German pitches in English: Production and perception of cross-varietal differences in L2

Abstract

The present study examines the effect of cross-varietal prosodic characteristics of two German varieties, Northern Standard German (NG) and Swiss German (SG), on the production and perception of foreign accent in L2 Belfast English. The analysis of production data revealed differences in the realisation of nuclear pitch accents in L1 German and L2 English produced by the two groups of speakers. Foreign accent ratings of L2 English sentences produced by NG speakers with no or extensive experience, native Belfast English speakers and SG speakers were obtained from native Belfast English listeners. The findings showed that segmental and prosodic characteristics play a role in the perception of foreign accent. In addition, they can be more similar across languages than across varieties of the same language. This in turn affects which and how cross-varietal differences in L1 impact on the degree of perceived foreign accentedness. The results are consistent with a usage-based account.