Papers by Jennifer Lang-Rigal
ICERI proceedings, Oct 31, 2023
The benefits of immersive language experience are well studied and observed in the acquisition of... more The benefits of immersive language experience are well studied and observed in the acquisition of a second language (L2) [c.f. 1]. Study abroad (SA) is consistently shown to bring positive linguistic and non-linguistic outcomes. Some of the affective benefits of SA include boosting international posture and the willingness to communicate in the L2 [2], increasing motivation [3],[4], and reducing L2 Anxiety, [2, 3, 5]. The affective outcomes of second language acquisition are generally understood to impact and be impacted by linguistic performance. Fluency in the L2 has been studied in different learning contexts, including SA [c.f. 6,7]; however, the relationship between fluency and anxiety has received less attention. This study looks at the affective and linguistic outcomes of a long-term (14 week) study abroad program. Both the anxiety of the student and their fluency were measured at the beginning and end of the SA period so that pre-intervention levels can be compared to post-intervention ones. The participants were six U.S. English-native, Spanish learners participating in a semester study abroad program in Spain. To measure fluency, subjects recorded themselves answering open-ended questions in the L2. The Speech Rate, Articulation Rate, and Phonation Time Ratio were calculated in Praat [8] with the aid of De Jong and Wempe's Praat script for Fluency [9], and following Wood's correlates of Fluency [10 pp. 575-581). Anxiety was measured with a test adapted from the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS [11]) and complemented with a qualitative survey of the subject's linguistic experience and attitudes. FLCAS consists of 33 statements expressing either anxiety or ease about foreign language study such as "It embarrasses me to volunteer answers in my language class" or "I feel confident when I speak in foreign language class". Subjects respond by either agreeing or disagreeing with the statement with varying degrees of strength. In comparing their responses from the beginning to the end of the SA period, there was an average decrease of 26% in anxiety in the FLCAS test for all but one of the subjects. The most notable changes in the measures of fluency were in the Speech Rate (nsyll/duration), which increased by an average of 32%, while the Articulation Rate (nsyll/phonation time) increased by an average of only 6%. This indicates that the subjects articulated the L2 at a slightly faster rate at the end of the SA program but made a greater improvement in producing more words and less silent pauses while speaking in the L2, also evidenced by a 10% average increase in their Phonation Time Ratio. In sum, L2 Anxiety decreased while some important measures of L2 fluency increased for the majority of the learners participating in the SA program. Similar to Quan [7], who attributes fluency measures to an increased use of formulaic language and the projected identities and communities of practice of the learners, the results from this study show how linguistic and affective outcomes impact positively on each other and on the learners during SA.
ICERI2023 Proceedings, 2023
The benefits of immersive language experience are well studied and observed in the acquisition of... more The benefits of immersive language experience are well studied and observed in the acquisition of a second language (L2) [c.f. 1]. Study abroad (SA) is consistently shown to bring positive linguistic and non-linguistic outcomes. Some of the affective benefits of SA include boosting international posture and the willingness to communicate in the L2 [2], increasing motivation [3],[4], and reducing L2 Anxiety, [2, 3, 5]. The affective outcomes of second language acquisition are generally understood to impact and be impacted by linguistic performance. Fluency in the L2 has been studied in different learning contexts, including SA [c.f. 6,7]; however, the relationship between fluency and anxiety has received less attention. This study looks at the affective and linguistic outcomes of a long-term (14 week) study abroad program. Both the anxiety of the student and their fluency were measured at the beginning and end of the SA period so that pre-intervention levels can be compared to post-intervention ones. The participants were six U.S. English-native, Spanish learners participating in a semester study abroad program in Spain. To measure fluency, subjects recorded themselves answering open-ended questions in the L2. The Speech Rate, Articulation Rate, and Phonation Time Ratio were calculated in Praat [8] with the aid of De Jong and Wempe's Praat script for Fluency [9], and following Wood's correlates of Fluency [10 pp. 575-581). Anxiety was measured with a test adapted from the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS [11]) and complemented with a qualitative survey of the subject's linguistic experience and attitudes. FLCAS consists of 33 statements expressing either anxiety or ease about foreign language study such as "It embarrasses me to volunteer answers in my language class" or "I feel confident when I speak in foreign language class". Subjects respond by either agreeing or disagreeing with the statement with varying degrees of strength. In comparing their responses from the beginning to the end of the SA period, there was an average decrease of 26% in anxiety in the FLCAS test for all but one of the subjects. The most notable changes in the measures of fluency were in the Speech Rate (nsyll/duration), which increased by an average of 32%, while the Articulation Rate (nsyll/phonation time) increased by an average of only 6%. This indicates that the subjects articulated the L2 at a slightly faster rate at the end of the SA program but made a greater improvement in producing more words and less silent pauses while speaking in the L2, also evidenced by a 10% average increase in their Phonation Time Ratio. In sum, L2 Anxiety decreased while some important measures of L2 fluency increased for the majority of the learners participating in the SA program. Similar to Quan [7], who attributes fluency measures to an increased use of formulaic language and the projected identities and communities of practice of the learners, the results from this study show how linguistic and affective outcomes impact positively on each other and on the learners during SA.
