Prosody in Pragmatic Competence: Proficiency Impact on Pitch and Fluency Features in Request-Making in Second Language Chinese

IF 4.2 1区文学 Q1 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Language Learning Pub Date : 2025-07-11 DOI:10.1111/lang.70002

Mo Chen, Shuai Li, Naoko Taguchi, Yunhuai Zhang, Hengchen Guo, Chunyin Li

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Abstract

This cross-sectional study examines the sociopragmatic use of pitch and fluency features in requests among second language (L2) Chinese learners at two proficiency levels alongside native Chinese speakers. Twenty-eight L2 learners completed a 40-item oral discourse task with two types of request-making situations: (a) a high-imposition request to a higher status person and (b) a low-imposition request to an equal-status person. Similarly to native speakers, both higher proficiency and lower proficiency learners adjusted fluency features (e.g., speech rate, pauses) according to situational demands. However, only higher proficiency learners showed nativelike adjustment in pitch range, and neither group adjusted pitch value (F0) in different situations. These results suggest that the development of L2 learners’ sociopragmatic use of prosody is dependent on specific prosodic features.

A one-page Accessible Summary of this article in nontechnical language is freely available in the Supporting Information online and at https://oasis-database.org

查看原文本刊更多论文

韵律在语用能力中的作用：熟练程度对第二语言汉语请求音高和流畅性特征的影响

本横断面研究考察了两种熟练程度的第二语言（L2）汉语学习者和母语为汉语的人在请求中对音高和流利性特征的社会语用使用。28名二语学习者在两种情况下完成了一项40项的口头话语任务：(a)向地位较高的人提出高要求，(b)向地位相同的人提出低要求。与母语人士相似，高水平学习者和低水平学习者都会根据情境需求调整流利度特征（如语速、停顿）。然而，只有高熟练度学习者在音高范围上表现出与母语学习者相似的调整，两组在不同情况下都没有调整音高值（F0）。这些结果表明，二语学习者社会语用韵律的发展依赖于特定的韵律特征。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Language Learning Multiple-

CiteScore

9.10

自引率

15.90%

发文量

期刊介绍： Language Learning is a scientific journal dedicated to the understanding of language learning broadly defined. It publishes research articles that systematically apply methods of inquiry from disciplines including psychology, linguistics, cognitive science, educational inquiry, neuroscience, ethnography, sociolinguistics, sociology, and anthropology. It is concerned with fundamental theoretical issues in language learning such as child, second, and foreign language acquisition, language education, bilingualism, literacy, language representation in mind and brain, culture, cognition, pragmatics, and intergroup relations. A subscription includes one or two annual supplements, alternating among a volume from the Language Learning Cognitive Neuroscience Series, the Currents in Language Learning Series or the Language Learning Special Issue Series.