juanjgarridop
commented
2 years ago I have reviewed Mennen (2015) and the dissertation of Sánchez Alvarado (2020). I found the abstract of Sánchez Alavarado and Armstrong (2022), but I was not able to get access to the full manuscript.
Here I have written a summary of the LILt model (Mennen, 2015). We can either include it as it is, or summarize it even more (let me know if you need me to shorten the text). I think we need to add the description of this model at the end of the section of L2 acquisition of prosody. On page 5, line 56, it says, "Theoretical work that specifically considers prosody in the acquisition of L2 phonology is virtually non-existent, though some researchers have considered how the aforementioned models might account for suprasegmental phenomena (See Trofimovich & Baker, 2006)." We should mention the LILt model here instead.
The L2 Intonation Learning Theory
The L2 Intonation Learning Theory (LILt) (Mennen, 2015) is the first model to account for L2 acquisition of intonation specifically. LILt (Mennen, 2015) serves as a tool to assess differences and similarities in intonation across languages and to predict the relative difficulty that L2 learners may experience during the process of acquisition of L2 intonation. The model implements the dimensions of language variation proposed by Ladd (1996) and claims that differences in intonation across languages can occur along four intonation dimensions. Understanding intonation differences across the four dimensions allows us to identify the possible challenges that learners may face during L2 acquisition.
First, the ‘systemic dimension’ encompasses differences in the inventory and distribution of categorical phonological elements. For example, the tonal sequence L*HL% is observed in the English of Belfast and Glasgow but not in American English (Ladd, 1996); and in languages like Greek, phrasal accents can be realized even in unstressed syllables to express focus in yes/no questions (Arvaniti et al., 2006), but not in other languages. Second, the ‘realisational dimension’ refers to the different ways in which the categorical elements are realized phonetically. For example, the alignment of pre-nuclear rises happens earlier in English than in German (Atterer and Ladd, 2004). Third, the ‘semantic dimension’ accounts for how categorical elements are used to signal intonation function and meaning. For example, languages mark interrogativity differently. In Greek, falling intonation is used for yes/no questions whereas most varieties of English use rising intonation (Arvaniti et al., 2006). Fourth, the ‘frequency dimension’ focuses on the frequency of use of each categorical element. For example, rises are observed much more frequently in Belfast English than in London or Cambridge English (Grabe, 2004).
LILt (Mennen, 2015) incorporates the basic assumptions of the Speech Learning Model (SLM) (Flege, 1995) and the Perceptual Assimilation Model of L2 speech learning (PAM-L2) (Best and Tyler, 2007). Some of the main assumptions of the LILt model are that L2 categories that are similar to L1 categories may be assimilated, but L2 categories that are perceptually different may be incorporated as new categories; that cross-language differences may occur along one or more intonation dimensions; and that age of onset of acquisition may influence the degree of success in acquiring elements in different dimensions. In addition, the model also highlights that fine-grained phonetic detail is important for acquisition of intonation; that adults can acquire L2 intonation that is within the norms of the intonation of native speakers; and that although transfer occurs at early stages of L2 acquisition, L2 learners improve in some dimensions of intonation over time.
While LILt (Mennen, 2015) focuses mostly on intonation production rather than perception, the model adopts the assumption that many difficulties in intonation production may be perceptually motivated, following the SLM (Flege, 1995) and PAM-L2 (Best and Tyler, 2007). For the present study, investigating L2 perception of intonation in statements and questions in L2 learners of Spanish provides an opportunity to examine how L2 perception develops and may differ from L1 perception especially along the ‘semantic dimension’ of the LILt model (Mennen, 2015), which focuses on how intonation is used to convey meaning. Importantly, whereas LILt considers the influence of external factors such as age of acquisition on the success of learners, the present study investigates the role of empathy as a pragmatic skill on L2 acquisition of intonation, which contributes to the understanding of intonation development along different dimensions.
References
Arvaniti, A., D. R. Ladd & Mennen, I. (2006) Tonal association and tonal alignment: evidence from Greek polar questions and contrastive statements. Language and Speech 49: 421-450.
Atterer, M., & Ladd, D. R. (2004). On the phonetics and phonology of ‘segmental anchoring’ of F0: Evidence from German. Journal of Phonetics 32: 177–197.
Best, C. T., & Tyler, M. (2007). Nonnative and second-language speech perception: Commonalities and complementarities. In Language Experience in Second Language Speech Learning: In Honor of James Emil Flege, eds. O.-S. Bohn and M. J. Munro, 13-34. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing.
Flege, J. E. (1995). Second language speech learning: Theory, findings, and problems. In In Speech Perception and Linguistic Experience: Issues in Cross-Language Research, ed. W. Strange, 233-277. Timonium, Maryland: York Press.
Grabe, E. (2004). Intonational variation in urban dialects of English spoken in the British Isles. In Regional Variation in Intonation, eds. P. Gilles, & J. Peters, 9-31. Tuebingen: Niemeyer.
Ladd, D. R. (1996). Intonational phonology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mennen, I. (2015). Beyond segments: Towards a L2 intonation learning theory. In E. Delais-Roussaire, M. Avanzi, & S. Herment (Eds.), Prosody and language in contact (pp. 171–188). Heidelberg, Germany: Springer
jvcasillas
Action: check sources, consider theoretical contribution, consider what can be said