Hispanic linguistics at the crossroads: theoretical linguistics, language acquisition and language contact, 2015, ISBN 978-90-272-5803-8, págs. 269-292, 2015
This study investigates the perception of vowel-lengthening, a feature characteristic of the Span... more This study investigates the perception of vowel-lengthening, a feature characteristic of the Spanish spoken in Cordoba, Argentina: the tonada cordobesa . Uniquely, the lengthening occurs on the pre-tonic syllable (Fontanella de Weinberg, 1971; Yorio, 1973; Lang, 2010), and is believed to be accompanied by a pitch peak (Fontanella de Weinberg, 1971). The goals of this experiment are to determine if duration alone (i.e. without intonational changes) is a strong enough cue for identifying speakers from Cordoba, and what listener features affect this perception. A matched-guise methodology is employed in which natural and manipulated (pre-tonic vowel duration) tokens are presented to Argentine listeners in a dialect identification task. Results show that longer pre-tonic vowel durations are associated with a Cordoba speaker origin, regardless of the speaker’s true regional origin or other linguistic cues.
Signo y seña, 2016
<span>La tonada cordobesa en Argentina atrae la atención y conlleva el carácter de un puebl... more <span>La tonada cordobesa en Argentina atrae la atención y conlleva el carácter de un pueblo. Este trabajo explora los estereotipos y actitudes hacia el dialecto cordobés y sus hablantes. Específicamente, compara las percepciones de la competencia y la solidaridad del hablante cordobés. Se cumple con este objetivo utilizando una metodología que combina ejemplares acústicos del habla natural con evaluaciones subjetivas de hablantes provenientes de Córdoba, Buenos Aires, y Tucumán. Los oyentes argentinos evaluaron positivamente a los hablantes cordobeses con factores de solidaridad a través de la elección de ciertos descriptores, como por ejemplo, </span><em>gracioso</em><span>. Sin embargo, factores que demuestran la competencia, como </span><em>culta, </em><span>fueron excluidos en la descripción de voces cordobesas. Fue el contrario para los hablantes bonaerenses: fueron evaluados positivamente por su competencia, y negativamente por su solidaridad (</span><em>egoísta,</em><span> </span><em>aburrida</em><span>). Esta oposición de valores separa en grupos distintos a los cordobeses de los bonaerenses. Además, reproduce la distinción ideológica entre el estándar y las variedades regionales vistas como no-estándares (Labov et al. 1968; Giles 1971 1973; Preston 1999). Los resultados apoyan el estereotipo que asocia el personaje cordobés con el humor y el chiste (Hepp 1995; Cantinelli 1985) y exponen algunas de las actitudes reservadas para los hablantes de Córdoba. </span>
La tonada cordobesa en Argentina atrae la atencion y conlleva el caracter de un pueblo. Este tra... more La tonada cordobesa en Argentina atrae la atencion y conlleva el caracter de un pueblo. Este trabajo explora los estereotipos y actitudes hacia el dialecto cordobes y sus hablantes. Especificamente, compara las percepciones de la competencia y la solidaridad del hablante cordobes. Se cumple con este objetivo utilizando una metodologia que combina ejemplares acusticos del habla natural con evaluaciones subjetivas de hablantes provenientes de Cordoba, Buenos Aires, y Tucuman. Los oyentes argentinos evaluaron positivamente a los hablantes cordobeses con factores de solidaridad a traves de la eleccion de ciertos descriptores, como por ejemplo, gracioso . Sin embargo, factores que demuestran la competencia, como culta, fueron excluidos en la descripcion de voces cordobesas. Fue el contrario para los hablantes bonaerenses: fueron evaluados positivamente por su competencia, y negativamente por su solidaridad ( egoista, aburrida ). Esta oposicion de valores separa en grupos distintos a...
