Accent speech is a pronunciation with a clear presence of phonetic and phonological features of the speaker’s native language and sometimes individual traits. A lot of works have been devoted to the study of the phenomenon of accent; in addition, this topic has repeatedly become central at international conferences around the world. However, the reason for the appearance of a foreign sound of an ordinary person without deviations is a massive complex of factors. For example, language learning strategy plays a role in subsequent speech production.
Literature Review
Linguistic anthropologist Judith Bergman discusses the reasons for the foreign accent. He emphasizes that the first reason is that non-native speakers learn English in reverse, that is, differently from the native speaker (Bergman, 2013). Further, as another of the reasons, the researcher highlights the difference in the phonetic-phonological structure of languages. The researcher notes that, for example, in English, there are 16 ways of pronouncing the sound / r / in different positions, while in no other language, this phenomenon is not found (Ryalls & Perkins, 2017). Due to differences in the inventory of phonemes, the rules for organizing phoneme clusters, the reading rules for each language are also different.
However, due to similar phonetic features in some cases, a student of a foreign language often does not fully master sound contrasts. The student tries to apply the rules inherent in the native language when speaking and thus demonstrates a foreign accent. Intonation and stress, which have distinctive features in various phonological systems, according to the unanimous opinion of many authors, are also one of the reasons for the existence of a foreign accent (Bergman, 2013). A foreign accent (FA) is the result of a breakthrough of the phonology of the mother tongue into a second language.
The concept of a phonetic accent is seen as the subordination of someone else’s phonetics to the phonological skills of one’s language. There are two views on the foreign accent in modern science: external and internal (Zhao, 2018). The external look is a view from the position of the listener. In this case, the accent features are noted, fixed in the speech of the foreign speaker, regardless of what his native language is. The internal accent is a view from the speaker’s position when the accent is seen as a result of phonetic interference of two systems. Concerning the analysis of the interfering speech of foreigners, phonetic interference is at the center of the phonetics of the speaker, and the foreign accent is at the center of the phonetics of the listener.
Idiomaticity of Phonetic and Phonological Systems of Languages
The emergence of a new paradigm of the world varieties of the English language (World Englishes) and the development of language contacts. Thus, the range of research tasks of linguists began to include methods of describing regional varieties of the English language. It functions as an intermediary in the intercultural communication of countries, the problem of variability, the probabilistic organization of speech activity and language (Sharifian, 2015).
At the same time, the emergence of new variants and varieties of the English language in countries where this language has traditionally acted as a foreign language (Japan, Korea, China, and others). That is associated with the process of introducing the cultural linguistics originality of the native language into the foreign one (Dewaele & McCloskey, 2014). The unique individuality of each language, or its idiomaticity, which is a sign of any language system, is very clearly reflected in phonetics. A stable factor that prevents the assimilation of phonological categories of the second language is the idiomatic nature of the phonological system of the mother tongue. (Zhao, 2019). The result of this confrontation is the emergence of a phonetic accent in a speech in a foreign language, often leading to communication failures in the context of intercultural communication.
Knowledge and consideration of the originality of bilingual phonetic systems that are in contact in consciousness and speech, which means understanding the causes and patterns of the formation of accent speech. Understanding them allows you to develop specific perception strategies aimed at adapting to receiving a distorted phonetic signal (Konert-Panek, 2017). It is the operational implementation of acoustic-phonological calculations and adjustments necessary for successfully focusing a blurred acoustic image.
The word accent is used in various contexts; below are two of them to clarify how to delineate L2 accents. The word accent comes from the Latin accentus (from ad-cantus), which can be translated accordingly. In Metzler’s lexicon language, the term emphasis is divided into the following areas (Vërçani, 2021):
- A suprasegmental accentuation characteristic in the sense of emphasis, dependent on the pitch and intensity acoustic factors, is used differently in each language, respectively; the volume and duration are conditional.
