NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Direct linkDirect link
ERIC Number: EJ1088795
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1750-1229
EISSN: N/A
An Exploration of the Phonology of Lexical Chunks in L2 Speech
Astruc, Lluïsa; Adinolfi, Lina
Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, v9 n1 p10-21 2015
It is widely accepted that pauses and correspondence with intonation units are among the phonological cues that identify lexical chunks (conventionalised multiword sequences) in spoken first and second language, although conclusive empirical evidence is scant. This article reports on an exploratory study which seeks to identify the main phonological markers of lexical chunks. A corpus of five minutes of speech from four English learners of Spanish was collected and transcribed orthographically. The data-set contained 97 chunks, between 11 and 30 chunks per speaker. The lexical chunks were extracted using speech analysis software and analysed phonologically in respect of pauses, intonational boundaries and sentence position. The analyses revealed that only about half of the chunks in the data were delimited by intonational boundaries. Certain types of lexical chunks, such as discourse markers, consistently coincided with intonational boundaries, especially in sentence initial position. The most proficient speakers used more discourse markers, separated by intonational boundaries, which enhanced the perceived fluency of their utterances.
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A