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The Frequency Code and Gendered Attrition and Acquisition in the German – English Heritage Language Community in Vancouver, Canada
Abstract
How do bilinguals realise language specific aspects of prosody? For the purposes of this chapter, how do they do so within their own unique heritage language communities, and what might particular aspects of prosody signal to members of their community?
The present research investigated these questions with regard to pitch level and pitch span in a group of German L1 – English L2 late bilinguals (n=10) in comparison to two monolingual control groups (n=20). The late bilinguals had moved to Vancouver, Canada in adulthood, and had been living in Vancouver for an average of 40 years, in most cases longer than they had lived in Germany. As such, the bilinguals are considered to be heritage language speakers within the Vancouver German community. This community is reported to keep a low profile with regard to their ethnic origin since WWII, as they have been associated with the “enemy” (Todd, 2011, para. 44).
Previous research suggests that on average German men have a higher pitch level than English men (Scherer, 1974), whilst German women have a lower pitch level than English women (Mennen, Schaeffler, & Docherty, 2012). Moreover, research suggests that pitch span is narrower in German women than in English women, which is not necessarily the case for German and English men (Mennen et al., 2012). Accordingly, the task of German men acquiring English was expected to be reversed in comparison to German women acquiring English, assuming monolingual native norms are the target, and attritional effects may therefore likewise also been reversed between men and women.
However, in line with the Frequency Code (Ohala, 1983, 1984), and crucial to this research, it has also been claimed that a high pitch level, and potentially a wider pitch span, are universally associated with friendly and non-aggressive behaviour, whilst the opposite is universally encoded to mean “dominant or aggressive individuals” (Gussenhoven, 2004, p. 80). Therefore, it was of interest to examine how the bilinguals from the German language community in Vancouver would navigate a potential desire to portray themselves as friendly and non-aggressive (and therefore dissociate from the “enemy”), whilst at the same time acquiring English pitch norms. This was particularly relevant with regard to the males, who would need to decrease their pitch level and narrow their pitch span to be in line with English male norms, which could then potentially be associated with dominance and aggression, and, in turn, lead to associations with the “enemy” (Todd, 2011, para. 44).
As expected, the results from the monolinguals (n=20) supported that pitch level was on average lower and pitch span narrower for the German females than for the English females; and that pitch level was on average higher and pitch span wider for the German males than the English males. Similarly, as expected under the long-term influence of English, the pitch level of the bilingual females was on average higher, in both German and English, than of the German monolingual females.
However, on average the mean pitch level of the bilingual males also increased in both German and English. Similarly, the mean pitch span of the bilingual females was wider in both German and English than the German monolinguals, as expected; and, moreover, on average the mean pitch span of the bilingual males also widened in both German and English.
The findings are interpreted to reflect the bilingual situation of the German heritage language community in Canada, in which the community is presented with the task of acquiring English pitch norms, whilst at the same time portraying itself as non-aggressive and friendly. In particular, with regard to the male German – English bilinguals, these objectives collide. The results indicate that on average the bilingual males increased their pitch in both English and German, and widened their pitch span, therefore indexing non-aggressive, friendly behaviour, as proposed by the Frequency Code, but thereby forgoing the realisation of male English pitch norms. Understandably, the male English monolinguals would socially not suffer from a low pitch and narrow span, as they are not already stereotyped to be aggressive.
In sum, this research relates phonetic findings regarding pitch changes in bilinguals to the unique social and political history of the German heritage language community in Canada. In doing so, the findings suggest that acquisitional and attritional processes are at least in part dependent on the social and political environment in which they are embedded.
... Heritage language markers may also be retained to fulfil socio-indexical functions on the part of the heritage language speakers (Alam & Stuart-Smith, 2011;Heselwood & Mcchrystal, 1999, 2000Kirkham, 2011;Sharma & Sankaran, 2011). Moreover, even in first-generation bilinguals, there is preliminary evidence suggesting that not only general attrition processes (i.e., the L2 influencing the L1) affect the native language, but also that socio-indexical factors contribute to changes in both the L1 and L2 (de Leeuw, 2019;Passoni et al., 2018). ...