- Because of the perceptual significance of the accent in utterances in loud language, it is also commonly used for individual speech habits. It includs dialect and idiolect, or the influence of the mother tongue in a foreign language, respectively.
Phonological and phonetic interference describes anomalies in L2 accents at the segment level. If phonetic interference occurs, the phonological system of the target language remains intact, and therefore no meaning change occurs (Newman et al., 2018). An example of this is that in the Italian lexeme tanto, the German speaker L1 tends to / t / at the beginning of a word and says [tantanto] instead of [tanto]. The German aspirated voiceless plosive p, t, k are not used in Italian (Baese-Berk et al., 2013). However, this change does not affect the perception of meaning; it is purely phonetic.
However, there are also phonological interferences, which, according to Odisho (2014), are mispronunciation that directly causes semantic confusion and impede comprehension. For example, some native speakers of German L1 have difficulty creating an English fricative [θ] like in thing. Instead, they often replace the sound with [z] but should be confused with the word sing = [zing]. For phonetic and phonological hindrances, precise classifications already exist. The example describing the replacement of [θ] with [z] is called phoneme matching. Phoneme splitting occurs when a secondary sound parameter that belongs to a phoneme turns into a separate segment. It happens, for example, with the German L2 spokesman in French. French nasal [x] is broken into vowel + nasal [ɔŋ] by German speakers L1, or from [bõ] is called [Bõ].
Research Questions and Hypotheses
This study will address the following issues:
- Are multilingual people more concerned about their foreign accent than others around them?
- In this study, we assume that this is indeed the case and expect to see a significant difference in the responses to the questions posed.
- Foreign accent facial expressions: how does phonetic modification manifest itself in multilingual?
- How are linguistic features caused by extra- and metalinguistic factors manifested. Metalinguistic awareness is considered to be an essential part of multilingual communication. It is a kind of competence and the main criterion that contributes to additional language learning. In this paper, we expect to see differences in the phonetics of multilingual people depending on different L1s.
- The articulation of the first language prevails over the second (or third) presentation: what is the reason for the appearance of a foreign accent?
- It is generally accepted that the assimilation of a foreign language, its phonology, largely depends on the mother’s language or the first language (L1). In addition, it is often believed that mastering third or more languages is the same as learning any previous language. It is only recently that more and more attention has been drawn to the specific and complex nature of phonological acquisition in a multilingual setting. Mastering a foreign language (not a second one) is more difficult in the sense that phonological translation falls under the influence not only of the native language but also of another previously studied one (Dewaele & Wei, 2013). Language systems and learning experiences can also be a source of potential cross-language influences.
Participant Method
A total of 265 multilingual people (161 women, 104 men) completed the questionnaire. The median age of participants was 34.6 years (SD equals 12.1). Proportionately, the largest group aged 20 and over (n = 90), and the smallest one was a group of adolescents (n = 9). It was followed by 30-year-olds (n = 70), 40-year-olds (n = 45), 50-year-olds (n = 33) and sixties and older (n = 18). Mostly people with higher education took part in the survey, 34 of whom hold a high school graduation, 77 bachelor’s degrees, 73 doctorates, and 81 master’s degrees. In most cases, these were women, typical of the language profiles of websites.
Participants reported 104 different nationalities, including many with dual citizenship. The most coveted group was from the USA (n = 83), followed by the British (n = 72), Dutch (n = 43), Belgian (n = 34), German (n = 33). In descending order, there were some small groups of Canadians, Swiss, Poles, Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, Croats, Portuguese, Swedes, Italians (more than 25 members in total), and 77 other nationalities.
The most spoken language L1 was English (n = 184), the second one was Dutch (n = 28), French (n = 22), Spanish (n = 17), German (n = 15). There were also small groups of Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Croatian, Arabic, Turkish, Swedish, Italian, and other languages in descending order. The most common L2 and L3 were English (n = 88), followed by French (n = 45), Spanish (n = 24), and more.