RESUMEN. La tonada cordobesa en Argentina atrae la atención y conlleva el carácter de un pue-blo.... more RESUMEN. La tonada cordobesa en Argentina atrae la atención y conlleva el carácter de un pue-blo. Este trabajo explora los estereotipos y actitudes hacia el dialecto cordobés y sus hablan-tes. Específicamente, compara las percepciones de la competencia y la solidaridad del hablan-te cordobés. Se cumple con este objetivo utilizando una metodología que combina ejemplares acústicos del habla natural con evaluaciones subjetivas de hablantes provenientes de Córdoba, Buenos Aires, y Tucumán. Los oyentes argentinos evaluaron positivamente a los hablantes cor-dobeses con factores de solidaridad a través de la elección de ciertos descriptores, como por ejemplo, gracioso. Sin embargo, factores que demuestran la competencia, como culta, fueron excluidos en la descripción de voces cordobesas. Fue el contrario para los hablantes bonaeren-ses: fueron evaluados positivamente por su competencia, y negativamente por su solidaridad (egoísta, aburrida). Esta oposición de valores separa en grupos disti...
This paper presents a pilot study which investigates the perception of narrow focus in Buenos Air... more This paper presents a pilot study which investigates the perception of narrow focus in Buenos Aires Spanish, a variety of Spanish whose intonation notably diverges from the Castilian and Latin American standards of Spanish. Previous research on Spanish intonation has provided detailed descriptions of the pitch contours and prosodic correlates contrasting broad and narrow focused utterances. The majority of these studies are dedicated to the production of focus (e.g. Sosa 1991; Toledo 1989); and many are specific to the Castilian variety of Spanish (e.g. Face 2000, 2001, 2002a, 2002b, 2006; Garrido et al. 1993). Previous work on focus intonation for many, but not all (e.g. Dominican Spanish, Willis 2003) varieties of Spanish, describes the alignment pattern of broad focus declarative pre-nuclear accents as a rising movement generally reaching its peak late in the tonic syllable or, more frequently in the posttonic syllable (Face 2001; Garrido et al. 1993; Hualde 2002; Prieto et al. 1...
Como es bien sabido, el espanol argentino demuestra žeismo, i.e. la aproximante palatal, //, lo q... more Como es bien sabido, el espanol argentino demuestra žeismo, i.e. la aproximante palatal, //, lo que constituye una pronunciacion estandar en la mayoria de los dialectos del espanol, se pronuncia como fricativa postalveolar asibilada o sonora [] o sorda []. Se ha demostrado que la variacion de [] and [] esta condicionada por factores sociales, tales como el genero, la edad, y la clase social (Wolf & Jimenez, 1977; Fontanella de Weinberg, 1978), y que el ensordecimiento se describe como un ‘cambio linguistico en marcha’, propulsado por hablantes femeninas, jovenes, y de clase social media que se extiende a los otros grupos en las poblaciones estudiadas (Wolf, 1984; Chang, 2008; Rohena-Madrazo, 2008, for Buenos Aires). La investigacion que se presenta aqui amplia los analisis previos sociolinguisticos sobre el žeismo, y avanza hacia una vista mas completa del espanol a traves de la investigacion de la variacion alofonica en dos dialectos menos estudiados en Argentina – los de Cordoba y Tucuman – ademas del dialecto de Buenos Aires. Se grabo el habla espontanea de hablantes en cada una de estas tres regiones a traves de un instrumento que elicita una reaccion oral frente a situaciones hipoteticas (La encuesta portena, Gabriel et al, 2010). Despues, un analisis acustico de la pronunciacion de ‘y’ y ‘ll’ ortograficos (solamente en posicion inicial de palabra y posicion intervocalica) midio la duracion, la frecuencia fundamental, y la intensidad como produccion gradiente entre grupos divididos por region y genero. Los resultados demuestran que los hablantes feminas en Cordoba y Tucuman producen una fricativa ([]) mas sorda que la de los hablantes varones de la misma region, y que las producciones mas sonoras vienen