Lieke van Maastricht is a linguistic researcher at Radboud University. She’s done a fascinating research project that digs deep into the process of learning language, specifically pronunciation and the role head movement plays in it. Van Maastricht works with her Spanish counterpart, Núria Esteve-Gibert. Collaboratively, they are studying the ways in which intonation and nonverbal cues come into play as Catalan adults learning English approach communicative challenges.
This research included interviews with Catalan speakers who were actively learning English. Van Maastricht aimed to determine whether these learners could compensate for incorrect intonation through nonverbal communication, such as head movements. We found that the Catalan adults do use head nods and shakes when they speak English. None of these gestures assist them in developing the appropriate English intonation.
In perhaps the most fascinating component of the research, subjects viewed a thrilling football matchup. It starred fictional Elizabethan character Anna, who enchanted the crowds by pulling surprising objects from her bag. This exercise was an experiential way to see where language learners were adding nonverbal communication into their speaking. As Van Maastricht put it memorably, just like Dutch speakers strongly stress the contrastive value in CON leche o SIN leche, the Spaniards place their stress at the end of the sentence, even if the word in question is not as crucial.
The findings of this study underscore important action points for world language teachers. Intonational variation shouldn’t be viewed as a pitfall. Van Maastricht advises teachers to see it as an important aspect of language instruction. She has a strong focus on the necessity of overwhelming students with target language input. This exposure increases their comprehension of, and therefore articulation in, appropriate intonation patterns.
These critical findings provide important reminders of the challenges facing adult learners on their language acquisition journey. The full paper is available at DOI 10.1111/lang.70015.