Second language learner processing of prosodic cues: Danish stød in the brain

The project investigates how second language (L2) learners deal with unfamiliar prosodic features at the interface of morphology and phonology. Native speakers use prosodic features in the beginning of words as cues for the words' morphological structure. Second language learners, in comparison, typically struggle with unfamiliar prosody.
On this basis, the project departs from the cross-linguistically rare creaky voice phenomenon 'stød' in Danish and looks into L2 prosody awareness, learners' and teachers' attitudes towards prosody teaching, prosody recognition in spoken words as well as learners' use of prosody during speech processing. Based on initial results and previous findings, the project aims at devising and testing a prosody learning paradigm that has the potential to become a staple in the Danish L2 classroom.