Language Proficiency and F0 Entrainment: A Study of L2 English Imitation
  in Italian, French, and Slovak Speakers
Zheng Yuan Štefan Beňuš Alessandro D'Ausilio
This study explores F0 entrainment in second language (L2) English speech
imitation during an Alternating Reading Task (ART). Participants with Italian,
French, and Slovak native languages imitated English utterances, and their F0
entrainment was quantified using the Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) distance
between the parameterized F0 contours of the imitated utterances and those of
the model utterances. Results indicate a nuanced relationship between L2
English proficiency and entrainment: speakers with higher proficiency generally
exhibit less entrainment in pitch variation and declination. However, within
dyads, the more proficient speakers demonstrate a greater ability to mimic
pitch range, leading to increased entrainment. This suggests that proficiency
influences entrainment differently at individual and dyadic levels,
highlighting the complex interplay between language skill and prosodic
adaptation.