Book announced at https://linguistlist.org/issues/35-1881

Title: L2 Spanish and Italian intonation
Subtitle: Accounting for the different patterns displayed by L1 Czech and German learners
Series Title: Open Romance Linguistics
Publication Year: 2023

Publisher: Language Science Press
http://langsci-press.org
Book URL: https://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/384

Author(s): Andrea Pešková

Reviewer: Kristýna Lorenzová

SUMMARY

When learning a foreign language (L2), the desire to sound like a native speaker is nearly universal, yet, achieving it might be really challenging – if not impossible. In fact, the “foreign accent” will likely still be present to some extent. While learners focus on mastering grammar and vocabulary, less emphasis is placed on pronunciation and especially intonation – a fundamental component of effective communication, with its own grammar fulfilling different functions within a linguistic system. However, this area remains still underinvestigated and it's frequently assumed to be acquired intuitively. Its peripherality is also demonstrated by the limited number of studies in second language research (SLA). The book “L2 Spanish and Italian intonation” examines the melodic patterns produced by Czech and German native speakers learning Spanish and Italian as a foreign language L2 and evaluates the intonation patterns of L2 interlanguages in different types of sentences. Focusing on these learners, the book aims to fill a research gap by providing the first comprehensive contrastive analysis of intonational meaning in Spanish, Italian, German and Czech.

The book is divided into 6 chapters. At the beginning, the reader will find a preface, acknowledgements and a list of abbreviations, while at the end there are two appendices, including both intonation questionnaires in all four languages and a Tonal inventory, as well as ToBI-based labels, references and a name index.

Chapter 1 “Introduction” presents the focus of the study: the investigation of how Czech and German adult learners of Spanish and Italian as a second language (L2) acquire intonation. It aims to (1) fill a research gap by offering a contrastive analysis of intonational meaning in the four languages concerned; (2) explore the impact of two L1s and L2s using Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis (Granger 1996); (3) interpret the findings in the light of L2 Intonation Learning theory (Mennen 2015), and (4) outline intonation modelling and the transcription process. The chapter then considers five core areas of L2 behaviour proposed by Towell/Hawkins (1994) – incompleteness, cross-linguistic influence, developmental sequences, systematicity, and variability – which help to understand L2 speech in general and to formulate initial research questions and hypotheses. The chapter concludes with a brief overview of L2 intonation in language contact and SLA studies, highlighting its limitations in the latter.

Chapter 2 “Theoretical background” is divided into four main parts, beginning with (1) a discussion of both traditional and less traditional factors affecting L2 speech (despite contradictory opinions about their effectiveness). The focus is on the degree of foreign accent, namely L1 background, L2 proficiency level, age of learning, role of input, phonological awareness, personal variables and other influences (e.g. motivation, appropriate learning style, strength of the attitude towards the target language and the role of (self-)identification). The second section (2) looks more closely at the definition of intonation and the possibilities for modelling it, with a particular focus on the Tones and Break Indices (ToBI) annotation system, one of the most widely used systems for annotating intonation, grounded in the Autosegmental-Metrical Model (AM) of intonational phonology. The third section (3) is devoted to the ways in which the four languages in question differ in terms of their phonological systems, covering both segmental and suprasegmental features. This discussion is then connected to theoretical models, specifically Mennen’s (2015) L2 Intonation Learning theory, which attempts to interpret cross-linguistic influence (CLI) and predict what types of difficulties occur in non-native speech.

Chapter 3 “Data and methodology” describes the experimental design used for the following study, that is an hour-long production experiment composed of several tasks (imitation task, two reading tasks, semi-directed conversation and an intonation questionnaire). However, for this study only the data from the last experimental task, that is the intonation questionnaire called the Discourse Completion Task (DCT) were used, during which a total of 60 adult L2 learners (40 L2 Spanish and 20 L2 Italian with L1 Czech and German) with independent (B) and half proficient (C) levels of proficiency (CEFR) were asked to read a prepared answer to a set of questions about 25 everyday situations. Moreover, 24 natives (6 L1 Spanish, 6 L1 Italian, 6 Czech and 6 German) as a control group participated in data collection. This task, despite its original aim for L1 speakers, was adapted to be possible to use for L2 speakers (using basic structures of sentence types, simplification of the prompted contexts, visual materials and a prepared answer to be read aloud instead of reacting with their own words to the situation). A detailed description of the experimental process and the methods employed to analyse and evaluate the data can be found in this chapter.

Chapter 4 “L2 Spanish and L2 Italian intonation patterns” provides an analysis of the main results of intonational patterns in L2 Spanish and L2 Italian, organised according to sentence types: 1) neutral statements, 2) non-neutral statements, 3) yes/no questions, 4) wh-questions and 5) vocatives. Each section presents and compares the intonational properties of the four L1 languages, along with hypotheses derived from the main features, then presents the L2 outcomes with illustrative examples of intonational contours and concludes with a summary and discussion. The tonal analysis includes examples from both the learners’ and controls’ productions.

Chapter 5 “General discussion” is an overall summary of the main findings, together with a discussion of how and in what areas (according to sentence type and tonal event) the learner varieties differ from each other; how the phonological pattern chosen by the L2 learners is appropriate when compared to the L1 productions and some ideas (including one related to the “Phonological control rubric” in CEFR) on how to improve intonation in an L2; what are the results of the deviations in the four dimensions of intonation (systemic, phonetic, semantic, frequency) assumed in the L2 Intonation Learning theory (LILt) and, in the final section, whether it is possible to observe some developmental sequences.

Chapter 6 “Conclusions” provides final remarks as well as limitations of the book, thus leaving room for future research on intonation.