de ambos generos de Cordoba. Entre los dos grupos de genero, los hablantes de Buenos Aires no mostraron ninguna diferencia estadistica significativa, mientras los varones de este grupo produjeron fonemas mucho menos sonoros (40% de sonoridad) que los varones de Cordoba y Tucuman (ambos 95% de sonoridad). Este estudio presenta los primeros datos acusticos grabados en Tucuman, el cual pertenece a la zona dialectal noroeste, y tambien datos de Cordoba, un dialecto que ha sido poco estudiado en relacion a este fenomeno (cf. Colantoni, 2005; Castellani, 1998). Finalmente, este estudio provee un analisis acustica que toma en cuenta la naturaleza gradiente de la sonoridad ademas de cuantificar la produccion de ella entre hablantes de poblaciones diversas.
This study investigates the perception of vowel-lengthening, a feature characteristic of the Span... more This study investigates the perception of vowel-lengthening, a feature characteristic of the Spanish spoken in Cordoba, Argentina: the tonada cordobesa . Uniquely, the lengthening occurs on the pre-tonic syllable (Fontanella de Weinberg, 1971; Yorio, 1973; Lang, 2010), and is believed to be accompanied by a pitch peak (Fontanella de Weinberg, 1971). The goals of this experiment are to determine if duration alone (i.e. without intonational changes) is a strong enough cue for identifying speakers from Cordoba, and what listener features affect this perception. A matched-guise methodology is employed in which natural and manipulated (pre-tonic vowel duration) tokens are presented to Argentine listeners in a dialect identification task. Results show that longer pre-tonic vowel durations are associated with a Cordoba speaker origin, regardless of the speaker’s true regional origin or other linguistic cues.
As is well known, Argentine Spanish demonstrates žeísmo, i.e., the voiced palatal phoneme /ʝ/, st... more As is well known, Argentine Spanish demonstrates žeísmo, i.e., the voiced palatal phoneme /ʝ/, standard for most Spanish dialects, is realized as a voiced alveopalatal fricative [ʒ] or its voiceless counterpart [ʃ]. The variation of [ʒ] and [ʃ] has been shown to be conditioned by social factors such as sex, age, and social class (Wolf & Jimenez, 1977; Fontanella de Weinberg, 1978). The devoicing of [ʒ] has been described as a change in progress, led by younger, middle class, female speakers, and spreading to other groups in the populations studied (Wolf, 1984; Chang, 2008; Rohena-Madrazo, 2008, for Buenos Aires). The present study builds upon previous sociolinguistic analyses of žeísmo and takes a step towards a more comprehensive view of Argentine Spanish by investigating the allophonic variation in two lesser studied regional dialects of Argentina-Córdoba and Tucumán-as well as Buenos Aires. Spontaneous speech was collected from speakers in each of these three regions by use of a role-play elicitation exercise (La encuesta porteña, Gabriel et al, 2010). An acoustic analysis of the pronunciation of orthographic <y> and <ll> (in word-initial and intervocalic positions) measured duration, fundamental frequency, and intensity for these and surrounding segments of speech to describe voicing as a gradient production across regional and gender groups. Results show that females are devoicing more than males in Córdoba and Tucumán, with the most voiced productions coming from both genders of speakers in Córdoba. Males and females in Buenos Aires were not statistically different from one another, and these males devoiced significantly more (40% voicing) than those from Córdoba and Tucuman (both 95% voicing). This study presents the first recorded acoustic data for Tucumán, belonging to the northwest dialectal zone, and data for Córdoba, contributing to the very few publications with respect to this phenomenon (cf. Colantoni, 2005; Castellani, 1998). Additionally, the present study provides an acoustic analysis which considers the gradient nature of devoicing and quantifies the productivity of voicing among speakers from diverse populations.