The questionnaire began with a socio-biographical section asking questions about gender, age, nationality, history of the language, and current use of the language, and the questionnaires were anonymous. Data were obtained on the attitude of the participants to the foreign of others and themselves. via the next closed question: “Which of the following statements is closer to you? (1) I don’t like my foreign accent, it annoys me. (2) I don’t like hearing someone else’s foreign accent.”
Participants were asked to choose an answer on a 5-point scale (1 = not bothering at all, 2 = annoying but not very annoying, 3 = not very annoying, 4 = rather annoying, 5 = a lot). The assessments were reversed, that is, the lower the score, the more positive attitude of the participants towards the foreign accent. The average score was 4.49 (SD = 78) for item 1 and 3.3 (SD = 1.2) for the second item. In other words, other people’s foreign accents bothered the participants much less than their accents.
Similar conclusions have also been made by some researchers who asked the question of greater tolerance among multilingual (Dewaele & Wei, 2012). The plethora of studies looking at the cognitive effects of bilingualism and multilingualism contrast with the issue of psychological outcomes. Several papers have shown that people with higher language skills have lower communicative anxiety in both native and foreign languages. The more languages a person knows, the more advanced his consciousness, and the higher the level of open-mindedness.
Research in the Field of Phonetic Modifications
With the help of the same methods, research has already been carried out regarding the modification of phonetic signs. In this study, L2 and L3 phonological awareness was operationalized as the ability to mimic the speech of L1 participants and to reflect on phonological manipulations deliberately. The study design included (1) delayed mimicry and (2) an assessment of the participants’ foreign accents (Wrembel, 2010). The latter was used to compare the observed changes in participants in order to find out how phonological competence correlates with the appearance of an accent in the language.
Regarding the modifications of phonetic features caused by the completed accent mimicry task, L1 Polish speakers tried to imitate the L2 / L3 foreign accent through various means (Kopečková et al., 2021):
- vowel modifications (elongated, centralized and reduced, not nasal),
- reduction of sibilant clusters,
- replacing the trill / r / with an approximate or dull velar fricative,
- as well as the pursuit of silent explosive sounds.
In the field of prosody, the changes were brought about by various stressful situations. These included voice quality, elongated syllables, and exaggerated syllables. The phonetic modifications in the German L1 group included vowel changes (some abbreviated-fortified, less abbreviated). In contrast, the consonant changes included replacing German / R / with the approximant / ɹ / for English L2 and (at times uvular) trill for Polish L3 (Kopečková et al., 2021).
They were also pronounced aspirated / t / and aspirated / d / at the end of several words. Spelling pronunciation (sie [si:], gehen [ge’hen]) also was often used. In terms of prosody, L1 German speakers mainly used lengthening of the unstressed syllable as a strategy to mimic the Polish accent in L1. Interestingly, when the phonetic feature was manipulated in the L2-emphasized version of the mimicry task, the same function was also manipulated multilingual in the L3-emphasized mimicry task.
Examples of Phonetic Modifications on the Analysis of Speakers of East Asian Languages
In the course of the analysis of speech stimuli, it was found, the accentual English speech of East Asian languages speakers is characterized by numerous transformations of the segmental and prosodic structure of the message (Mohd Ibrahim et al., 2019). The identified phonetic features create certain difficulties in the perception of speech. A clear sign, for example, of the East Asian accent in English is the substitution of consonants. Obviously, that arises because, in the mother language, these oppositions are not a relevant feature. These are pairs [v] – [b], which are often replaced, for example, available [əˈ veɪləbl̩] => [əˈ beɪləbl̩], development [dɪˈ veləpmənt] => [dɪˈ beləpmənt], involved [ɪnˈ vɒlvd] => [ɪnˈ bɒl (v) t].