... Additionally, in de Leeuw et al. (2012), some late sequential German-English bilinguals in Vancouver, Canada, performed within English monolingual norms in their German tonal alignment production, whereas others displayed native German monolingual production patterns. Further investigation of this same community suggested that the social and political environment of "being German" in Vancouver may have influenced pitch realization of the German-English males, with a wider pitch span and higher pitch level in both their German and English indexing friendliness and helpfulness to dissociate themselves from the stereotypical image of Germans in Canada as being aggressive (de Leeuw, 2020;Lieb, 2008). Moreover, in a small group of Turkish-German simultaneous bilingual children (age 10-12 years), it was found that there was bidirectional prosodic interaction with the children producing Turkish prosodic patterns in German, and German prosodic patterns in Turkish (Queen, 2001). ...
... As already mentioned, it may be that because the community was large and dense, it was simply possible to have more diverse input from the L1 than other minority communities would receive in their L1. Moreover, previous studies into L2 acquisition and the interaction between the L1 and L2 have focused on segmental aspects, with only a few studies exploring prosodic variables (de Leeuw, 2019(de Leeuw, , 2020de Leeuw et al., 2012;Mennen, 2004;O'Rourke, 2005;Queen, 2001;Simonet, 2011). It may, therefore, be that age of acquisition effects can be more easily compensated with enough language input for prosodic dimensions of speech, but not as readily for segmental aspects of speech. ...
The primary aim of this study was to investigate prosodic prominence across three groups of Sylheti-English bilinguals: first-generation who arrived as adults, first-generation who arrived as children, and second-generation, i.e., born in the United Kingdom to parents who grew up in Bangladesh. To measure prominence, f0, duration, and intensity were measured across disyllabic words in Sylheti and English. The results showed significant differences in the f0 analysis. Regarding monolinguals, Sylheti prominence displayed a rising contour, in contrast to the English falling contour. In Sylheti, the bilinguals born in the United Kingdom were the only group significantly different from the Sylheti monolinguals, displaying an English-like falling pattern in their Sylheti prominence. In English, the late arrival bilinguals displayed a Sylheti-like prominence realization, but the early arrivals and those born in the United Kingdom approximated the monolingual English prominence realization. Overall, language use patterns were the most significant factor related to the bilinguals’ prominence realization.
... Heritage language markers may also be retained to fulfil socio-indexical functions on the part of the heritage language speakers (Alam & Stuart-Smith, 2011;Heselwood & Mcchrystal, 1999, 2000Kirkham, 2011;Sharma & Sankaran, 2011). Moreover, even in first-generation bilinguals, there is preliminary evidence suggesting that not only general attrition processes (i.e., the L2 influencing the L1) affect the native language, but also that socio-indexical factors contribute to changes in both the L1 and L2 (de Leeuw, 2019;Passoni et al., 2018). ...
... Additionally, in de Leeuw et al. (2012), some late sequential German-English bilinguals in Vancouver, Canada, performed within English monolingual norms in their German tonal alignment production, whereas others displayed native German monolingual production patterns. Further investigation of this same community suggested that the social and political environment of "being German" in Vancouver may have influenced pitch realization of the German-English males, with a wider pitch span and higher pitch level in both their German and English indexing friendliness and helpfulness to dissociate themselves from the stereotypical image of Germans in Canada as being aggressive (de Leeuw, 2020;Lieb, 2008). Moreover, in a small group of Turkish-German simultaneous bilingual children (age 10-12 years), it was found that there was bidirectional prosodic interaction with the children producing Turkish prosodic patterns in German, and German prosodic patterns in Turkish (Queen, 2001). ...
... As already mentioned, it may be that because the community was large and dense, it was simply possible to have more diverse input from the L1 than other minority communities would receive in their L1. Moreover, previous studies into L2 acquisition and the interaction between the L1 and L2 have focused on segmental aspects, with only a few studies exploring prosodic variables (de Leeuw, 2019(de Leeuw, , 2020de Leeuw et al., 2012;Mennen, 2004;O'Rourke, 2005;Queen, 2001;Simonet, 2011). It may, therefore, be that age of acquisition effects can be more easily compensated with enough language input for prosodic dimensions of speech, but not as readily for segmental aspects of speech. ...
The primary aim of this study was to investigate prosodic prominence across three groups of Sylheti-English bilinguals: first-generation who arrived as adults, first-generation who arrived as children, and second-generation, i.e., born in the United Kingdom to parents who grew up in Bangladesh. To measure prominence, f 0, duration, and intensity were measured across disyllabic words in Sylheti and English. The results showed significant differences in the f0 analysis. Regarding monolinguals, Sylheti prominence displayed a rising contour, in contrast to the English falling contour. In Sylheti, the bilinguals born in the United Kingdom were the only group significantly different from the Sylheti monolinguals, displaying an English-like falling pattern in their Sylheti prominence. In English, the late arrival bilinguals displayed a Sylheti-like prominence realization, but the early arrivals and those born in the United Kingdom approximated the monolingual English prominence realization. Overall, language use patterns were the most significant factor related to the bilinguals’ prominence realization.