Hispanic Linguistics at the Crossroads: Theoretical linguistics, language acquisition and language contact. Proceedings of the Hispanic Linguistics Symposium 2013 Edited by Rachel Klassen, Juana M. Liceras and Elena Valenzuela [Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 4] , 2015
This study investigates the perception of vowel-lengthening, a feature characteristic of the Span... more This study investigates the perception of vowel-lengthening, a feature characteristic of the Spanish spoken in Córdoba, Argentina: the tonada cordobesa. Uniquely, the lengthening occurs on the pre-tonic syllable (Fontanella de Weinberg, 1971; Yorio, 1973; Lang, 2010), and is believed to be accompanied by a pitch peak (Fontanella de Weinberg, 1971). The goals of this experiment are to determine if duration alone (i.e. without intonational changes) is a strong enough cue for identifying speakers from Córdoba, and what listener features affect this perception. A matched-guise methodology is employed in which natural and manipulated (pre-tonic vowel duration) tokens are presented to Argentine listeners in a dialect identification task. Results show that longer pre-tonic vowel durations are associated with a Córdoba speaker origin, regardless of the speaker’s true regional origin or other linguistic cues.
Signo y Seña, 2015
La tonada cordobesa en Argentina atrae la atención y conlleva el carácter de un pueblo. Este tra... more La tonada cordobesa en Argentina atrae la atención y conlleva el carácter de un pueblo. Este trabajo explora los estereotipos y actitudes hacia el dialecto cordobés y sus hablantes. Específicamente, compara las percepciones de la competencia y la solidaridad del hablante cordobés. Se cumple con este objetivo utilizando una metodología que combina ejemplares acústicos del habla natural con evaluaciones subjetivas de hablantes provenientes de Córdoba, Buenos Aires, y Tucumán. Los oyentes argentinos evaluaron positivamente a los hablantes cordobeses con factores de solidaridad a través de la elección de ciertos descriptores, como por ejemplo, gracioso. Sin embargo, factores que demuestran la competencia, como culta, fueron excluidos en la descripción de voces cordobesas. Fue el contrario para los hablantes bonaerenses: fueron evaluados positivamente por su competencia, y negativamente por su solidaridad (egoísta, aburrida). Esta oposición de valores separa en grupos distintos a los cordobeses de los bonaerenses. Además, reproduce la distinción ideológica entre el estándar y las variedades regionales vistas como no-estándares (Labov et al. 1968; Giles 1971 1973; Preston 1999). Los resultados apoyan el estereotipo que asocia el personaje cordobés con el humor y el chiste (Hepp 1995; Cantinelli 1985) y exponen algunas de las actitudes reservadas para los hablantes de Córdoba.
