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This dissertation is designed for Japanese singers to aid them in mastering correct American-English singing diction. Many Japanese singers of college age or older have knowledge of English through high school programs. However, they often lack the communicative ability to hear and speak English. This study enables those singers to sing American-English repertoire with more precise diction.Chapter 1 contains introductory materials. Chapter 2 presents a pronunciation guide for American English and Japanese using IPA symbols, which includes the sounds that are common to Japanese and American English, the vowels and consonants found in Japanese only, and the vowels and consonants found in American English only. Chapter 3 contains the analyses and approaches to problems in learning American-English singing diction, including the comparison of speech and singing and the analyses of Japanese word structures. Chapter 4 incorporates the previous chapters and introduces approach and solutions to the successful performance of American-English repertoire. Chapter 5 consists of the IPA transcriptions of selected American-English songs. / School of Music

This thesis has analysed the sound substitutions Carioca students of English make when speaking it. It was the researcher’s purpose to find out what type of mispronunciations occurred and to separate the errors caused by the orthographic representation of sounds from the ones coming from differences between the sound systems of American-English and Brazillian-Portuguese languages.By means of an error analysis the researcher has found out that the main cause of Cariocas’ sound substitutions were due to interference coming from the differences between the sound systems of the students’ native tongue and target language and the way sounds are distributed (71%) as compared to 30% of interference coming from orthographic representations. It was also interesting to note that the interference of orthography decreased in the free speech performance.

The thesis opens with a discussion of what attitudes are, and develops with a review of studies of attitudes towards pronunciation error, attitudes towards foreign accents and perception of foreign-accented speakers. The empirical part of the thesis attempts to identify how native (British) and Finnish listeners of English react to and evaluate typical segmental features of mispronunciation in the English speech of Finnish men and women of various ages. Two experiments using modifications of the matched-guise technique were conducted, one to consider error evaluation and to establish a hierarchy of segmental mispronunciation, the other to examine speaker evaluation, the image of the speaker created by the mispronunciation. Recordings of Finnish-accented English were presented to male and female listeners of various ages, and reactions collected. Statistical analyses of the results were carried out and the following general conclusions were drawn: the English labiodental lenis fricative /v/ when mispronounced in the typical Finnish manner as a labiodental frictionless continuant [u] is not tolerated by native English listeners at all, though it is highly tolerated by Finnish-speaking listeners (and Swedish-speaking Finns) themselves; the degree of mispronunciation in Finnish-accented English seriously affects listeners' estimations of the speaker's age, bad mispronunciation prompting under-estimation of age and good pronunciation over-estimation; both Finnish-speaking listeners and English-speaking listeners have almost identical clear pre-set standards about what constitutes 'good' and 'bad' pronunciation; a Finnish speaker's phonemically 'better' and 'worse' pronunciation affects the image listeners have of the speaker, status/competence traits in particular being up-graded for better pronunciation, solidarity/benevolence traits remaining broadly unaffected, and Englishspeaking listeners generally being more positive towards the Finnish-accented speakers than compatriot Finns.

Specialized training in English diction for singers became increasingly prevalent in the twentieth century. Along with this growth, a small but significant literature on the subject developed. There are divergent practices recommended for American singers, displayed by nine authors in ten books published between 1900 and 1971. A comparative study yields pedagogies of vowel and consonant production. Issues of sounds in context, including proper linkage and stress, adjustments from speech to song, and practices dictated by musical style, are paramount. The literature demonstrates an increased use of International Phonetic Alphabet symbols as a pedagogical tool. The areas of kinesiology and acoustical research are suggested for further study.

