Analytic knowledge about the systematic variation in a language has an important place in the description of the language. Such knowledge is interesting e.g. in the language teaching domain, as a background for various types of linguistic studies, and in the development of more dynamic speech technology applications. In previous studies, the effects of single variables or relatively small groups of related variables on the pronunciation of words have been studied separately. The work described in this thesis takes a holistic perspective on pronunciation variation and focuses on a method for creating general descriptions of phone-level pronunciation in discourse context. The discourse context is defined by a large set of linguistic attributes ranging from high-level variables such as speaking style, down to the articulatory feature level. Models of phone-level pronunciation in the context of a discourse have been created for the central standard Swedish language variety. The models are represented in the form of decision trees, which are readable for both machines and humans. A data-driven approach was taken for the pronunciation modelling task, and the work involved the annotation of recorded speech with linguistic and related information. The decision tree models were induced from the annotation. An important part of the work on pronunciation modelling was also the development of a pronunciation lexicon for Swedish. In a cross-validation experiment, several sets of pronunciation models were created with access to different parts of the attributes in the annotation. The prediction accuracy of pronunciation models could be improved by 42.2% by making information from layers above the phoneme level accessible during model training. Optimal models were obtained when attributes from all layers of annotation were used. The goal for the models was to produce pronunciation representations representative for the language variety and not necessarily for the individual speakers, on whose speech the models were trained. In the cross-validation experiment, model-produced phone strings were compared to key phonetic transcripts of actual speech, and the phone error rate was defined as the share of discrepancies between the respective phone strings. Thus, the phone error rate is the sum of actual errors and discrepancies resulting from desired adaptations from a speaker-specific pronunciation to a pronunciation reflecting general traits of the language variety. The optimal models gave an average phone error rate of 8.2%. / QC 20100901

情報処理学会研究報告. SLP, 音声言語情報処理;　98-SLP-24-5

情報処理学会研究報告. SLP, 音声言語情報処理; 2003-SLP-49-24 第5回音声言語シンポジウム

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Language is the learning device and the device which forms the student's knowledge in math, his ability to define concepts, express mathematical ideas and solve mathematical problems. Difficulties in the Language are seen more in word problems, clarity and in the way the text is read by the student have a direct effect on the understanding of the problem and therefore, on its solution, could delay the problem solving process. The connection between language and mathematical achievements has a more distinctive significance regarding the Arab student. This is due to the fact that the language which is used in the schools and in textbooks is classical (traditional) Arabic. It is far different than the language used in everyday conversations with family and friends (the spoken Arabic). Our research examine whether rephrasing word problems can affect the achievements of the Arab students in it. The experimental group received mathematics instruction using learning materials of word problems that were rewritten in a “middle language” closer to the students’ everyday language (spoken Arabic), thus keeping the mathematical level of the problems. The research findings showed that students in the experimental group improved their achievements in word and geometric problems significantly more than students from control group.

在使用外國語言表達的時候，語言學習者經常會遇到不會說的單字。為了使溝通能夠繼續下去，語言學習者經常會採用溝通表達策略(C.S)來幫助自己表達意見。除了口語之外，人們還可以用書面語來溝通。但目前尚未有研究關於溝通表達策略在這兩種語言形式中有何異同之處。比較溝通表達策略在這兩種語言形式中有何不同之處是我們其中的一個目標。另外，我們還檢視受試者說的能力(speaking ability)與寫的能力(writing ability)如何影響兩種形式的溝通表達策略。結果顯示只有情境策略(situation strategy)和同義字策略(synonym strategy)在兩種語言形式中呈現顯著差異。受試者說的能力只會影響策略數量上(number)的使用，並不會影響到種類上(type)的選擇。而寫的能力則與策略數量上(number)的使用以及種類上(type)的選擇都沒有關聯。策略種類上(type)的選擇不會隨著說的能力或寫的能力增加的結果使我們提出英文老師應該加強學生溝通表達策略的概念與使用的建議，期使學生提升他們的溝通能力。 / Communication strategies (C.S.) are the strategies used by language learners to deal with lexical problems when they are using a target language for communication. In addition to oral language, people can also communicate in written language. However, no study has looked into the similarities and differences of the C.S. used in the two modes. An aim of our study is to compare the use of C.S. in the two modes. The second aim is to examine the use of C.S. in the two modes through speaking proficiency and writing proficiency respectively. Subjects were asked to express prompted words to the native English interlocutor and then to write down the same set of the prompted words without using the exact words. Results shows that only situation strategy and synonym strategy display significant differences in the two modes. Besides, speaking proficiency influences the number of C.S. but is unrelated to the types of C.S. Writing proficiency does not affect the number and the types of C.S. The result that the types of C.S. do not increase according to proficiency level makes us suggest English teachers to enhance learners’ awareness of C.S. with an aim to developing learners’ communicative competence.