Estudios de Fonética Experimental, 2015
As is well known, Argentine Spanish demonstrates žeísmo, i.e., the voiced palatal phoneme /ʝ/, st... more As is well known, Argentine Spanish demonstrates žeísmo, i.e., the voiced palatal phoneme /ʝ/, standard for most Spanish dialects, is realized as a voiced alveopalatal fricative [ʒ] or its voiceless counterpart [ʃ]. The variation of [ʒ] and [ʃ] has been shown to be conditioned by social factors such as sex, age, and social class (Wolf & Jimenez, 1977; Fontanella de Weinberg, 1978). The devoicing of [ʒ] has been described as a change in progress, led by younger, middle class, female speakers, and spreading to other groups in the populations studied (Wolf, 1984; Chang, 2008; Rohena-Madrazo, 2008, for Buenos Aires). The present study builds upon previous sociolinguistic analyses of žeísmo and takes a step towards a more comprehensive view of Argentine Spanish by investigating the allophonic variation in two lesser studied regional dialects of Argentina - Córdoba and Tucumán - as well as Buenos Aires. Spontaneous speech was collected from speakers in each of these three regions by use of a role-play elicitation exercise (La encuesta porteña, Gabriel et al, 2010). An acoustic analysis of the pronunciation of orthographic and (in word-initial and intervocalic positions) measured duration, fundamental frequency, and intensity for these and surrounding segments of speech to describe voicing as a gradient production across regional and gender groups. Results show that females are devoicing more than males in Córdoba and Tucumán, with the most voiced productions coming from both genders of speakers in Córdoba. Males and females in Buenos Aires were not statistically different from one another, and these males devoiced significantly more (40% voicing) than those from Córdoba and Tucuman (both 95% voicing). This study presents the first recorded acoustic data for Tucumán, belonging to the northwest dialectal zone, and data for Córdoba, contributing to the very few publications with respect to this phenomenon (cf. Colantoni, 2005; Castellani, 1998). Additionally, the present study provides an acoustic analysis which considers the gradient nature of devoicing and quantifies the productivity of voicing among speakers from diverse populations. RESUMEN: Como es bien sabido, el español argentino demuestra žeísmo, i.e. la aproximante palatal, /ʝ/, lo que constituye una pronunciación estándar en la mayoría de los dialectos del español, se pronuncia como fricativa postalveolar asibilada o sonora [ʒ] o sorda [ʃ]. Se ha demostrado que la variación de [ʒ] and [ʃ] está condicionada por factores sociales, tales como el género, la edad, y la clase social (Wolf & Jimenez, 1977; Fontanella de Weinberg, 1978), y que el ensordecimiento se describe como un ‘cambio lingüístico en marcha’, propulsado por hablantes femeninas, jóvenes, y de clase social media que se extiende a los otros grupos en las poblaciones estudiadas (Wolf, 1984; Chang, 2008; Rohena-Madrazo, 2008, for Buenos Aires). La investigación que se presenta aquí amplía los análisis previos sociolingüísticos sobre el žeísmo, y avanza hacía una vista más completa del español a través de la investigación de la variación alofónica en dos dialectos menos estudiados en Argentina – los de Córdoba y Tucumán – además del dialecto de Buenos Aires. Se grabó el habla espontánea de hablantes en cada una de estas tres regiones a través de un instrumento que elicita una reacción oral frente a situaciones hipotéticas (La encuesta porteña, Gabriel et al, 2010). Después, un análisis acústico de la pronunciación de ‘y’ y ‘ll’ ortográficos (solamente en posición inicial de palabra y posición intervocálica) midió la duración, la frecuencia fundamental, y la intensidad como producción gradiente entre grupos divididos por región y género. Los resultados demuestran que los hablantes féminas en Córdoba y Tucumán producen una fricativa ([ʒ]) más sorda que la de los hablantes varones de la misma región, y que las producciones más sonoras vienen de ambos géneros de Córdoba. Entre los dos grupos de género, los hablantes de Buenos Aires no mostraron ninguna diferencia estadística significativa, mientras los varones de este grupo produjeron fonemas mucho menos sonoros (40% de sonoridad) que los varones de Córdoba y Tucumán (ambos 95% de sonoridad). Este estudio presenta los primeros datos acústicos grabados en Tucumán, el cual pertenece a la zona dialectal noroeste, y también datos de Córdoba, un dialecto que ha sido poco estudiado en relación a este fenómeno (cf. Colantoni, 2005; Castellani, 1998). Finalmente, este estudio provee un análisis acústica que toma en cuenta la naturaleza gradiente de la sonoridad además de cuantificar la producción de ella entre hablantes de poblaciones diversas.
Regional variation in the devoicing of... (PDF Download Available). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303752361_Regional_variation_in_the_devoicing_of_the_alveopalatal_fricative_in_Argentine [accessed Jun 19 2018].
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Papers by Jennifer Lang-Rigal
Regional variation in the devoicing of... (PDF Download Available). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303752361_Regional_variation_in_the_devoicing_of_the_alveopalatal_fricative_in_Argentine [accessed Jun 19 2018].
Regional variation in the devoicing of... (PDF Download Available). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303752361_Regional_variation_in_the_devoicing_of_the_alveopalatal_fricative_in_Argentine [accessed Jun 19 2018].