Along with these sounds, there are also frequent substitutions [r] => [l]: representative [ˌreprɪˈ zentətɪv] => [ˌ leplɪˈ zentəˈtɪf], praise [ˈpreɪz] => [pleis]. Replacing [ð] with [d] or [z] and, accordingly, replacing [θ] with [t] or [s] also occurs in the English speech of native speakers of East Asian languages. For example: this [ðɪs] => [dɪs] / [zɪs], there [ðeə] => [deə] / [zeə], that [ðæt] => [zæt] / [dæt]. And more: other [ˈ ʌðə] = > [ˈ ʌda] / [ˈ ʌza], thirty [ˈ θɜːti] => [ˈ sɜːti], thank you [ˈ θæŋk ju] => [ˈ sænk ˈ ju] / [ˈtænk ˈ ju].
Also, one of the frequency transformations that hindered the process of perceiving English speech by native speakers of East Asian languages were the phenomena of minus and plus segmentation. That means the omission and addition of unnecessary sounds, respectively (Zhao et al., 2019). To demonstrate the phenomenon of minus segmentation, for example, the word priority [praɪˈɔː rəti]. It was implemented by a Korean speaker as [prɪərɪˈ tɪ] (elision of the diphthong [aɪ] with simultaneous stress shift). Then, bilateral => [‘bi’lætəl] (omission the slit sonant [r] and the replacement of the diphthong [aɪ] by the monophthong [i]). An example of plus-segmentation would be the numeral hundred / ‘hʌndrəd / => [ənðə]. This emphasis implementation notes:
- minus segmentation (elision) of consonants (initial / h / and final / d /),
- simplification of the consonant cluster / ndr /,
- the second point is also accompanied by the substitution / d / => [ð] (the phenomenon of over differentiation),
- as well as weakening of the stressed vowel in the norm / ʌ / => [ə].
Errors occur due to differences in the native and foreign languages of the foreigner. Phonological differences also arise on the basis of different articulatory characteristics of languages. Phonological errors are regarded as speech impairment caused by the influence of the native language. Perhaps this can be understood as it occurs through the transmission of motor-articulatory skills. Nevertheless, phonemic articulation in such cases does not cause significant difficulties. Errors of the articulatory type associated with deviations from the pronunciation of any phoneme of a foreign language have some correspondence in the mother language of a foreigner. Violation of the language system is manifested in foreign language speech at all levels.
Justification and Impact of Research on Multilingualism and Society
Phonological theory helps to correctly understand the causes of foreigners’ mistakes, distinguish the main types of errors, and outline ways to eliminate them. Thanks to this, to develop a system of exercises, taking into account the peculiarities of the articulatory base and phonological system of the studied and native language of the student. The comparative way of studying the accent presents data on phonetic-phonological differences in the techniques of interacting languages. It reveals the linguistic reasons for many typical features of the accent. It also relies on general phonetic and phonological methods for analyzing contacting sound systems. Analyzing phonetic errors made by students in speech makes it possible to directly detect difficulties in mastering pronunciation and describe the design of auditory-pronunciation deviations for a particular type of accent in educational conditions.
In the context of communication in an intermediary language of non-native speakers, the importance of acoustic pattern recognition for understanding is even more critical. Significant deviations in the phonetic realization of a semantic message in the speech of bilinguals – speakers of oriental languages – require didactic comprehension in terms of developing methods. They aimed at developing flexible perception strategies, expanding perceptual phonetic-phonological models in the perceptual base of communicating specialists. For example, the formation of global phonetics is a phonological competence. The appearance of relatively stable phonological perception schemes allows the inclusion of recognizable information into the adaptive system of communicants.
Of particular importance is the development of adaptive comprehension skills for simultaneous interpreters, whose regular lag in translation from the speaker. That is necessary for orientation in the conditions of the following translation task, and making a translation decision, is allowed on average for 2-3 seconds. It approximately corresponds to the duration of the sound of the next speech link. Practicing accent speech perception skills helps eliminate cognitive dissonance that occurs during the initial communicative experience with non-native speakers and prevents the adoption of a timely translation or communication decision.
Research Timeline
During the first week of work on the paper, I carefully studied the task assigned to me, sorted out the unclear details, and planned the assignment. Next, I developed a strategy for finding research related to my chosen topic of work. The search for scientific literature took place among library databases and the Internet. Over the next two to three weeks, I studied the selected literature and took notes. As I read it, I systematized the information, organized it depending on whether it confirms or refutes my thesis.
