Second Language Accent Faking Ability Depends on Musical Abilities, Not on Working Memory

Frontiers in Psychology
Marion CoumelSusanne Maria Reiterer

Abstract

Studies involving direct language imitation tasks have shown that pronunciation ability is related to musical competence and working memory capacities. However, this type of task may measure individual differences in many different linguistic dimensions, other than just phonetic ones. The present study uses an indirect imitation task by asking participants to a fake a foreign accent in order to specifically target individual differences in phonetic abilities. Its aim is to investigate whether musical expertise and working memory capacities relate to phonological awareness (i.e., participants' implicit knowledge about the phonological system of the target language and its structural properties at the segmental, suprasegmental, and phonotactic levels) as measured on this task. To this end, French native listeners (N = 36) graded how well German native imitators (N = 25) faked a French accent while speaking in German. The imitators also performed a musicality test, a self-assessment of their singing abilities and working memory tasks. The results indicate that the ability to fake a French accent correlates with singing ability and musical perceptual abilities, but not with working memory capacities. This suggests that heightened m...Continue Reading

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Citations

Mar 12, 2021·Behavior Research Methods·Swathi SwaminathanE Glenn Schellenberg
Nov 2, 2021·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Sheena WatersCarolyn McGettigan
Nov 16, 2021·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Juan David LeongómezS Craig Roberts

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