Vowel Accommodation Strategies Used by ESL Teachers in Foreigner-Directed Speech

Vowel Accommodation Strategies Used by ESL Teachers in Foreigner-Directed Speech Public Deposited

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Creator

Barnes, Laura
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Linguistics

Abstract

In this study, features of Foreigner-Directed Speech (FDS) are investigated by measuring the durations of tense and lax vowels in the speech of ESL teachers to both a nonnative speaker of English and a native speaker of English. Comparing tense and lax vowel pairs within subjects from both a group of ESL teachers and a control group of native English speakers (with no experience teaching ESL), it is investigated whether vowel duration is lengthened in both tense and lax vowels, or whether vowel duration is hyperarticulated in tense and lax pairs—lax vowels shorter, tense vowels longer—to see if duration is key in aiding L2 English speakers. It was found that the ESL teacher group did not display any significant features of FDS when compared to the control subject group, and that both groups showed greater durational distance within the tense-lax pair /e/-/ɛ/ than within /i/-/ɪ/. Other patterns were found that could be attributed to FDS, though the statistical significance of these patterns could not be established to confirm this conclusively.

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