environment can produce linguistic features (variation in intonation, appropriate word and sentence stress, and appropriate use of pausing to delineate meaning units in discourse) in their speech similar to those produced by native English speakers when the ESL learner is trying to imitate what a native speaker of English sounds like. In order to measure this, we collected data from both native and nonnative English speakers across a range of proficiency levels.

Recommended Citation

Avila, Ariana and Tanner, Dr. Mark (2018) "English as a Second Language Speakers’ Ability to Replicate Native Speaker Speech Forms When Engaged in Imitative Interaction," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2018: Iss. 1, Article 131.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2018/iss1/131