Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-116).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Santa Cruz, 1998. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 356-381).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 161-175).

Thesis (M.M.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 140-142).

Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / "A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), The University of Hong Kong, April 29, 1996." Also available in print.

ABSTRACT Language teachers are often asked, `Will I ever be able to sound like a native?'. Through research, experience, and long-term teaching, the answer is almost always, `If you did not learn the language as a child, then it is almost impossible to sound like a native.' Many studies have contributed to the idea that achieving the native accent as an adult is almost impossible no matter how long one has been exposed to the target language. In an attempt to find the effects of overcoming the foreign accent through exposure to the target language, the present study compares two groups of adult speakers of Arabic from Saudi Arabia learning English as a second language. The study focuses on difficulties associated with producing the Alveolar lateral approximant /l/ and it two allophones, the light [l] and the dark [l], in three different positions: initial, intervocalic and final. The English /l/ is very similar to the Arabic /l/; however, their distributions within the two languages are different. These differences cause problems among speakers of Arabic in producing the correct sound when speaking English. The two groups were chosen based on their length of exposure to the target language; the first group had little exposure to it while the second group had three or more years of exposure. After analyzing the data and comparing the results of the two groups, it can be seen that although there was no significance in the overall results, the production of the dark [l] in final position was close to significance. This suggests that the participants, who have been exposed to the target language for some time, have begun to realize the difference between both /l/s and are thus beginning to apply the English /l/ to their pronunciation when speaking English. In addition, when comparing the errors in both groups, the results suggest that most of the learners who had little exposure to the language were transferring the /l/ from their first language; while those who had three years or more exposure, were resulting to other factors related to interlanguage such as: hypercorrection, attitudes and high levels of motivation to acquire the native speakers' accent. As for the comparison of both the dark and the light /l/ in all three positions, the analysis presented here suggests that Arabic speakers learning English as a second language, regardless of their length of exposure, have more difficulty in producing the dark [l] in its correct positions than the light [l]. Similarly, Arabic speakers prefer to produce the light [l] in the intervocalic position. The results of this study are beneficial to both teachers and learners in ESL settings. If teachers and learners familiarize themselves with the production of the dark [l] in the English language, the possibilities of overcoming this barrier to accented speech may still be regarded as an achievable goal.

This study investigated two variables in relation to American English flapping among Saudi speakers. These two variables were gender and phonetic environment of flapping. For the purpose of the study, 20 Saudi university students, 10 male and 10 female, were chosen. In addition, three environments of flapping have been used in two production tasks. These environments were, flapping followed by syllabic /ɹ/, flapping followed by syllabic /l/, and flapping followed by a vowel. The two tasks were a word list and a paragraph. The results of the study revealed that female participants flapped less often than male participants in all three environments in both tasks. Female participants flapped 19% of the time in both tasks. On comparison, male participants flapped 65% of the time in both tasks. The difference between genders was high at 46%. The average of the first environment was 47% for both genders, 40% for the second environment, and 37% for the third. Age, word frequency, age of onset, and economic class did not have a significant relation in the flapping production.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF SUSANNE BÖHM, for the Master of Arts degree in LINGUISTICS, presented on APRIL 12, 2010, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: CLICKS IN XHOSA AND NAMA: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Karen Baertsch ABSTRACT. This study is a comparative analysis of Xhosa and Nama clicks. It contains an acoustic pilot study for which one Nama speaker and one Xhosa speaker were recorded. Differences and similarities in place of articulation and accompaniment were measured between clicks in word-initial position for both languages. Previous studies showed that clicks with the same accompaniment are similar across both languages. For the clicks measured in the study, this was not exclusively the case. Overall, measuring differences and similarities between clicks of the two languages, a larger sample with more speakers is needed, which exceeds the scope of this thesis.

