Based on the multiple resource model, a more difficult auditory task should use more attentional resources and leave fewer resources to attend to visual information. Research suggests that trying to listen to and understand a speaker with an accent is difficult. In addition, stimuli that are considered threatening can raise stress levels and reduce the amount of attentional resources available. In the present study, participants watched one of four videos that portrayed a bank robber delivering a statement with either a Midwestern or Serbian accent and with either high or low level of threat. For the perpetrator’s appearance, participants provided significantly more correct and fewer incorrect details if they heard the Midwestern accent or the low threat statement. These results support the multiple resource model and suggest that further research is needed with the model in eyewitness memory. / Department of Psychological Science

This exploratory, mixed-design study investigates whether intelligibility is "enough," that is, a suitable goal and an adequate assessment criterion, for evaluating proficiency in the pronunciation of non-native English speaking graduate students in the academic domain. The study also seeks to identify those pronunciation features which are most crucial for intelligible speech. / Speech samples of 19 non-native English speaking graduate students in the Faculty of Education at McGill University were elicited using the Test of Spoken English (TSE), a standardized test of spoken proficiency which is often used by institutions of higher learning to screen international teaching assistants (ITAs). Results of a fined-grained phonological analysis of the speech samples coupled with intelligibility ratings of 18 undergraduate science students suggest that intelligibility, though an adequate assessment criterion, is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for graduate students to instruct undergraduate courses as teaching assistants, and that there is a threshold level (i.e., minimum acceptable level) of intelligibility that needs to be identified more precisely. While insights about the features of pronunciation that are most critical for intelligibility are inconclusive, it is clear that intelligibility can be compromised for different reasons and is often the result of a combination of "problem areas" that interact together. / The study has some important implications for ITA training and assessment, for the design of graduate student pronunciation courses, and for future intelligibility research. It also presents a first step in validating theoretical intelligibility models which lack empirical backing (e.g., Morley, 1994).

D.Litt. et Phil. / The final objective of this study involves the acquisition of received French pronunciation on the part of native speakers of siSwati. However, considering the sole aspect of phoneticophonological competence in the context of foreign language learning needs to be justified. Hence, we explain which role phonology plays in contemporary linguistics (chapter I). Further, we commit ourselves in chapter II to accommodating foreign language phonology in the framework of contrastive linguistics. This results in testing the development of foreign language pronunciation against the contrastive analysis hypothesis. To support this, we evaluate the degree to which L2 learners inherit the well-established phonological representation of Ll in their attempt to communicate in a foreign language. Secondly, we are convinced that it is needful to consider the way in which our learners decode phonological intelligibility into observable phonetic facts. This leads us to analyse the physioacoustic "surface" features of our learners' basis of articulation. Accordingly, we justify why the analysis and comparison of the phonological systems involved are to be complemented by experimental analyses of the recorded speech data. The formant tracking of the vowels and selected spectrographic analyses of the consonants in chapters IV, V and VI allow us to show to what extent the phonological abstract of the languages involved are decoded differently according to the respective bases of articulation. To achieve this, we rely on adequate experimental analyses and 'statistical tests. The first Part of chapter V identifies and compares the vowel qualities of the two languages by means of their first two formants, while the second part investigates the spectrographic differences between the siSwati and French consonant charts. To become familiar with the physio-acoustic characteristics of the target language, we introduce the French articulatory setting in chapter VII. Turning to the final aim of our contrastive and corrective undertaking, we need to select the most beneficial method of diagnosing the characteristics of our learners' foreign accent. Moreover, we design corrective strategies that will help our learners attain faithful speech performance in the targetlanguage community. Therefore, chapter III assesses the extent to which the verbo-tonal method of corrective phonetics can be instrumental in overcoming siSwati-induced French. Further, the error analysis of the recorded interlanguage discourse results in designing ad hoc corrective strategies to be implemented (chapter VIII).

No description available.

