Producing appropriate prosodic cues in a non-dominant language: preliminary results from French-English bilinguals

Abstract

Adapting one’s production of prosodic cues to a second or non-dominant language can be difficult. The present study focuses on French-English bilinguals’ ability to adapt their prosody to coordinate phrase-final lengthening and lexical stress. Because French has no lexically-coded prosody, it might be difficult for French-dominant speakers to simultaneously control lexical and phrasal prosodic cues. Our preliminary results demonstrate that not only the speaker’s L1, but the relative dominance of one language over another can predict speakers’ ability to adapt prosody to the specific demands of different languages, at least with respect to controlling syllable duration. These findings are in line with recent results showing that native French listeners do not process lexical stress automatically, instead relying on alternative perceptual mechanisms.