The correlation between melodic contours and their respective pragmatic functions: an experimental study

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22168/2237-6321-11741

Keywords:

Prosodic consciousness. Experimental Psycholinguistics. Melodic Contours.

Abstract

Phonological awareness is conceptually divided into analytical phonological awareness and holistic phonological awareness (Morais, 1991). The first allows conscious segmentation of speech constituents. The second, on the other hand, enables the conscious mental operation of suprasegmental properties of speech. A program of psycholinguistic experiments is underway that aims to observe the relationship between the development of holistic phonological awareness, henceforth prosodic awareness, and learning to read. Within this Program, experiments are being carried out with literate adults as a baseline. This work presents an experimental study with 23 adults whose objective is to observe the ability to identify the correlation of the patterns of melodic contours in Brazilian Portuguese with their respective pragmatic functions. The restricted choice task assessed the ability to identify the correlation of the patterns of melodic contours in Brazilian Portuguese according to Morais (2008) - question, statement and command - with their respective pragmatic functions. The audios were modified in the Praat program so that the segmental part was removed. In addition to the Decision Times, Average Response Times were also recorded. The collected data received statistical treatment through the EzAnova program. The results point to the easy relationship between the melodic outline of the question and its pragmatic function (75% of correct answers and 1617ms of average response time).

Author Biography

  • Mariana Fernandes Fonseca, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
    Doutoranda pelo programa de Pós-graduação em Linguística (2018- ) pela Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Bolsista Capes (2018-). Mestre pelo Programa de Pós-Graduação em Linguística (2015-2017) pela Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Licenciada em Letras: português-latim (2015-2016) pela Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Bacharel em Letras: português-latim (2011-2014) pela Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Bolsista CNPq-Pibic (2011 - 2013). Mediadora das Jornadas Pedagógicas de Educação Infantil da Secretaria Municipal do Rio de Janeiro (2013-2017). Professora de Educação Infantil em afastamento no Município do Rio de Janeiro (2012- ). Atualmente, é assistente I da Gerência de Formação Continuada do Professor Regente.

References

BARBOSA, P. A. Prosódia. 1. ed. São Paulo: Parábola, 2019.

CALET, N. et al. Suprasegmental Phonology Development and Reading Acquisition: A Longitudinal Study. Scientific Studies of Reading, v. 19, p. 51-71, 2015.

CHOMSKY, N. A. Some concepts and consequences of the theory of government and binding. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. 1982.

CLIN, E. M.; WADE-WOOLLEY, L.; HEGGIE, L. Prosodic sensitivity and morphological awareness in children’s reading. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, v. 104, n.2, p. 197–213, 2009. DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2009.05.005.

FONSECA, M. F. Consciência fonológica e o ensino de leitura: quando começar? Revista LinguíStica / Revista do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Linguística da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, v. 13, n.1, p. 86-103, jan. 2017a.

FONSECA, M. F. Preparado a leitura na Educação Infantil: Desenvolvimento da Consciência Fonológica. 2017b. 149f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Linguística) – Faculdade de Letras Programa de Pós-Graduação em Linguística, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 2017b.

FONSECA, M. F. A influência da melodia da fala no processo de alfabetização: um estudo experimental. ReVEL, vol. 17, n. 33, 2019.

GONZÁLEZ-TRUJILLO, M. C.; DEFIOR, S.; GUTIÉRREZ-PALMA, N. The role of nonspeech rhythm in Spanish word reading. Journal of Research in Reading, v. 37, n. 3, p. 316-330, 2014.

LEITÃO, M. Psicolinguística Experimental: Focalizando o processamento da linguagem. In: MARTELOTTA, M. (org.) Manual de Linguística. São Paulo: Contexto, 2008. p. 217-234.

MAIA, M. Processamento de Frases. In: MAIA, Marcus (Org.). Psicolinguística, psicolinguísticas: uma introdução. São Paulo: Contexto, 2015. p. 13-29.

MAIA, M. (org). Psicolinguística e Educação. Campinas: Mercado de Letras, 2018.

MORAES, J. A. The Pitch Accents in Brazilian Portuguese: analysis by synthesis. In: BARBOSA, P.; MADUREIRA, S.; REIS, C. (eds.) Speech Prosody 2008: Fourth Conference on Speech Prosody. Campinas, p. 389-397, 6-9 May, 2008.

MORAIS, J. Phonological Awareness: A Bridge Between Language and Literacy. In: SAWYER, D. J.&. FOX, B. J. (eds). Phonological Awareness in Reading: The Evolution of Current Perspectives. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1991. p. 31- 71.

NESPOR, M.; VOGEL, I. Prosodic phonology. Dordrecht: Foris Publications, 1986.

SPEER, S. R.; BLODEGTT, A. Prosody. In: TRAXLER, M.; GERNSBACHER, M. A. (eds), Handbook of Psycholinguistic Research. 2. ed. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2006. p. 505-537.

TUNMER, W. E.; ROHL, M. Phonological Awareness and Reading Acquisition. In: SAWYER, D. J.; FOX, B. J. (eds). Phonological awareness in reading: The evolution of current perspectives. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1991. p. 1-30.

Published

2020-04-28

How to Cite

The correlation between melodic contours and their respective pragmatic functions: an experimental study. Entrepalavras, [S. l.], v. 10, n. 1, p. 346–361, 2020. DOI: 10.22168/2237-6321-11741. Disponível em: https://periodicos.ufc.br/entrepalavras/article/view/99411. Acesso em: 21 sep. 2026.