This research addressed the nature of mainstream counsellors' attitudes towards their culturally different clients. This investigator conducted two separate studies in which all of the subjects were students in the Department of Counselling Psychology at The University of British Columbia. The counsellors in the first study were in the first year of the counselling program (novice) while those in the second study were in their final year (mature). The research design was an experimental post-test only control group. Counsellors' attitudes towards their culturally different clients were investigated by presenting a client who had a foreign accent. In each study one group was exposed to a non-accented client in a counselling situation and the other group was exposed to a foreign-accented client. A matched-guise videotape of a client presenting a counselling problem was shown to the two groups of counsellors in each study. Each counsellor in the control group viewed a non-accented client and each counsellor in the experimental group viewed the same client but with a foreign accent. To measure the attitudes of counsellors towards their clients, a Semantic Differential Attitude Scale was constructed utilizing 50 bipolar adjectives. In addition, the counsellors responded to a written Interview Questionnaire designed to investigate what may influence the attitudes of the counsellors, such as: similarity of beliefs; perception of the client's motivation and an awareness of cultural differences. In both studies all counsellors rated the client in the accented and non-accented situations with an overall positive attitude on the Semantic Differential Scale. However, the counsellors exposed to the accented client, in Study One responded with a more positive intensity of attitude than the counsellors who viewed the non-accented client (p≤.001). The counsellors in the second study did not differ in their attitudes towards the accented or non-accented client (p>.05). In response to the Interview Questionnaire, the novice, beginner counsellors in Study One generally reacted to the client on a more personal level with the mainstream counsellors in the accented situation reporting more affinity towards the client. Those more mature counsellors in Study Two were less involved and attended to the external influences on the client (accented or not). Recommendations for future counselling research are suggested in the areas of the attitudes of counsellors towards their accented clients; similarity of experience as a variable which influences the cross-cultural counselling process; and the utilization of the matched-guise videotape in training and education. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

This research project was designed to determine whether anxiety in counsellors was higher with clients with foreign accents, and if so, whether this resulted in counsellors being less effective within the counselling session. Other feelings experienced by counsellors specific to counselling accented clients were also examined. Two separate, but related studies were conducted in which a comparison between two groups of counsellors-in-training was made. One group counselled a client with a European accent, while the other counselled a client with a Western Canadian speech style, typical of the region in which the study took place. Subjects in both groups were presented with a 20-minute video training tape of a client presenting a problem. Each subject was asked to respond verbally as they would in a real counselling session. The video tapes shown to the two groups were identical with the exception of the accent variable. The findings in both studies were similar. No statistically significant differences were found between the two groups in level of state anxiety as measured by the A-State of the STAI. Results from a questionnaire constructed specifically for this research project supported these findings. It did appear, however, that counsellors presented with the foreign accented client may have experienced more anxiety in the first few minutes of the session resulting from their inability to fully understand the accent. An unexpected finding emerged when both studies were examined together. It was found that a lower proportion of counsellors exposed to the foreign accented client expressed feelings on a frustrated/thwarted dimension (p<.05). More expected however, was the finding that higher levels of counsellor state anxiety were correlated with lower levels of counsellor functioning in the session (p<.001). The results of this study are discussed in relation to cross-cultural counselling, the anxiety-counsellor competence relationship, and sociolinguistic accent research. These results question several assumptions prevalent in the cross-cultural literature and suggest that a new set of issues may be emerging for the counsellor working with the minority client. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

