Arnold Schwarzenegger Now and Then: a Longitudinal Case Study of Schwarzenegger’S English and German Pronunciation
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Arnold Schwarzenegger Now and Then: A longitudinal case study of Schwarzenegger’s English and German pronunciation Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Philosophie an der Karl- Franzens-Universität Graz eingereicht von Mag.phil. Lisa Kornder am Institut für Anglistik Erstbegutachterin: Univ.-Prof. Catharina Henrica Elisabeth Mennen, PhD Zweitbegutachter: Mag.phil. Dr. Robert Mayr 2020 DECLARATION I confirm that I have authored this thesis independently, that I have not used other than the declared sources and that I have explicitly marked all material which has been quoted either literally or by content from the used sources. ___________________ ______________________ Date Lisa Kornder i Language is a living thing. We can feel it changing. Parts of it become old: they drop off and are forgotten. New pieces bud out, spread into leaves, and become big branches, proliferating. Gilbert Highet, Explorations (1971) ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS If someone had told me years ago that I would write my PhD thesis in linguistics one day, I would probably have frowned upon them. Now here it is – and it would have not been possible without the support, help and guidance of many people. First and foremost, I want to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Ineke Mennen, not only for guiding and supporting me throughout the process of writing my thesis, but also for encouraging me to do a PhD in the first place. You were and still are a great inspiration to me. Thanks to Dr. Robert Mayr for his willingness to be part of the committee and for being the second supervisor of my thesis. I appreciate it very much. A special thanks goes to Dr. Ulrich Reubold for his invaluable statistical advice and for making me realize that statistics is not as terrifying as I initially thought. I also want to thank Jessica, one of the smartest women I have ever met and who I genuinely miss as an office colleague and a friend. Thanks for your feedback, useful comments and the great time we had when sharing an office. Johannes – thanks for being such a great colleague and friend. I will miss our daily coffee breaks, our laughs and our regular ‘white Zweigelt’-get-togethers. Thanks to Matthias and Kerstin for their help with labelling hundreds and hundreds of sound files – it is highly appreciated. A big thank you goes to Victoria, who is a partner in crime and a loyal friend. You are always there when I need you the most. Thanks to Marlies and Sabrina for their emotional and moral support, especially during the final stage of completing my thesis. I also want to thank my mum and dad for always believing in me, for their unconditional support in many respects and, most importantly, for letting me choose my own way. Finally, I would like to thank my partner Zeljko for being so incredibly supportive, understanding and loving. Thank you for cheering me up on the bad days and for sharing my enthusiasm on the good days. You mean the world to me. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................................. 1 General Introduction and Literature Review ........................................................................ 1 1.1 General introduction .................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Terminology used in this thesis ................................................................................... 8 1.3 Early developments in SLA research ........................................................................ 10 1.3.1 Contrastive analysis ............................................................................................ 11 1.3.2 Maturational constraints ..................................................................................... 15 1.3.3 Interlanguage and fossilization ........................................................................... 17 1.3.4 Shifting perspectives .......................................................................................... 22 1.4 A Current perspective in SLA and bilingualism research: First language attrition ... 24 1.4.1 Contextualizing first language attrition .............................................................. 24 1.4.2 L1 Attrition: Permanent loss or temporary change? .......................................... 31 1.4.3 When attrition should (not) be called ‘attrition’: Some terminological considerations ................................................................................................................... 33 1.5 Dynamic Systems Theory .......................................................................................... 37 1.5.1 Language learning from a dynamic systems perspective ................................... 37 1.5.2 Language attrition and Dynamic Systems Theory ............................................. 39 1.6 Models of L2 speech production and perception ....................................................... 41 1.6.1 The Speech Learning Model (SLM) .................................................................. 42 1.6.2 The Perceptual Assimilation Model (PAM) ....................................................... 45 1.7 Interim conclusion ..................................................................................................... 46 1.8 Social and cultural dimensions of the phenomenon of foreign accent ..................... 48 CHAPTER 2 ............................................................................................................................... 52 Study I Arnold Schwarzenegger’s production of plosives in his L1 and L2 ..................... 52 2.1 Introduction to Study I ............................................................................................... 52 2.2 Voice Onset Time (VOT) .......................................................................................... 53 2.2.1 VOT in English and Austrian German ............................................................... 57 2.2.2 L2 acquisition of VOT ....................................................................................... 62 2.2.3 L1 attrition of VOT ............................................................................................ 65 2.2.4 Other acoustic parameters of plosives ................................................................ 69 2.3 The study ................................................................................................................... 72 2.3.1 Aims and objectives ........................................................................................... 72 iv 2.3.2 Methodology ...................................................................................................... 73 2.3.2.1 The subject: Arnold Schwarzenegger ........................................................................ 73 2.3.2.2 Materials and procedure ............................................................................................ 77 2.3.2.3 Collection of normative data for Austrian German ................................................... 83 2.3.3 Benefits and drawbacks of working with broadcast recordings ......................... 85 2.3.4 Results ................................................................................................................ 88 2.3.5 Discussion of Study I ......................................................................................... 97 CHAPTER 3 ............................................................................................................................. 105 Study II Arnold Schwarzenegger’s production of vowels in his L1 and L2 .................... 105 3.1 Introduction to Study II ........................................................................................... 105 3.1.1 American English vowels ................................................................................. 105 3.1.2 Austrian German vowels .................................................................................. 109 3.1.3 L2 acquisition of vowels .................................................................................. 112 3.1.4 L1 attrition of vowels ....................................................................................... 116 3.2 The study ................................................................................................................. 119 3.2.1 Aims and objectives ......................................................................................... 119 3.2.2 Materials and procedure ................................................................................... 120 3.2.3 Results .............................................................................................................. 124 3.2.4 Discussion of Study II ...................................................................................... 135 CHAPTER 4 ............................................................................................................................. 143 Study III Perceived nativeness, intelligibility and comprehensibility of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s L1 speech ............................................................................................... 143 4.1 Introduction to Study III .......................................................................................... 143 4.1.1 Perceived foreign accent in L1 speech ............................................................. 145 4.1.2 Comprehensibility and intelligibility ..............................................................