The experiment described in the article was conducted over three weeks using the participant and questionnaire method. Initially, a list of questions for the upcoming research was compiled, on the basis of which questionnaires were created for further analysis. After writing the sheet, I posted the survey on the Internet. Based on the collected data, I calculated statistics on the issues raised in the paper.
During the remaining period, I wrote and edited the article. While writing the research paper, I made sure that I spoke in detail about the problems associated with my topic. I then summarized the evidence for what appears in the literature I have found. Having described the conducted method in the work, I backed up my arguments with facts. In the end, I checked the essay for contradictions, errors, as well as for design.
Conclusion
A foreign accent (FA) is the result of a breakthrough of the phonology of the mother tongue into a second language. The degree of FA presence depends on various factors, including:
- the age at which the acquisition of a foreign language begins,
- the length of time spent in countries where the learner is the primary language,
- and the ability to learn languages.
Moyer (2015) defines accent as follows: in his words, “accent is a fluid, contextualized expression of our personal and social identity, as well as our communicative position.” (p. 49).
Pronunciation deviations due to interference accompany the study of any foreign language and are predictable. A phonetic accent is recognized as one of the signs of the level of language proficiency. The emergence of a mixed language in phonetic interference, when two languages form in mind only one system of associations, leads to the emergence of one or more systems, an intermediate system of correspondences. The phonetic design of a foreign language speech and its perception in this language is carried out according to the rules of an intermediate system. The paradigmatic units of it are not identical to the phonemes of both the primary and secondary methods. This statement is supported by the fact that the manifestation of phonetic interference does not occur chaotically but reveals patterns characteristic of this group of individuals.
The idiomatic nature of the phonological system of the native language turns out to be a reasonably stable factor that prevents the assimilation of the phonological categories of the second language. The result of this confrontation is the emergence of a phonetic accent in a speech in a foreign language, often leading to communication failures in the context of intercultural communication. Knowledge and consideration of the originality of bilingual phonetic systems that are in contact with consciousness and speech. That means that understanding the causes and patterns of the formation of accent speech makes it possible to develop certain strategies of perception aimed at:
- adapting to receiving a distorted phonetic signal,
- promptly carrying out acoustic-phonological calculations
- and adjustments necessary for successful focusing a blurred acoustic image
The main research issue addressed in the paper was that the previously studied language predominates as a source of interlingual influence in the phonological acquisition of L1 or L2. The analyzed data clearly showed that it is not only the motor routine of the native language that determines the purchase of a new foreign language (Hu et al., 2013). As can be seen, both levels of the student, his mother language or any other, played an important role in the development of primarily phonetic as well as phonological features. However, in English interphonology, the strength of these influences varied depending on the stage of proficiency in a foreign language.
Summing up, we can say that the completion of the processes of a new phonological systematization takes place, considering some peculiarities. Namely, when the sound categories of a foreign language do not contradict the sound categories of the first language (allophonic principle). They must be categorized within the dual language system (contrastive basis).
The previous necessitates the inclusion of the task of expanding perceptual biases and the mental vocabulary when teaching another language. For example, simultaneous interpreters need to recognize the phonemic composition better and gain access to the original message’s meaning. People will be much easier and faster to process information with the ability to decode the perceived information even with gross phonetic violations. Undoubtedly, the experience of verbal communication and training according to the peculiarities of accent implementation develops the ability to reconstruct the sound continuum’s phonemic composition easily.
To understand the reasons for sound transformations in the speech of non-native speakers, it is important to understand the formation of the phonological system of the target language. However, the accurate picture of phonetic disorders in multilingual speech may differ significantly from the predicted one. The appearance of secondary phonological categories in the consciousness of an adult inevitably occurs according to the principle of similarity-difference with the types of the native language, because of which a foreign accent arises.
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