Tsoi Chun Ho. / Thesis submitted in: June 2005. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-136). / Abstracts and questionnaires in English and Chinese. / ABSTRACT --- p.i / ABSTRACT (in Chinese) --- p.ii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.iii / Chapter 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- General Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Background of the Present Study --- p.2 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Hong Kong --- p.2 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- The Place of Phonics in Hong Kong English Language Curriculum --- p.4 / Chapter 1.3 --- A Response: The Present Study --- p.5 / Chapter 1.4 --- Significance of the Study --- p.6 / Chapter 1.5 --- Organisation of this Thesis --- p.6 / Chapter 2 --- REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1 --- Phonics Instruction --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- What is Phonics? --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- The Role of Phonics Instruction in the EFL context --- p.14 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Phonics Instruction in Hong Kong Schools --- p.14 / Chapter 2.1.4 --- Ways of Teaching Phonics in L1 and L2 Environments --- p.18 / Chapter 2.2 --- Task-based Language Teaching and Learning --- p.22 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Task and Task Types --- p.22 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Task Types --- p.26 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Tasks and Comprehensible Input --- p.29 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- TBL and Interactionist Perspective in SLA --- p.30 / Chapter 2.2.5 --- "Tasks, Memory and Accuracy" --- p.31 / Chapter 2.2.6 --- TBL and Affective Factors --- p.34 / Chapter 2.2.7 --- TBL and Context --- p.35 / Chapter 2.2.8 --- Task-based Language Teaching and Learning in the EFL context --- p.36 / Chapter 2.2.9 --- Task-based Learning (TBL) in Hong Kong EFL Curriculum --- p.39 / Chapter 2.2.10 --- Problems of Implementing the Task-based Syllabus in Hong Kong --- p.41 / Chapter 2.3 --- Learning Attitudes and its Measurement --- p.45 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- The Importance of Attitudes towards Language Learning --- p.45 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Measuring Attitudes --- p.46 / Chapter 2.4 --- Task-supported Phonics Instruction --- p.50 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Learning Phonics through Tasks --- p.50 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Traditional versus Task-supported Phonics Instruction for EFL Learners --- p.51 / Chapter 2.4.3 --- Constructing Short Tasks in an HKEFL Lesson --- p.52 / Chapter 2.4.4 --- Techniques of using task-supported Phonics with Older Learners --- p.54 / Chapter 2.4.5 --- Reasons and Limitations of Teaching and Learning Phonics in a Task-supported Way --- p.55 / Chapter 2.4.6 --- A Framework of TSP for EFL Learners --- p.56 / Chapter 2.5 --- Chapter Summary --- p.58 / Chapter 3 --- DESIGN OF THE STUDY --- p.59 / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.59 / Chapter 3.2 --- Research Questions and Null Hypotheses --- p.59 / Chapter 3.3 --- Overall Design of the Present Study --- p.62 / Chapter 3.4 --- The Settings --- p.62 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- The Original Setting and the Target Participants --- p.62 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- The New Setting and the Period of Study --- p.64 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- The Participants --- p.65 / Chapter 3.5 --- The Instrument I: Questionnaire --- p.65 / Chapter 3.5.1 --- Attitudinal Battery on Phonics Learning --- p.65 / Chapter 3.5.2 --- Attitudinal Battery on Task-supported Learning --- p.68 / Chapter 3.5.3 --- Adding Items in the Post-test of the Experimental Group --- p.69 / Chapter 3.6 --- The Instrument II: Reading Aloud Test --- p.69 / Chapter 3.6.1 --- Selection of the Texts --- p.69 / Chapter 3.6.2 --- A Brief Analysis of the Texts --- p.70 / Chapter 3.7 --- Pilot Studies --- p.72 / Chapter 3.7.1 --- Pilot Study for the Pre-test Questionnaire --- p.72 / Chapter 3.7.2 --- Pilot Study for the Post-test Questionnaire (TSL version) --- p.74 / Chapter 3.8 --- Data Collection: Description --- p.75 / Chapter 3.8.1 --- Pre-test sessions --- p.75 / Chapter 3.8.2 --- Post-test sessions --- p.76 / Chapter 3.9 --- The Teaching and Learning of the Phonics Classes --- p.77 / Chapter 3.9.1 --- Maintaining the Internal Validity --- p.77 / Chapter 3.9.2 --- Topic Coverage and the Design of the Course --- p.79 / Chapter 3.9.3 --- Designing the Tasks and the Exercises --- p.80 / Chapter 3.9.4 --- Students' Attendance --- p.82 / Chapter 3.10 --- Methods of Data Analysis --- p.83 / Chapter 3.11 --- Chapter Summary --- p.85 / Chapter 4 --- DATA ANALYSIS --- p.87 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.87 / Chapter 4.2 --- Criteria for Excluding Data from my Analysis --- p.87 / Chapter 4.3 --- Results from the Reading Aloud Tests --- p.89 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Accuracy of the Onsets --- p.91 