jvcasillas
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3 years ago Possible draft
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The present study investigates the interplay between proficiency and individual pragmatic skills in the process of learning a new language. Specifically, we focus on the role of empathy in the development of second language (L2) prosody by analyzing the perception and processing of intonation in questions and statements in L2 Spanish. It is common for L2 learners to struggle with L2 intonation, often resulting in comprehension and communication difficulties. Previous research attests that learners gradually acquire target-language prosody as they gain proficiency in the language. Concretely, the perception and processing of L2 intonation has been shown to improve in conjunction with proficiency conditional on intonation type (Brandl et al., 2020), with polar ('yes/no') interrogatives being more difficult to process and acquire when compared with simple statements. The construct empathy has been shown to influence native language processing in how listeners interpret intonation and meaning when words are ambiguous (Esteve-Gilbert et al., 2020). Specifically, higher empathy individuals, in comparison with lower empathy individuals, appear to be more sensitive to intonation cues in the process of forming sound-meaning associations. We extend this research to L2 acquisition in order to determine if individual differences in pragmatic skills affect the development of intonation in L2 processing and sentence comprehension.
A total of 223 participants completed a two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) task in which four utterance types were categorized as questions or statements. The stimuli were randomly drawn tokens of declarative (broad, narrow focus) and interrogative (polar, wh-) utterances, spoken by native speakers of eight distinct varieties of Spanish (Andalusian, Argentine, Castilian, Chilean, Cuban, Mexican, Peruvian, Puerto Rican). Additionally, participants completed the LexTALE vocabulary task in Spanish (Izura et al. 2014), which served as a proxy for L2 proficiency, as well as the Empathy Quotient questionnaire in English (Baron-Cohen & Wheelwright, 2004), which provided an individual assessment of the construct empathy.
The data were analyzed using Bayesian multilevel regression and Drift Diffusion models. The analyses showed that empathy scores were positively correlated with higher accuracy in polar interrogatives (see figure x). Additionally, we replicated findings from Brandl et al. (2020) showing that learner response accuracy improved as a function of proficiency for all utterance types. As is the case with L1 research, the present project underscores the importance of considering individual pragmatic differences when examining intonational meaning processing and sentence comprehension in an L2. More specifically, the results also motivate the inclusion of measures of pragmatic skill, such as empathy, as predictors for L2 acquisition outcomes. Furthermore, these findings highlight an area in which models of L2 development can improve in order to better account for individual differences in L2 learning.
laurafdeza
juanjgarridop
kparrish92
Intro
Intonation is essential for interpreting meaning and distinguishing between different types of utterances. Previous studies indicate that L2 learners frequently struggle acquiring L2 intonation. They often misinterpret L2 intonation, resulting in comprehension and communication difficulties.
Previous research has suggested that L2 learners use intonational cues in question-statement disambiguation with higher accuracy as proficiency increases (Brandl et al. citation). These studies have not considered the role of individual differences in the acquisition and use of cues to disambiguate speaker meaning. Other studies, done in a monolingual setting (empathy study citation), found that speakers with higher empathy quotient scores were more successful in disambiguating lexical meaning through the use of intonation than less empathetic participants. We wondered if Spanish-English bilinguals would disambiguate questions and statements with higher accuracy at lower levels of proficiency and higher levels of empathy. We measured proficiency using the LEXtale and empathy using an empathy quotient survey used in previous studies.
This study looks at the role of individual pragmatic skills in language processing by examining the role of empathy in the development of L2 prosody. Add something about conceptually replicating the Brandl et al. (2020?) study. We analyze the perception of intonation in questions and statements in L2 Spanish. A sentence about simple statements being easier to process than ‘yes-no’ type questions. Research has shown that empathy influences native language interpretation and meaning (citation). Higher empathy individuals are more sensitive to intonation cues. We extend this research to second language acquisition to determine how/if empathy (or maybe pragmatic skills?) impact the development/perception of intonation in L2 processing and sentence comprehension. Something about research questions and speaker variety affecting perception accuracy. Based on native speaker pilot test, we hypothesize that L2 learners will have most difficulty with Cuban variety.
Previous research has shown that empathy is associated with the interpretation of intonation in a language (citation). Individuals with higher levels of empathy discriminate better differences in intonation (e.g., pitch changes) associated with changes in meaning. This type of associations can pose a problem for L2 speakers, as research with ‘yes/no’ questions show (citation). We investigated how empathy influences acquisition of different patterns of intonation associated with ‘yes/no’ questions and statements, and how this influence changes over proficiency.
One study that the present investigation builds upon is the role of empathy in the perception and development of L2 prosody. Previously, studies have suggested that individuals with higher empathy are better able to disambiguate between homophones (words that have different meanings but sound the same). Our goal is to examine whether this extends into disambiguating between sentences and questions in Spanish.
Hypothesis 1: Accuracy will increase and processing time will decrease as a function and intonation type. Yes-no questions will present the most difficulty for L2 learners of spanish followed by wh-questions and declarative broad focus and narrow focus statements. Hypothesis 2: Posit that prosodic development will occur sooner and as a faster rate higher empathy individuals. Hypothesis 3: The overall L2 learners will have difficulty with cuban variety.
Method A total 222 participants completed a two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) task in which 4 utterance types were categorized as questions or statements. Stimuli… the stimuli were randomly drawn towkens of declarative (broad, narrow focus) and interrogative (partial, wh-) utterances, spoken by native speakers of eight distinct varieties of Spanish (varieties here). Additionally, participants completed the LexTALE vocabulary task(test?) in Spanish (CITE), which served as a proxy for L2 proficiency, as well as the Empathy Quotient questionnaire in English (cite), which provided an assessment of the construct empathy.
2AFC task participants were presented with an audio file containing a statement either declarative or a question. Their task is to determine, if what they hear is either a question or statement.
Results The data were analyzed using Bayesian multilevel regression models. The results replicated findings from Brandl et al (year) showing that learner response accuracy improved as a function of LexTALE scores for all utterance types (main effect? Double check). Importantly, empathy scores were positively correlated with higher accuracy in wh- questions (right?) (see figure x).
Participants who scored higher on the EQ
Participants with higher Empathy Quotient scores also scored higher in the sentence-question disambiguation task, and did so across all varieties of Spanish.
Disc/Conc/Take away
At lower levels of proficiency, individual differences in empathy may be an important factor to consider in L2 learning.
Our findings suggest that empathy is an important factor in acquisition and processing of intonation at all levels of L2 proficiency, although it plays a major role at lower levels. Given that participants showed different levels of difficulty processing different varieties of Spanish, it is also likely that empathy effects differ depending on how different the L2 is from the L1.
The results of the present study emphasize the importance of considering measures of pragmatic skill as predictors for second language acquisition outcomes (something like this), as underscore the need for models of L2 development to incorporate pragmatic skill (repetition) in order to better account for individual differences (in L2 learning).
(Thoughts… what is empathy? D’Imperio talks about it in terms of pragmatic skill… ability to understand another persons feelings… check psych literature