Filled pauses and bilingualism

Filled pauses have been analysed in different disciplines. In the learning of foreign languages, filled pauses have been recognized as elements that determine the language proficiency of the speakers. This study focuses on the analysis of filled pauses considering bilingual speakers, who were born in Catalonia. Therefore, two professionals in mass media communication, who have worked in Catalan and in Spanish channels, have been considered in both languages in order to show if the languages influence the acoustical characteristics of these fillers. The results reveal that speakers show different behaviour in the vocalization of the filled pauses. One of them uses acoustic properties in his filled pauses in each of the languages: [e] Spanish and [ə] Catalan. The other speaker shows the same vocalic quality, [ə], for both languages.