外语产出中的语音协同及影响因素

本研究旨在探究外语产出中语音协同的模式及影响因素,考察了中国英语学习者在接触英语母语者发音之前及之后的元音产出,并将其与母语者发音进行对比。研究发现,学习者接触后的元音发音比接触前的更接近母语者发音的声学特征,即发生了语音协同;通过混合效应模型建模发现两个语言因素,即接触之前的声学距离及元音类型,均能显著预测语音协同的程度:声学距离越大,发生协同变化的程度越大,不同元音引发的协同程度不同;且两因素存在交互作用。非语言因素,如学习者对母语者声音的好感度不能预测协同程度。本结果对语音协同机制的理论提出了新的挑战,同时对语音教学有所启示。

To investigate whether there is phonetic convergence in foreign language production and how this phonetic convergence may be modulated by related linguistic and non-linguistic factors, the present study examined the English vowel production of Chinese English learners before and after their exposure to the production of an English native speaker. The analyses of the acoustic measurements of the vowels showed that compared with the pre-exposure production, the learners’ production after exposure was closer to the native speaker’s production, suggesting phonetic convergence in the learners. Furthermore, mixed-effects modeling indicated that the degree of convergence was predicted by two linguistic factors: the pre-exposure acoustic distance (between learners and native speakers) and the vowel type. The greater the distance, the stronger the convergence; different vowels elicited different degrees of convergence. Moreover, the effect of the pre-exposure distance was qualified by the vowel type. The non-linguistic factor, i.e., the attractiveness of the native speaker’s voice to the learners, did not predict the degree of convergence. The findings challenge the existing theories on the mechanism of phonetic convergence and have pedagogical implications for L2 pronunciation teaching.