Following a review of the literature on French immersion, this thesis considers the implications of the systematic transcription of oral texts for linguistic analysis. In transcribing a corpus of spoken French by children attending a French immersion school and a corpus of children from Quebec (both from tape recordings and included in the appendice), the transcription conventions proposed by the Groupe Aixois de Recherche en Syntaxe were applied. In chapter III, some of the most common deviations from the norm that occur in the French immersion corpus are discussed, and for the most part these aberrations reflect the results of previous error analyses done on second language learners. In chapters IV and V, a study of "slip-ups" is undertaken. Slip-ups are repetitions or self-corrections, referred to as "rates" in this thesis. They occur frequently both in the Francophone and French immersion corpus. The purpose of this study is to analyse the intrinsic structure of these hesitations (that were previously brushed off as un-grammatical) and to discover whether the repetitions or self-corrections produced by the French immersion speakers share characteristics with or differ from the slip-ups identified in the Francophone corpus. Whereas an enumeration of grammatical errors will almost always show that the French spoken by French immersion pupils is not as "good" as that spoken by Francophone children, the analysis of slip-ups is a more objective endeavor. And indeed, the study reveals some unpredicted results. On certain parts of the sentence, such as the predicate, French native speakers surprisingly slip up more often than French immersion children, while the latter tend to hesitate more often on subjects and indirect objects. Further analysis reveals that native French speakers almost always repeat (or correct) entire word groups, or syntagms, although they don't always complete such groups. The French immersion children, on the other hand, do not always repeat the entire word group when they slip up, but they do seem to finish their construction (or sentence), once it has started. Finally, the situation (formal or informal) appeared to only affect the speakers in the Francophone corpus: they hesitated slightly more often in a formal setting, whereas the situation did not seem to affect the results for the French immersion speakers. / Arts, Faculty of / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 220-227). / Also available by subscription via World Wide Web / xvi, 227 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

This thesis tests the hypothesis that a whole language approach to ESL (English As A Second Language) pronunciation with emphasis on suprasegementals through the use of linguistic mimicry is more effective than a focus on segmentals in improving native speakers perceptions of accent and comprehensibility of ESL students' pronunciation of English. The thesis is organized into seven chapters. Chapter 2 is a discussion of the factors that affect the degree of foreign accent in second language acquisition. Chapter 3 gives a background on current ESL pedagogy followed by a description of the linguistic mimicry approach used in this research in Chapter 4. Chapter 5 and 6 are discussion of Materials and Methods and Conclusions and Implications.