Orientador: Renata Cunha Matheus Rodrigues Garcia / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Odontologia de Piracicaba / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-06T02:21:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Serrano_PrisciladeOliveira_M.pdf: 879332 bytes, checksum: 171bb56f75cda24ab71882f39760e528 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Resumo: O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar possíveis alterações na distância interoclusal durante a pronúncia dos fonemas /m/ e /s/ da Língua Portuguesa, em pacientes que apresentam desgaste dental devido ao bruxismo, antes e após a instalação de placas oclusais estabilizadoras e reabilitação oral. Os voluntários foram separados em dois grupos: G1) composto por 18 pacientes completamente dentados apresentando desgaste dental devido ao bruxismo, e G2) composto por 19 pacientes com ausência de desgaste dental e bruxismo. Os voluntários pertencentes ao primeiro grupo receberam placas oclusais estabilizadoras como terapia para o bruxismo e posteriormente tiveram seus dentes anteriores desgastados restaurados por meio de resina composta. A distância interoclusal (mm) durante a pronúncia dos referidos fonemas foi avaliada por meio do método eletromagnético de traçado dos movimentos mandibulares. As avaliações foram realizadas 1 semana antes da instalação das placas estabilizadoras (T0); imediatamente antes da instalação das mesmas (T1); e após 24 horas (T2), 7 (T3), 30 (T4) e 60 (T5) dias de uso das placas, e 1 semana (T6) e 1 mês (T7) após a reabilitação oral dos voluntários pertencentes ao grupo 1. Os resultados foram submetidos à ANOVA two-way e revelaram diferenças significantes (p<0,05) na comparação entre os grupos durante a pronúncia do fonema /m/ em todos os períodos de avaliação: T0 (6,99±1,85); T1 (6,81±1,84); T2 (6,71±1,79); T3 (6,71±2,01); T4 (6,89±2,37); T5 (6,79±2,17); T6 (6,62±2,00); T7 (6,82±2,03). Entretanto, para o fonema /s/ os resultados não diferiram. A comparação entre antes e após a instalação das placas estabilizadoras e reabilitação oral não indicou diferenças significantes para ambos os fonemas. Concluiu-se que voluntários que apresentam desgaste dental devido ao bruxismo e tratados por meio da instalação de placas oclusais estabilizadoras e posterior reabilitação oral apresentaram alterações na distância interoclusal apenas durante a pronúncia do som /m/ / Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate changes in interocclusal distance during the pronunciation of /m/ and /s/ sounds in the Portuguese language, in dentate patients presenting dental wear due to bruxism, before and after installation of stabilization appliance and oral rehabilitation. Subjects were divided into 2 groups: G1) composed by 18 dentate patients presenting dental wear due to bruxism, G2) composed by 18 patients who where completely dentate. Subjects from the first group had received the stabilization appliance for bruxism therapy and had the anterior weared teeth reconstructed, by composite resin. The magnetic jaw-tracking device was used to measure the interocclusal distance (mm) during speech of these phonemes. The measurements were carried out 1 week before insertion of interocclusal appliance (T0); immediately before appliance insertion (T1); and after 24 hours (T2), 7 (T3), 30 (T4) and 60 (T5) days; 1 week after oral rehabilitation (T6) and 1 month after oral rehabilitation (T7). Data were collected and submitted to ANOVA two-way. Comparison between groups revealed significant differences (p<0.05) for /m/ sound in all periods of evaluation: T0 (6.99±1.85); T1 (6.81±1.84); T2 (6.71±1.79); T3 (6.71±2.01); T4 (6.89±2.37); T5 (6.79±2.17); T6 (6.62±2.00) and T7 (6.82±2.03). No statistical difference was observed for the /s/ phoneme. The comparison between before and after interocclusal appliance insertion and oral rehabilitation showed no significant differences for both sounds. Results showed that subjects with dental wear due to bruxism treated with interocclusal appliance therapy and oral rehabilitation had changes in the interocclusal distance of speech during phonation of /m/ sound / Mestrado / Protese Dental / Mestre em Clínica Odontológica