Written by When we hear someone speak a foreign language, their accent often stands out as a clear indicator that they are not a native speaker.
But what exactly makes an accent recognizable?
For the past couple of weeks, we’ve been talking about how different cultures exhibit varied lengths and frequencies of pauses in speech.
This study takes a look at the pauses that non-native speakers make during speech and explores whether they are a significant contributor to the perception of a foreign accent.
The Role of Pauses in Speech
Pauses are a natural part of any language, but they can vary in duration, frequency, and placement depending on the language being spoken.
The researchers aimed to determine whether these pauses could be a key factor in identifying a foreign accent.
To investigate this, they recorded native English speakers and non-native speakers of German or Serbo-Croatian – each highly proficient in English – reading an English text at different speeds.
The recordings were then analyzed to compare the pauses made by both groups in terms of number, length, and location.
Findings: More Similarities Than Differences
The results were surprising.
Although native English listeners could clearly identify non-native speakers, the study found that pause patterns had little impact on this identification.
Both native and non-native speakers showed similar pause durations and ratios of pause time to total speaking time.
Additionally, when the speed of speech changed, both groups adjusted their pausing behavior in a nearly identical manner.
As the reading tempo increased, pauses became fewer and shorter; as it slowed, pauses became more frequent and longer.
This suggests that pauses are not a significant factor in creating a foreign accent.
The One Key Difference: Pause Frequency
The most notable difference between the two groups was the frequency of pauses.
Non-native speakers paused more often than native speakers.
This may be due to the additional cognitive effort required when speaking in a second language.
Even those who are highly proficient might need a bit more time to plan their speech, resulting in more frequent pauses.
However, these pauses were not longer, nor did they significantly disrupt the flow of speech.
This indicates that while non-native speakers may pause more often, the nature of these pauses doesn’t heavily contribute to the perception of a foreign accent.
Pauses Are Not the Primary Factor
The findings support the “No Contribution” hypothesis, which suggests that pauses do not significantly influence the acoustic characteristics of non-native speech.
Pauses are easy to produce and perceptually obvious, so they might be one of the easier aspects of a foreign language to master.
Alternatively, the similarity in pause patterns between native and non-native speakers could be due to universal cognitive processes that govern speech in any language.
Beyond Pauses: What Really Contributes to Accents?
While this study focused on reading aloud, it opens the door to further research on how pauses function in spontaneous speech and how other elements, such as pronunciation and intonation, play a larger role in the perception of a foreign accent.
It suggests that while pauses are a noticeable aspect of speech, they are not the primary factor in what makes an accent sound foreign.
Instead, elements like the pronunciation of specific sounds and the overall rhythm and melody of the language may have a greater impact on how accents are perceived.
Success Across Cultures 