36.2207, Books: Prosody and Interactional Fluency of Italian Learners of German: Sbranna (2025)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-36-2207. Fri Jul 18 2025. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 36.2207, Books: Prosody and Interactional Fluency of Italian Learners of German: Sbranna (2025)

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Date: 17-Jul-2025
From: Sebastian Nordhoff [support at langsci-press.org]
Subject: Prosody and Interactional Fluency of Italian Learners of German: Sbranna (2025)


Title: Prosody and interactional fluency of Italian learners of German
Series Title: EuroSLA Studies
Publication Year: 2025

Publisher: Language Science Press
           http://langsci-press.org
Book URL: https://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/515

Author(s): Simona Sbranna

eBook

Abstract:

This book explores the development of prosodic and interactional
competence in second language acquisition, drawing on data from peer
interactions by Italian learners of German in both German and their
native language, Italian, as well as from German native speakers.
Three key aspects of spoken interaction are examined across
proficiency levels: prosodic marking of information status,
turn-taking, and backchannels. The analysis of prosodic marking of
information status reveals that learners mark givenness using distinct
fundamental frequency patterns, as in their native language, but apply
a reduction in prosodic strength typically found postfocally in native
German, irrespective of its function. This suggests that learners
perceive deaccentuation as a salient marker of native German, which
they adopt during their learning. This book also presents a novel
approach to quantifying interactional competence, showing that lower
proficiency negatively affects the smoothness of interactional flow,
resulting in reduced speech time and increased overall silence.
Finally, it provides new insights into backchannel use in second
language and cross-linguistic contexts. Results show a complex,
non-arbitrary mapping between lexical type, turn-taking function, and
intonation in both native languages. In second language speech,
dyad-specific behaviour was found to have a stronger effect on
backchannel frequency and duration than second language proficiency.
Furthermore, learners tend to transfer preferred lexical backchannel
types from their first language into their second language. Overall,
this book offers a multidimensional perspective on second language
spoken interaction and lays the groundwork for future applications in
language teaching and assessment.
The doctoral work, on which this book is based, was awarded the IPA
PhD Thesis Award for the “Best PhD Thesis in the broad area of
Phonetics, Speech Sciences, and Laboratory Phonology” in 2024.

Linguistic Field(s): Phonetics
                     Phonology

Subject Language(s): German (deu)
                     Italian (ita)

Written In: English (eng)



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