Strength of German accent under altered auditory feedback

Borden's(1979, 1980) hypothesis that speakers with vulnerable speech system s rely more heavily on feedback monitoring than do speakers with less vulne rable systems was investigated. The second language (L2) of a speaker is vu lnerable, in comparison with the native language, so alteration to feedback should have a detrimental effect on it, according to this hypothesis. Here , we specifically examined whether altered auditory feedback has an effect on accent strength when speakers speak L2. There were three stages in the e xperiment. First, 6 German speakers who were fluent in English (their L2) w ere recorded under six conditions-normal listening, amplified voice level, voice shifted in frequency, delayed auditory feedback, and slowed and accel erated speech rate conditions. Second, judges were trained to rate accent s trength. Training was assessed by whether it was successful in separating G erman speakers speaking English from native English speakers, also speaking English. In the final stage, the judges ranked recordings of each speaker from the first stage as to increasing strength of German accent. The result s show that accents were more pronounced under frequency-shifted and delaye d auditory feedback conditions than under normal or amplified feedback cond itions. Control tests were done to ensure that listeners were judging accen t, rather than fluency changes caused by altered auditory feedback. The fin dings are discussed in terms of Borden's hypothesis and other accounts abou t why altered auditory feedback disrupts speech control.