... Impressionistically, English female voices have been reported to be high-pitched and "sound aggressive and over-excited to the German hearer" (Gibbon, 1998, p. 89). Instrumental crosssectional research which has contrasted pitch in German and English indicates that German females have a lower pitch level and a narrower pitch span than English females of the same age group Mennen, Schaeffler, & Docherty, 2007;Scharff-Rethfeldt et al., 2008) although the English L2 may also influence the German L1 (de Leeuw, 2009(de Leeuw, , 2019. Therefore, in this stage of the current analysis, pitch level and span were investigated in order to examine whether pitch level would increase and pitch span would widen under the continued influence of English over SG's lifespan. ...
... This finding enhances previous research which suggests that in phonetic studies examining change in the L1 as a result of L2 acquisition, "the most frequent deviations are found on the suprasegmental level" (Giesbers, 1997, p. 166), as in the current investigation only one of the three prosodic hypotheses was upheld, whilst biological aging effects also influenced the native speech of SG over time, as will be discussed shortly. The prosodic results also support previous cross-sectional studies into attrition of prosodic elements of native speech which indicate that L2 English prosody affects L1 German prosody (de Leeuw, 2019;de Leeuw et al., 2012;Mennen, 2004). ...
... Moreover, there is a growing body of research which suggests that heritage language markers may be retained in second generation speakers to fulfil socio-indexical functions on the part of the heritage language speakers (Alam & Stuart-Smith, 2011;Heselwood & McChrystal, 1999, 2000Kirkham, 2011;Sharma & Sankaran, 2011) and some preliminary studies which suggest that even in first generation late bilingual immigrants, general attrition processes (i.e. the L2 influencing the L1) are influenced by socio-indexical factors (de Leeuw, 2019;Passoni, Mehrabi, Levon, & de Leeuw, 2018). It may be that the variation evidenced in the speech of SG was in part influenced by socioindexical factors, potentially related to her interviewer, as well as the wider audience body she may have been targeting in her interviews. ...
The purpose of this study was to expose the trajectory of native speech plasticity in the context of late bilingualism through analysis of spontaneous speech of Stefanie Graf (SG) over four decades.
With regard to segmental variables, results showed a significant lowering of F2 in /l/, suggesting darkening of the German lateral under the influence of English as a second language (L2). F2 significantly increased in /i/, indicating a more front pronunciation, as predicted due to English L2 acquisition. There was also a significant decrease in F1 of /l/, as well as of /i/, but a significant increase in the F1 frequency of /a/, suggesting widening of the vertical vowel space, potentially due to increasing age. Regarding prosody, there was a significant decrease in pitch level and narrowing of pitch span over time, as expected with increasing age, and an increase in average maximum f0 over time, possibly as a result of English L2 acquisition of prosody.
These findings suggest that native speech remains plastic post adolescence throughout adulthood, here proposed to be evidenced through a result of acquisition of L2 counterparts in late bilingualism, and that such changes are intertwined with natural biological speech developments over the lifespan.
... In the paper entitled "Native speech plasticity in the prosodic variables investigated, pointing to an influence of L2 English on the L1 German of Stefanie Graf. This is particularly evident in the case of /l/ darkening, /i/ fronting and maximum f0 peaks, suggesting that there is no systematic restructuring of the L1 (see e.g. in contrast Chang, 2012;Mayr, Price & Mennen, 2012, who interpret systematic change) but rather that such restructuring unfolds non-linearly and potentially as a result of socio-indexical and biological aging effects, which additionally govern plasticity within the L1 phonetic and phonological domains ( de Leeuw, 2019a;Reubold & Harrington, 2017;Sankoff, 2004). five weeks) and again one year after their arrival in Korea. ...
The main point of this introduction, and therefore of the special issue, is to reveal and emphasise research findings which show that the domains of phonetics and phonology are malleable in adult native speech within the context of bilingualism. The manuscripts reveal this general finding through examination of a wide range of bilinguals using various methodologies. We believe that this finding is important for our understanding of the human capacity for language.
Firstly, it is important because most humans speak more than one language. Therefore, to understand the human capacity for language, it is imperative to examine that majority.