EVALUATION

Overall, the book is very informative and readable. The first two chapters (Chapters 1-2) outline the aims and hypotheses of the study, while also offering a detailed review of the literature that forms the basis of the entire work. These introductory chapters provide clear and thorough explanations of key concepts in L2 speech and intonation, ensuring a solid framework for understanding the analysis and findings presented in the later sections, particularly Chapters 4 and 5.

The methodological framework of this study is very systematic and precise, particularly in the description of the experimental design and participant metadata. It includes a wide range of variables, that is gender, age, occupation, L1 variety, and proficiency level, but also language experience abroad, age of L2 learning, language use and knowledge of additional foreign languages. The study also carefully considers the participants’ dialectal backgrounds – distinguishing between Bohemian and Moravian Czech dialects and the Western North High German variety – and the linguistic varieties of the target language input to which participants were exposed. While controlling for such exposure is inherently challenging and may limit the homogeneity of participant groups, these factors were meticulously documented to enhance the reliability of the findings. The analysis specifically emphasises linguistic background and proficiency level to explain data variation, while leaving other factors – such as quality of input, duration of immersion in L2-speaking countries, formal instructions, phonological awareness, and personal factors related to general talent for pronunciation, music skills, mimicry and memory – for future investigation. Indeed, these factors are recognised as critical, given their potential influence on L2 speech acquisition.

This study is innovative in several aspects. First, it is innovative in its experimental design: data was obtained through an intonation questionnaire specifically adapted for this research but forming part of a large production experiment involving several tasks. The methodology was based on the “(Inter-)Fonología del Español Contemporáneo ((I)FEC)” corpus project (Pustka et al. 2016, 2018). Secondly, the analysis is novel in its cross-sectional approach, combining languages in a new way within the field of intonation acquisition. It employs multidirectional Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis (Granger, 1996) to compare Spanish as an L2 produced by learners with two different L1s (Czech and German), as well as examines two different L2s (Spanish and Italian) produced by learners with the same L1 (Czech).

Not only does the research contribute valuable insights to SLA theory, but it also provides practical implications for foreign language teaching, particularly calling for an increased awareness of intonation in the classroom. Furthermore, it provides space for future research. A specific proposal is presented for integrating intonation skills into the CEFR’s characterization of Phonology control descriptors. Moreover, the study introduces a Developmental L2 Intonation Hypothesis that addresses the challenges of comparing L2 intonation with L1 norms. These challenges include inter-speaker variation in L1 performance, limited prior research, and the complex interplay of intonation with other prosodic phenomena, gestures, and lexical elements. Despite these obstacles, the author outlines a preliminary framework for measuring the production accuracy of L2 intonation patterns.

The structure of the book is designed to guide the reader through a clear and logical progression, despite the presence of numerous acronyms for tonal entities which may be challenging, particularly for less experienced readers. Each section builds on the previous one, resulting in a well-organized and in-depth examination of the topic. Key definitions and aspects are numbered and separated from the main text, as are well-explained figures and tables, making it easy for readers to quickly find and refer to them.

The book is definitely a significant contribution to the field of linguistic acquisition of L2 intonation, language typology and language teaching. The accessible writing style and detailed and systematic explanations ensure that the book is suitable not only for specialists in the field, but also for a broader audience, including lay readers and students.

REFERENCES

CEFR. 2001. Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Language Policy Program. Strasbourg: Council of Europe. https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168045b15e (20 November, 2024).

CEFR. 2011. Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Language Policy Program. Strasbourg: Council of Europe. https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages (20 November, 2024).

CEFR. 2018. Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Companion volume with new descriptors. Language Policy Program. Strasbourg: Council of Europe. https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages (20 November, 2024).

Granger, Sylviane. 1996. From CA to CIA and back: An integrated contrastive approach to computerized bilingual and learner corpora. In Karin Aijmer, Bengt Altenberg & Mats Johansson (eds.), Languages in contrast: Text-based cross-linguistic studies (Lund Studies in English 88), 37–51. Lund: Lund University Press.

Mennen, Ineke. 2015. Beyond segments: Towards a L2 intonation learning theory. In Elisabeth Delais-Roussarie, Mathieu Avanzi & Sophie Herment (eds.), Prosody and language in contact: L2 acquisition, attrition and languages in multilingual situations (Prosody, Phonology and Phonetics), 171–188. Heidelberg: Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-662-45168-7_9.

Pustka, Elissa, Christoph Gabriel & Trudel Meisenburg. 2016. Romance corpus phonology: From (Inter-)Phonologie du Français Contemporain (I)PFC to (Inter-)Fonología del Español Contemporáneo (I)FEC. In Christoph Draxler & Felicitas Kleber (eds.), Proceedings P und P12 (Tagung Phonetik und Phonologie im deutschsprachigen Raum), 151–154. München: LMU.

Pustka, Elissa, Christoph Gabriel, Trudel Meisenburg, Monja Burkard & Kristina Dziallas. 2018. (Inter-)Fonología del Español Contemporáneo (I)FEC: Methodology of a research program for corpus phonology. Loquens 5(1). 1–16. DOI: 10.3989/loquens.2018.046.

Towell, Richard & Roger Hawkins. 1994. Approaches to second language acquisition. Clevedon & Philadelphia: Multilingual Matters.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Kristýna Lorenzová is a PhD student in Romance Languages - Experimental and Applied Linguistics, at the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at Masaryk University in Brno (Czech Republic). Her research interests lie in areas, such as pragmatics, corpus linguistics, as well as L2/LS acquisition, in particular the acquisition of Italian by learners with L1 Slavic. Her doctoral thesis is dedicated to the development of discourse markers in the interlanguage of Czech and Slovak (possibly also other Slavic L1, such as Ukrainian and Russian) learners of Italian as a non-mother tongue.