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Information encoding and transmission profiles of first-language (L1) and second-language (L2) speech
1Department of Linguistics, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA.
Bilingualism (Cambridge, England)
|March 28, 2022
Summary
Second language (L2) speech has fewer information transmission rates due to distinct temporal encoding. L2 speech exhibits more, longer acoustic syllables, leading to lower information density and slower speech rates.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Speech Science
- Information Theory
Background:
- First language (L1) speech and language analyses inform information theoretic approaches.
- L1 and L2 speech may differ in temporal information encoding and transmission.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate distinct information encoding and transmission profiles in L1 and L2 speech within the temporal domain.
- To compare acoustic syllable characteristics and information density across L1 and L2 speech in multiple languages.
Main Methods:
- Automatically measured the number and average duration of acoustic syllables from L1 and L2 recordings.
- Analyzed standard texts in English, French, and Spanish.
- Calculated syllable reduction, information density, and information transmission rate.
Main Results:
- L2 acoustic syllables were more numerous and longer in duration compared to L1 across all languages.
- L2 speech showed less syllable reduction than L1 speech.
- L2 speech exhibited lower information density and a significantly lower information transmission rate.
Conclusions:
- Low information transmission rate is a language-general characteristic distinguishing L2 speech.
- Distinct temporal encoding and reduced information density contribute to lower L2 speech efficiency.
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