ARTICULATION RATE AND PAUSES IN SPANISH COURSEBOOK AUDIO FILES

Abstract

In this study, I analyze the articulation rate and the proportion of pauses and hesitations in Spanish as a foreign language coursebook audio files, in the following three beginner level coursebooks: Aula Internacional Plus 1, Colores 1 and Nuevo Español en Marcha 1. As a possible variable, the above mentioned prosodic phenomena have been compared in recordings coming from the first, middle and last lessons of the coursebooks. Furthermore, the obtained data have been compared with the values measured in the speech of everyday native speakers of Spanish in previous studies. According to the obtained results, only Colores 1 shows a different – higher – mean articulation rate, and only Aula Internacional Plus 1 has a different – lower – mean proportion of pauses, compared with the everyday speakers’ speech. Regarding the level of the coursebook audio files (coming from the first, middle or last lessons), the proportion of pauses does not show significant difference in the different lessons, while the articulation rate does,although it increases in Colores but decreases between the lessons of Nuevo Español en Marcha