In spite of having a fixed standard of pronunciation, English is being used in various ways in parts of the world, particularly in its way of utterance. English vowel is playing one of the significant roles in making different varieties of English language. This essay tries to see into detail how some phonetic features (formant movement, frequency, pitch) of English vowels vary in relation to Bengali, Catalan, Italian, Spanish and Swedish speakers. It has been found that all these speakers vary a lot from each other in the utterance of English vowels.

This study set out to examine how correctly Mandarin speakers produced and perceived English vowels and to explore the relationship between the production and the perception of English vowels by Mandarin speakers. Fifteen native Mandarin speakers, who had lived in Canada for at least two years and received an IELTS score of 6.5 or above, participated in this study. Fifteen native speakers of Canadian English living in Vancouver at the time of the study also participated as a control group. Two experiments were conducted involving 10 English vowels: /i/, /ɪ/, /ɛ/, /æ/, /ʊ/, /u/, /ʊ/, /ɔ/, /o/, and /ʌ/. In Experiment 1, both the Mandarin speakers and the native English speakers were recorded producing the ten vowels in a /bVt/ syllable in a carrier sentence. The vowels in the recordings were then identified by four native English listeners. In Experiment 2, the Mandarin speakers did an identification test of the vowels produced by the English speakers in Experiment 1. The results showed that Mandarin speakers in this study were able to produce and perceive certain English vowels correctly, but not all of them. The results also indicated that the relationship between the production and perception of English vowels by Mandarin speakers cannot be interpreted in a straightforward way, and that that L2 experience, in terms of length of residence, age of arrival, years of learning, and age when ESL learning starts, might also play an important role in the production and perception of English vowels by Mandarin speakers. / Graduate

This dissertation examines the role of the native dialect in non-native perception and production in the specific case of Cuban and Peninsular Spanish as native varieties and of English vowels as in hat, hut, hot as the target. In most second language studies, the learners’ native variety is assumed to be homogenous, regardless of their regional variety. Nevertheless, regional varieties differ in non-trivial ways and such differences need to be considered when analyzing second language acquisition. This dissertation takes shape around the main research question of whether potentially systematic differences between vowels in the native dialects of Cuban and Peninsular Spanish would produce matching phonetic differences in non-native perception and production of English vowels. This question was addressed in three experiments that compared native vowels in these Spanish varieties, as well as the perception and production of the target English vowels as in hat, hut, hot by Cuban and Peninsular Spanish learners. Significant cross-dialectal differences were identified in the production of native vowels, namely, locations of /i, o/, durations of /e, a, o/ as well as different variability patterns, which were predicted to influence mapping of sounds in L2 perception and production. In L2 perception, discrimination for advanced and naïve listeners from each dialect was tested with English contrasts as in hat-hut, hut-hot, and hat-hot. No clear native dialect effect could be identified; however, Cuban advanced listeners obtained high error rates with hut-hot. In L2 production, though, dialect-specific patterns were found: Peninsular learners produced vowels as in hat, hut, hot with significant spectral but no durational differences whereas Cuban learners produced vowels as in hut, hot with no significant spectral but with duration differences. I concluded that the native dialect was one of several factors generating the differences between Peninsular and Cuban participants’ perception and production of English vowels as in hat, hut, hot. The conjoint effect of the native dialect, input and learning experience were shown to have contributed to the distinctions. This finding contributes to second language acquisition research because it stresses the need to control for learners’ native dialect. This research contributed new acoustic data on Cuban Spanish and on L2 English. It uncovered specific patterns and interlanguage strategies of Spanish learners of English.

