Foreigner talk identification in English-French tandem interactions

Céline Horgues (1) , Sylwia Scheuer (1)

1 PRISMES - PRISMES - Langues, Textes, Arts et Cultures du Monde Anglophone - EA 4398

In an interaction between a native speaker (NS) and a non-native speaker (NNS), the focus is generally given to the characterisation of the NNS’s linguistic behaviour and to how the L2 speaker’s speech features deviate from a typical NS’s production. Yet it is also worth examining the characteristics of NS’s speech in interaction with a NNS as opposed to speech addressed to a speaker sharing the same L1. The concept of foreigner talk (Ferguson 1975) was coined to refer to the modifications applied to one’s speech when addressing a NNS interlocutor. We aim to explore whether such modifications are present in our English/French tandem corpus (Authors 2015) where 21 pairs of students were videorecorded performing collaborative spontaneous tasks in English and in French. Control data of the same tasks performed in their L1 with a fellow NS was also collected. All participants filled out questionnaires about their introspective assessment of how they might modify their speech when speaking with their tandem partner. Our research questions are: -Do English NS adjust their speech when interacting in English with their tandem partners? What is the scope and foci of their adjustments? -Are native-English listeners able to perceptually identify cases of foreigner talk in the tandem interactions? Our methodology to address these questions is to start by setting up a perceptual experiment to explore the identification of foreigner talk. Ten native English-speakers will be presented with audio clips of both tandem and control interactions involving the same NSs and will be asked to identify speech addressed to a NNS. These identification results will then be related to the characteristics of phonetic adjustments the NSs actually realise in their tandem interactions. Analysing the questionnaires will show whether the NSs’ introspective evaluations reflect their adaptative behaviour in interaction.

Mots clés: foreigner talk; accommodation; pronunciation

Domaines: Linguistique

Céline Horgues, Sylwia Scheuer. Foreigner talk identification in English-French tandem interactions. 18ème colloque d’avril de Villetaneuse sur l’anglais oral, « Les experts : caractérisation des locuteurs, des variétés et des styles de parole », Apr 2016, Villetaneuse, France. ⟨halshs-01353988⟩