Presenter(s): Carissa Diantoro—Linguistics
Faculty Mentor(s): Melissa Redford
Session: Prerecorded Poster Presentation
Language rhythm arises from the language-specific timing of syllables, dictated by the language- specific stress patterns . Previous studies show that speaking a language with a similar rhythm pattern to a target second language (L2) could aid in rhythm acquisition of that language . The question addressed in this study is whether training in an L2 could help the acquisition of a third language (L3) . We hypothesize that compared to a monolingual speaker, an L2 learner will better acquire the rhythm patterns of an L3 if the L2 rhythm pattern is similar to that of the L3 . We tested this hypothesis by asking whether English-speaking learners of French more quickly learn an L3 language with a French-like rhythm pattern (i .e ., Indonesian) than English speakers with no such L2 experience . The French learners and English-only speakers were recorded while repeating Indonesian sentences as well as French sentences . Their repetitions were acoustically segmented into consonant and vowel intervals, and several interval-based rhythm metrics were calculated . Preliminary findings, based on 5 second-year English learners of French and 5 monolingual English speakers, show little meaningful differences between the two groups in their production of Indonesian . Segmentation and analysis of the French sentences is on-going to ensure that there are at least difference between the groups in their production of French . Also, more study participants are being recruited to increase the sample sizes . Overall, the goal of the study is to better understand adult language acquisition, including the benefits of L2 learning .