This dissertation examines the role of the native dialect in non-native perception and production in the specific case of Cuban and Peninsular Spanish as native varieties and of English vowels as in hat, hut, hot as the target. In most second language studies, the learners’ native variety is assumed to be homogenous, regardless of their regional variety. Nevertheless, regional varieties differ in non-trivial ways and such differences need to be considered when analyzing second language acquisition. This dissertation takes shape around the main research question of whether potentially systematic differences between vowels in the native dialects of Cuban and Peninsular Spanish would produce matching phonetic differences in non-native perception and production of English vowels. This question was addressed in three experiments that compared native vowels in these Spanish varieties, as well as the perception and production of the target English vowels as in hat, hut, hot by Cuban and Peninsular Spanish learners. Significant cross-dialectal differences were identified in the production of native vowels, namely, locations of /i, o/, durations of /e, a, o/ as well as different variability patterns, which were predicted to influence mapping of sounds in L2 perception and production. In L2 perception, discrimination for advanced and naïve listeners from each dialect was tested with English contrasts as in hat-hut, hut-hot, and hat-hot. No clear native dialect effect could be identified; however, Cuban advanced listeners obtained high error rates with hut-hot. In L2 production, though, dialect-specific patterns were found: Peninsular learners produced vowels as in hat, hut, hot with significant spectral but no durational differences whereas Cuban learners produced vowels as in hut, hot with no significant spectral but with duration differences. I concluded that the native dialect was one of several factors generating the differences between Peninsular and Cuban participants’ perception and production of English vowels as in hat, hut, hot. The conjoint effect of the native dialect, input and learning experience were shown to have contributed to the distinctions. This finding contributes to second language acquisition research because it stresses the need to control for learners’ native dialect. This research contributed new acoustic data on Cuban Spanish and on L2 English. It uncovered specific patterns and interlanguage strategies of Spanish learners of English.

This study focuses on how the cross-language perception of German vowels by native speakers of North American English differs based on various levels of classroom instruction and experience in a German-speaking country. Of special interest is whether more advanced students and those with target country experience have a different cross-language perception of German vowels from naive or less-experienced listeners. It further examines how English-speaking learners perceive German sounds that are not found in English, namely the front-rounded vowels. Study participants were students at Brigham Young University, divided into four groups: those 1) without knowledge of German; 2) in their 3rd semester of German without stay abroad; 3) in their 5th semester of German or above without stay abroad; and 4) in their 5th semester or above with at least 12 months in a German-speaking country. The subjects performed two tasks. While listening to German words, they first selected the English word with the vowel that most closely matched the German vowel heard from a list of English words on the computer screen; and secondly, they rated how much alike the German vowel sounded like the English vowel they chose. The results indicate that level of instruction does indeed affect how subjects perceive German vowels. Moreover, perception of the vowels was to some degree affected by the consonant environment. Finally, it was found that all groups rated the similarity of vowels in a similar manner regardless of experience.

The inability to differentiate the English vowels /o/ and / O/ has become a stigmatized marker of a lower prestige and widespread dialect of Sri Lankan English. This lower prestige (LP) dialect is often referred to with the derogative phrase “Not pot English”. This study aims to investigate the production of the vowel contrast by native Sinhala speakers of English. To this end, speech samples of three adult learners were analyzed. The findings of the study are discussed according to hypotheses of the Speech Learning Model, which suggests that the existent L1 specific phonetic categories hinder the formation of new L2 sound categories. Here, sounds that are similar, but not identical to L1 sounds are considered to be the most difficult to acquire. Also, the percentage of L1 use and the age of second language acquisition seem to have influenced the production of the vowels. Finally, in order to address this pronunciation issue, an instructional framework to teach pronunciation is proposed.