Moreover, this finding, that native phonetic and phonological domains are malleable throughout the lifespan in the context of bilingualism, is not an entirely accepted claim throughout research in linguistics. The idea that the native language stabilises at the latest in adolescence is still pervasive. Therefore, the findings presented in this special issue challenge a long held assumption.
At a theoretical level, such studies revealing plasticity of native phonetic and phonological domains in the context of bilingualism substantiate a shift in research into cognition, indicating that the brain is malleable throughout life in both language and non-language domains.
We investigated whether expression of social meaning operationalized as individual gender identitity and politeness moderated pitch range in the two languages of female and male Japanese-English sequential bilinguals. The bilinguals were resident in either London (UK) or Tokyo (Japan) and read sentences to imagined addressees who varied in formality and sex. Results indicated significant differences in the pitch range of the two languages of the bilinguals, and this was confirmed for female and male bilinguals in London and Tokyo, with the language differences being more extreme in the London bilinguals than in the Tokyo bilinguals. Interestingly, self-attribution of masculine gender traits patterned with within-language variation in the English pitch level of the female bilinguals, whereas self-attribution of feminine gender traits patterned with within-language variation in the English pitch level of the male bilinguals. In addition, female and male bilinguals significantly varied their pitch range in Japanese, but not in English, as a function of the imagined addressees. Findings confirmed that bilinguals produce pitch range differently in their languages and suggest that expression of social meaning may affect pitch range of the two languages of female and male bilinguals differently.
This paper presents a systematic comparison of various measures of f0 range in female speakers of English and German. F0 range was analyzed along two dimensions, level (i.e., overall f0 height) and span (extent of f0 modulation within a given speech sample). These were examined using two types of measures, one based on "long-term distributional" (LTD) methods, and the other based on specific landmarks in speech that are linguistic in nature ("linguistic" measures). The various methods were used to identify whether and on what basis or bases speakers of these two languages differ in f0 range. Findings yielded significant cross-language differences in both dimensions of f0 range, but effect sizes were found to be larger for span than for level, and for linguistic than for LTD measures. The linguistic measures also uncovered some differences between the two languages in how f0 range varies through an intonation contour. This helps shed light on the relation between intonational structure and f0 range.
Phonetic attrition, i.e. changes in native speech upon acquisition of a second language or dialect post adolescence, reflects malleability of the native language system, with potential trickle down effects initially evidenced in phonological attrition. Examining a range of studies into segmental and prosodic attrition, this chapter discusses phonetic attrition as it occurs in native speech and reflects on interpersonal differences, as well as different developmental processes that underlie phonetic attrition.
Purpose We investigated cross-linguistic differences in fundamental frequency range (FFR) in Welsh-English bilingual speech. This is the first study that reports gender-specific behavior in switching FFRs across languages in bilingual speech.
Method FFR was conceptualized as a behavioral pattern using measures of span (range of fundamental frequency—in semitones—covered by the speaker's voice) and level (overall height of fundamental frequency maxima, minima, and means of speaker's voice) in each language.
Results FFR measures were taken from recordings of 30 Welsh-English bilinguals (14 women and 16 men), who read 70 semantically matched sentences, 35 in each language. Comparisons were made within speakers across languages, separately in male and female speech. Language background and language use information was elicited for qualitative analysis of extralinguistic factors that might affect the FFR.
Conclusions Cross-linguistic differences in FFR were found to be consistent across female bilinguals but random across male bilinguals. Most female bilinguals showed distinct FFRs for each language. Most male bilinguals, however, were found not to change their FFR when switching languages. Those who did change used different strategies than women when differentiating FFRs between languages. Detected cross-linguistic differences in FFR can be explained by sociocultural factors. Therefore, sociolinguistic factors are to be taken into account in any further study of language-specific pitch setting and cross-linguistic differences in FFR.
Just as poor pronunciation can make a foreign language learner very difficult to understand, poor prosodic and intonational skills can have an equally devastating effect on communication and can make conversation frustrating and unpleasant for both learners and their listeners. Language teachers have lately become more aware of this and have shifted the focus of their pronunciation teaching more towards the inclusion of suprasegmentals alongside segmentals with a view of improving general comprehensibility (Celce-Murcia, Brinton and Goodwin 1996). It is therefore crucial for language teachers to be aware of current research findings in the area of foreign (second) language learning of prosody and intonation, the type of prosodic and intonational errors second language (L2) learners are likely to make, and in particular where these errors stem from. The focus of this chapter will be on intonation in L2 learning, but some related prosodic phenomena such as stress and rhythm will be touched upon.