The dissertation analyses the stratification of Czech in terms of teaching Czech as a foreign language. The general theoretical part relates to teaching Czech as a foreign language or other foreign languages as close as possible. This part also includes the analysis of recordings of authentic communication between Czech speakers and foreigners. The findings of the analysis are subsequently applied to the sample plans of teaching units. The introductory part deals with the history and development of the theory of the standard Czech language and it also presents the attitudes held by the members of the Prague Linguistic Circle, which were published in Spisovná čeština a jazyková kultura (Czech Literary Language and Culture) in 1932. The theoretical part reflects the issue of defining the standard, mentions diglossia and presents a variety of contemporary opinions on future trends in the development of codification. In accordance with its aim, the paper lists the recommendations of benchmark descriptions for Czech as a foreign language and also describes so called Foreigner Talk, including the way foreigners are spoken to by the speakers of Czech. Furthermore, the extent to which spoken Czech is reflected upon in the instruction of Czech language for foreigners and/or teaching materials were studied....

The thesis analyses the accuracy and fluency exhibited in the spoken advanced-learner English of Czech students of English philology. It draws its data from a learner corpus comprising fifty 15-minute interviews with these learners and from a parallel native-speaker corpus of forty-nine 15-minute interviews. As regards accuracy, the learner data is analysed using techniques of error analysis. Salient features of advanced learner English are identified and the subsequent quantitative analyses reveal that throughout the entire group of students (which is characterized by what revealed itself to be a wide proficiency span) two groups of error types are found to be much more frequent than any other, namely errors in the use of articles and tenses. For the fluency measurements a small selection of variables has been chosen to describe speed fluency (speech rate) and breakdown fluency (the frequency of unfilled and filled pauses), and the results are compared with those for the parallel native-speaker corpus. The analysed native speakers are found to produce speech at a generally much higher rate than the majority of the learners. There does not appear - at least in the light of the given sample - to be any direct correlation between fluency and the frequency of errors. Moreover, the learners are found...

This work has taken the region of Qwaqwa as a case study. Through this study, the researcher attempted to join in the debate around language varieties that occur as a result of contact between different language groups. To achieve this objective, the factors that have an impact on Sesotho spoken in the Qwaqwa area and, in particular, in schools, have been assessed. The researcher provides a broad and general picture of the language situation and patterns of language use in the Qwaqwa area. A brief overview of the geographical description, historical background and economic development of Qwaqwa is given. Some of the linguistic phenomena that play a role in language variation in this area fall under the spotlight. Language contact, i.e. language and dialect, regional and social dialect, the use of language and the impact of language contact between languages is discussed. Patterns and the extent of language contact and the resultant effects of interference, codeswitching and borrowing as well as the processes and points at which these processes occur are identified. The major similarities and relationships between spoken and written Sesotho, as used by learners in Qwaqwa schools, is highlighted with the discussion focussing on the linguistic description of the similarities and relationships between the two forms. / African Languages / (M.A.(Afican Languages))