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Accuracy of the Vowels --- p.92 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Accuracy of the Final Consonants --- p.93 / Chapter 4.3.4 --- Number of Syllables --- p.94 / Chapter 4.3.5 --- Omissions --- p.95 / Chapter 4.3.6 --- Summary of the Reading Aloud Results --- p.96 / Chapter 4.4 --- Quantitative Results from the Questionnaires --- p.98 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Attitudes towards Phonics Learning --- p.98 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- Attitudes towards English and English Learning --- p.101 / Chapter 4.4.3 --- Summary of the Questionnaire Results --- p.102 / Chapter 4.5 --- Qualitative Results from the Questionnaires --- p.103 / Chapter 4.5.1 --- Learners' Feelings towards Phonics Learning --- p.103 / Chapter 4.5.2 --- Things Students Like about the Phonics Course --- p.104 / Chapter 4.5.3 --- Things Students Don't Like about the Phonics Course --- p.105 / Chapter 4.5.4 --- Students' Ideas of Amending the Course --- p.105 / Chapter 4.6 --- Results from Confirmatory Factor Analysis using SEM --- p.106 / Chapter 4.7 --- Chapter Summary --- p.107 / Chapter 5 --- DISCUSSION --- p.108 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.108 / Chapter 5.2 --- Significant Finding: Learners' Improvement in Sounding out Onsets --- p.108 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Onsets are Sequenced First in the Course --- p.109 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Onset as a Similar Feature between English and Chinese --- p.109 / Chapter 5.3 --- Significant Findings: Learners' Attitudes towards Phonics Learning --- p.110 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Attitudes towards Phonics Lessons --- p.110 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Attempts to Sound Out Unfamiliar Words --- p.111 / Chapter 5.3.3 --- Anxiety Levels in Reading Aloud when Other People are Present --- p.111 / Chapter 5.4 --- An Examination of Findings that Fail to Support the Hypotheses --- p.112 / Chapter 5.4.1 --- Vowels --- p.112 / Chapter 5.4.2 --- Codas --- p.113 / Chapter 5.4.3 --- Omissions --- p.114 / Chapter 5.4.4 --- Learners' Intention to Encourage Others to Learn Phonics --- p.114 / Chapter 5.4.5 --- Learners' Attitudes towards the English Language and English Learning --- p.115 / Chapter 5.5 --- Implications of the Present Study to the Current Model --- p.116 / Chapter 5.5.1 --- A meaningful context is not adequate --- p.116 / Chapter 5.5.2 --- Having lessons at the right time --- p.116 / Chapter 5.5.3 --- Learners' Attendance and Involvement is an Important Factor --- p.118 / Chapter 5.5.4 --- The Attractiveness of the 'Product' Element --- p.118 / Chapter 5.5.5 --- The Contribution of These Implications to the SEM Model --- p.120 / Chapter 5.6 --- Implications of the Present Study to the Current Model --- p.120 / Chapter 6 --- CONCLUSION --- p.121 / Chapter 6.1 --- Summing Up --- p.121 / Chapter 6.2 --- Limitations of the Present Study --- p.122 / Chapter 6.2.1 --- Period of Study and Time for Designing the Course --- p.122 / Chapter 6.2.2 --- The Setting --- p.123 / Chapter 6.2.3 --- Limited Number of Participants --- p.123 / Chapter 6.2.4 --- Infeasibility of Having a Delayed Post-test --- p.124 / Chapter 6.3 --- Recommendations for Future Research --- p.110 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.125 / APPENDICE --- p.122 / Appendix 1 Approval Notice from the CUHK Survey and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee / Appendix 2 Application for Change in Thesis Title / Appendix 3 Invitation Letter Sent to Primary Schools / Appendix 4 Invitation Proposal Sent to Primary Schools / Appendix 5 Prepared Letters for Parents of the Participatory Primary School / Appendix 6 School Notice for Recruiting Students / Appendix 7 Course Outline / Appendix 8 Reading Aloud Tests / Chapter a) --- PowerPoint Slides Used in the Pre-test Session / Chapter b) --- Instructions for the Reading Aloud tests / Chapter c) --- Pre-test Reading Aloud Passage / Chapter d) --- Post-test Reading Aloud Passage / Appendix 9 a) Questionnaire (Pre-test) / Chapter b) --- Questionnaire (Post-test: Control Group) / Chapter c) --- Questionnaire (Post-test: Experimental Group)

This language attitudes study used a matched guise technique to compare participant reactions of American-accented English to Japanese-accented English. Participants (n = 40) were college educated adults living in the Portland area who completed an online survey which measured characteristics related to Status, Solidarity, and Dynamism using semantic differential Likert scales. Results showed that while Japanese-accented English received less favorable ratings on the Status and Solidarity dimensions on a statistically significant level, the small effect size may have indicated that the differences were negligible. Interpreting the results from the data through the World Englishes Kachruvian paradigm, it is argued that English learners and users would benefit by focusing more on achieving intelligibility than on attaining perfect control of an idealized variety of English.