Second language acquisition of speech with paralinguistic information: production and perception of German modal particles

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K00893
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 02100:Foreign language education-related
• Research Institution: Waseda University
• Principal Investigator: Ikoma Miki 早稲田大学, 政治経済学術院, 教授 (90350404)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: ドイツ語 / 音声 / パラ言語情報 / 発話意図 / 外国語学習

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In everyday German, words such as 'denn' and 'schon' are used to express the speaker's intentions and emotions, i.e. paralinguistic information such as 'conviction' and 'refutation'. In this study, we analysed how Japanese native speakers acquire utterances containing intentions while learning German, both in terms of production and perception. The results showed that learning German had an influence on the perception of utterances indicating 'refutation', and that learners were able to perceive 'refutation' utterances more accurately than non-learners, even immediately after starting to learn German as a foreign language. Learners' utterances more than two years after the start of learning showed some prosodic features similar to those of native German speakers, especially with regard to duration and intensity, compared to those immediately after the start of learning.

Free Research Field

外国語のパラ言語情報と音声特徴とのかかわり

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

外国語学習者が自然で円滑なコミュニケーションを行うためには、話者の意図や感情、すなわちパラ言語情報を正しく相手に伝えることができ、正しく理解することができる能力を養うことが重要である。しかしながら、外国語学習者がパラ言語情報をどのように習得していくのか、言語特有あるいは言語普遍的な音声特徴が何であるのかは未解明な点が多い。本研究において、外国語学習者がどのようにしてパラ言語情報を含む音声を習得していくのかが生成・知覚の両面からより明らかにされたことにより、外国語を用いて円滑な口頭コミュニケーションを行うために必要不可欠な音声の効果的な習得のための手がかりを与えることが出来る。