Submitted by Mariana Centanin Bertho (marianabertho@gmail.com) on 2018-07-26T01:02:32Z No. of bitstreams: 1 MarianaCentaninBertho_dissertação_2018.pdf: 2401328 bytes, checksum: 43156416c811b705e42ea7b990f0effd (MD5) / Rejected by Aline Aparecida Matias null (alinematias@fclar.unesp.br), reason: Solicitamos que realize uma nova submissão seguindo as orientações abaixo: 1) Numeração das páginas: as páginas pré-textuais devem ser contadas, com exceção da capa e ficha catalográfica, porém a numeração deve aparecer somente a partir da primeira página textual, a Introdução. Sendo assim sua Introdução começa na página 15. 2) Sumário: após renumerar o trabalho será preciso refazer o sumário para que ele reflita fielmente o trabalho. ATENÇÃO: Será preciso refazer também as listas de figuras, gráficos, quadros e tabelas para que as mesmas indiquem corretamente as páginas em que se encontram as figuras, gráficos, quadros e tabelas de seu trabalho. Agradecemos a compreensão. on 2018-07-26T11:29:06Z (GMT) / Submitted by Mariana Centanin Bertho (marianabertho@gmail.com) on 2018-07-26T16:29:49Z No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertação_MarianaCentaninBertho_repositório_2018_v2.pdf: 2647710 bytes, checksum: a5954f6983e903ab348e80fbe80bcef6 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Aline Aparecida Matias null (alinematias@fclar.unesp.br) on 2018-07-27T11:24:40Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 bertho_mc_me_arafcl.pdf: 2647710 bytes, checksum: a5954f6983e903ab348e80fbe80bcef6 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-27T11:24:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 bertho_mc_me_arafcl.pdf: 2647710 bytes, checksum: a5954f6983e903ab348e80fbe80bcef6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-04-23 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo descrever as características acústicas dos fonemas /æ, ɛ, ɑ, ɔ, ə/ na produção em língua inglesa dos estudantes brasileiros de inglês como língua estrangeira (ILE). Esses fonemas, por vezes, sofrem a perda do contraste na produção dos estudantes brasileiros e são produzidos dentro do espaço perceptivo dos fonemas /a/, /ɛ/ e /ɔ/ do português. Os participantes selecionados são alunos de duas escolas de idiomas e passaram por um curso sobre os sons do inglês, parte do experimento desenvolvido para a coleta de dados. O experimento consiste na gravação da leitura oral de um corpus contendo vocábulos com os fonemas selecionados, que ocorre antes e depois da participação no curso, além da resposta a dois questionários, um inicial e um final. Posteriormente, as gravações são analisadas e comparadas entre si e a uma gravação do mesmo corpus feita por um informante americano, por meio do software PRAAT, versão 5.3 (BOERSMA & WEENINK, 2011). Como suporte teórico para essa análise, entendemos que a produção oral dos estudantes encontra-se no momento da Interlíngua (SELINKER, 1972), em que podem ser encontradas as estratégias utilizadas pelos estudantes na produção dos sons da LE. São fundamentais, portanto, para nossa análise, as teorias que se dedicam especificamente à descrição da aquisição/aprendizagem do aspecto fônico de uma LE, começando pelos conceitos de crivo fonológico, de Trubetzkoy (1939), e de surdez fonológica, de Polivanov (1931). Complementando esses conceitos, a análise é guiada pelos processos explicados por modelos, tais como o Modelo de Aprendizagem da Fala (Flege, 1981), o Modelo do Ímã da Língua Materna, de Kuhl & Iverson (1995), e o Modelo de Assimilação Perceptiva, de Best e Tyler (1994). Os resultados demonstram a ocorrência de certos fenômenos na Interlíngua dos estudantes brasileiros: a proximidade acústica do par de fonemas /æ/ e / ɛ/; a proximidade acústica do par de fonemas /ɑ/ e /ɔ/; a produção de /ɑ/ próximo de /a/ pela motivação ortográfica do grafema <a>; a produção de /ɑ/ próximo de /ɔ/ pela motivação ortográfica do grafema <o>; a produção de /ə/ como /a/ pela motivação ortográfica do grafema <a>. / This research aims to describe the acoustic characteristics of the phonemes /æ, ɛ, ɑ, ɔ, ə/ in the production of English language of Brazilian students of English as a foreign language (EFL). Those phonemes sometimes lack contrast in the production of Brazilian students and are produced within the perceptive space of the phonemes /a/, /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ of Brazilian Portuguese language. The selected participants are students of two language schools who took a course on the sounds of English, designed as part of the experiment developed for the data collection. The experiment consists in recording the oral reading of a corpus containing words with the selected phonemes, which occurs before and after participation in the course, besides the response to two questionnaires, applied at the beginning and at the end of the course. Subsequently, the recordings are analyzed and compared to each other and to a recording of the same corpus by an American informant, using PRAAT software, version 5.3 (BOERSMA & WEENINK, 2011). As a theoretical support for this analysis, we understand that students’ oral production is in their Interlanguage (SELINKER, 1972), in which the strategies used by students in the production of LE sounds can be found. Therefore, for our analysis, theories that specifically focus on the acquisition/learning of the phonic aspect of an LE are fundamental, starting with Trubetzkoy’s phonological sieve (1939) and Polivanov’s phonological deafness (1931). Complementing these concepts, the analysis is guided by the processes explained by models, such as the Speech Learning Model (FLEGE, 1981), the Perceptual Magnet Effect (KUHL & IVERSON, 1995), and the Perceptual Assimilation Model (BEST, 1994). Results show the occurrence of certain phenomena in the Interlanguage of Brazilian students: acoustic proximity of the pair of phonemes /æ/ and /ɛ/; acoustic proximity of the pair of phonemes /ɑ/ and /ɔ/; the production of /ɑ/ close to /a/ motivated by the grapheme <a>; the production of /ɑ/ close to /ɔ/ motivated by the grapheme <o>; the production of /ə/ as /a/ motivated by the grapheme <a>. / CAPES 1601804