Leung, Ming Ming Grace. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 147-150). / Abstracts in English and Chinese; includes Chinese characters in appendix. / ABSTRACT (ENGLISH) --- p.i / ABSTRACT (CHINESE) --- p.ii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.iii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iv / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION / Chapter 1.1. --- Background to this Study --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2. --- Purpose and Significance of this Study --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3. --- Organization of the Thesis --- p.3 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- LITERATURE REVIEW / Chapter 2.1. --- Introduction --- p.5 / Chapter 2.2. --- /n/ and /l/ in English and Cantonese --- p.5 / Chapter 2.3. --- /n/ and /l/ Variation in Cantonese --- p.6 / Chapter 2.4. --- /n/ and /l/ Variation in Hong Kong English --- p.7 / Chapter 2.5. --- Language Transfer --- p.10 / Chapter 2.6. --- English Perception and Production by L2 Speakers --- p.20 / Chapter 2.7. --- Task Type --- p.34 / Chapter 2.8. --- Linguistic Environment --- p.40 / Chapter 2.9. --- Language Proficiency --- p.43 / Chapter 2.10. --- Summary --- p.45 / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- METHODOLOGY / Chapter 3.1. --- Introduction --- p.48 / Chapter 3.2. --- Research Questions --- p.48 / Chapter 3.3. --- Research Methodology --- p.50 / Chapter 3.3.1. --- Participants --- p.50 / Chapter 3.3.2. --- Materials and Procedure --- p.50 / Chapter 3.3.3. --- Data Recording and Data Transcription --- p.56 / Chapter 3.3.4. --- "Data Coding, Data Scoring and Data Analysis" --- p.56 / Chapter 3.4. --- Summary --- p.57 / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- FINDINGS / Chapter 4.1. --- Introduction --- p.59 / Chapter 4.2. --- General Results in Descriptive Statistics --- p.60 / Chapter 4.2.1. --- General Finding of English Production and Perception --- p.60 / Chapter 4.2.1.1. --- Production of /n/and /l/ in Different Task Types --- p.63 / Chapter 4.2.1.2. --- Production of /n/ and /l/ in Different Following Linguistic Environments --- p.66 / Chapter 4.2.1.3. --- Production of /n/ and /l/ with the Presence of a Second /n/ --- p.68 / Chapter 4.2.1.4. --- Production of /n/ and /l/ by Three Groups of Participants --- p.69 / Chapter 4.2.2. --- General Finding of Cantonese Production and Perception --- p.72 / Chapter 4.3. --- Results of VARBRUL Statistics --- p.76 / Chapter 4.3.1. --- Result of Accurate Production of /n/ --- p.81 / Chapter 4.3.2. --- Result of /n/ to /l/ Variation --- p.83 / Chapter 4.3.3. --- Result of Accurate Production of /l/ --- p.84 / Chapter 4.3.4. --- Result of /l/ to /n/ Variation --- p.85 / Chapter 4.4. --- Descriptive and VARBRUL Statistical Results regarding Four Research Questions --- p.87 / Chapter 4.4.1. --- Data for Research Question 1: To what extent does /n/ and /l/ variation of Cantonese play a role in /n/ and /l/ variation in the onset positionin English? --- p.88 / Chapter 4.4.2. --- Data for Research Question 2: How significant is English perception for English production? --- p.91 / Chapter 4.4.3. --- "Data for Research Question 3: How do Cantonese speakers of English perform in different task types (word list, passage, and natural speech) and is task type significant for English production?" --- p.94 / Chapter 4.4.4. --- "Data for Research Question 4: Which linguistic and/or non-linguistic factors, such as the linguistic environment, the presence of a second /n/ within the same syllable, and English proficiency/university major, may have an influence on /n/ and /l/ production in English?" --- p.95 / Chapter 4.5. --- Summary --- p.99 / Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- DISCUSSION / Chapter 5.1. --- Introduction --- p.100 / Chapter 5.2. --- Research Question 1: To what extent does /n/ and /l/ variation of Cantonese play a role in /n/ and /l/ variation in the onset position in English? --- p.100 / Chapter 5.2.1. --- Discussion about /n/ and /l/ Variation in Cantonese --- p.101 / Chapter 5.2.2. --- Discussion about /n/ and /l/ Variation in English --- p.109 / Chapter 5.2.3. --- Transfer of /n/ and /l/ Variation in Cantonese to /n/ and /l/ variationin English --- p.113 / Chapter 5.3. --- Research Question 2: How significant is English perception for English production? --- p.117 / Chapter 5.4. --- "Research Question 3: How do Cantonese speakers of English perform in different task types (word list，passage, and natural speech) and is task type significant for English production?" --- p.124 / Chapter 5.5. --- "Research Question 4: Which linguistic and/or non-linguistic factors, such as the linguistic environment, the presence of a second /n/ within the same syllable, and English proficiency/university major, may have an influence on /n/ and /l/ production in English?" --- p.128 / Chapter 5.6. --- Summary --- p.137 / Chapter CHAPTER 6 --- CONCLUSION / Chapter 6.1. --- Introduction --- p.142 / Chapter 6.1.1. --- Pedagogical Implication --- p.142 / Chapter 6.1.2. --- Limitations of the Current Study --- p.144 / Chapter 6.1.3. --- Suggestions for Further Studies --- p.145 / REFERENCES --- p.147 / APPENDIX A / APPENDIX B / APPENDIX C / APPENDIX D