There is no doubt as to the importance of intonation in communication. Intonation not only conveys linguistic information, but also plays a key role in regulating discourse and is an important indicator of speaker identity, reflecting factors such as physical state, age, gender, psychological state and sociolinguistic membership. Intonation is also important for intelligibility (e.g. Laures and Weismer 1999; Maassen and Povel 1984). The use of an inappropriate intonation pattern may give rise to misunderstandings. Such misunderstanding can be major or minor depending on the context in which the intonation pattern is used. As there is no one to one correspondence between intonation and meaning, an appropriate meaning can often be found that fits with the ‘wrong’ intonation pattern. Furthermore, native listeners are used to a great deal of variation in the choice of intonation patterns, both within their regional variety as across varieties (e.g. Grabe, Kochanski, and Coleman, to appear).
Nevertheless, some patterns will clearly not be acceptable in some varieties, and the cumulative effect of continuously using slightly inappropriate intonation should not be underestimated. Given that we derive much of our impression about a speaker’s attitude and disposition towards us from the way they use intonation in speech, listeners may form a negative impression of a speaker based on the constantly occurring inappropriate use of intonation. For example, the relatively flat and low intonation of German learners of English may make them sound “bleak, dogmatic or pedantic, and as a result, English listeners may consider them uncompromising and self-opinionated” (Trim 1988, as quoted in Grabe 1998), an example which illustrates that impressions based on intonation may lead to ill-founded stereotypes about national or linguistic groups. Finally, intonational errors may contribute to the perception of foreign-accent (Jilka 2000).
The aim of this chapter is to present a summary of commonly occurring problems in non-native intonation, as well as provide a reanalysis of some past and current research findings in terms of a framework of intonational analysis that separates phonological representation from phonetic implementation. Section 2 describes possible influences in non-native intonation, it explains the importance of making a distinction
between intonational influence at a phonological and at a phonetic level, and it briefly summarises the model of intonation used in this chapter. In section 3, some intonational properties will be described which are likely to be affected in L2 speech production. Examples will be given of previous and current research with particular attention to phonological and phonetic influences in L2 intonation. Section 4 will discuss the implications of the reanalyses and new results for teaching and research.
This paper integrates research on child simultaneous bilingual acquisition more directly into the heritage language acquisition literature. The child simultaneous bilingual literature mostly focuses on development in childhood, whereas heritage speakers are often tested at an endstate in adulthood. However, insights from child simultaneous bilingual acquisition must be considered in heritage language acquisition theorizing precisely because many heritage speakers demonstrate the adult outcomes of child simultaneous bilingual acquisition. Data from child simultaneous bilingual acquisition raises serious questions for the construct of incomplete acquisition, a term broadly used in heritage language acquisition studies to describe almost any difference heritage speakers display from baseline controls (usually monolinguals). We offer an epistemological discussion related to incomplete acquisition, highlighting the descriptive and theoretical inaccuracy of the term. We focus our discussion on two of several possible causal factors that contribute to variable competence outcomes in adult heritage speakers: input and formal instruction in the heritage language. We conclude by offering alternative terminology for heritage speaker outcomes.
The basic assumption of this paper is that people from different cultures have different resources for performing and highlighting their gendered identities. One of those resources which has been studied extensively is language with research on language and gender tending to concentrate on the ways that gender is expressed through the grammar, phonology, morphology, and pragmatic aspects of a language. However, in this paper I want to explore how gender can be expressed through prosodic characteristics, especially, voice pitch.1
German immigrants to British Columbia in the 1950s had a different experience than their contemporaries elsewhere in Canada. Within this ethnic group, diverse patterns of immigration and integration into the host society are discernible. Although the Canadian mainstream would characterize all of them as Germans, information gleaned from interviews with these immigrants strongly questions the existence of a single German Canadian or German diaspora identity. Ethnic Germans, many of whom were sponsored by relatives and friends who came to Canada before or just after World War ii, often joined or were joined by entire extended families, unlike German nationals who had no previous connections to Canada and came either on their own or in small family units. Ethnic Germans also tended to preserve their traditions and language, and to participate actively in German clubs and churches, whereas individuals born in Germany were more likely to switch to English as the home language and to socialize with Canadians. Regardless of the initial differences in the patterns of integration between ethnic Germans and German nationals, however, their children have become Canadians. © 2008 by Wilfrid Laurier University Press. All rights reserved.