ERIC Number: EJ1482222
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Sep
Pages: 42
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0023-8333
EISSN: EISSN-1467-9922
Available Date: 2025-07-11
Prosody in Pragmatic Competence: Proficiency Impact on Pitch and Fluency Features in Request-Making in Second Language Chinese
Mo Chen1,2; Shuai Li3; Naoko Taguchi4; Yunhuai Zhang1; Hengchen Guo1; Chunyin Li5
Language Learning, v75 suppl 1 p55-96 2025
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.
Descriptors: Suprasegmentals, Pragmatics, Competence, Language Proficiency, Intonation, Phonology, Language Fluency, Second Language Learning, Chinese, Interpersonal Communication, Decision Making, Oral Language, Social Status
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www-wiley-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Data File: URL: https://oasis-database.org
Author Affiliations: 1Renmin University of China; 2International Cultural Exchange School, Fudan University; 3Georgia State University; 4Northern Arizona University; 5Nanning Normal University

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