This study examined Taiwanese ESL learners' perception and production of English interdental fricatives (IFs) with respect to three variables: perception errors, production errors, and three ranges of length of residence (LOR) in the US (LOR < 1 year; LOR= 3-4 years; LOR ; at least 7 years). Through the investigation, several relationships among perception, production errors, and LOR were revealed. In addition, the types and patterns of the pronunciation errors as well as the phonological processes involved in the mispronunciations were investigated. The instrument included both perception and production tasks, as well as a demographic questionnaire. More specifically, the production task contains two syllable positions: word initial and word final; two sources: word list and text. The data were analyzed through auditory and spectrographic devices with an involvement of an inter-rater agreement. The results showed that there was a positive relationship between perception and production errors for each of the three groups. Namely, the more perception errors made by the Taiwanese ESL learners, the more production errors occurred. The correlation increases with each group, i.e., with LOR. The relationship between LOR and perception and production errors were significantly negative as the longer the learners had stayed in the US, the fewer errors in perception and production were made and vice versa. A descriptive analysis revealed that the initial theta and the final eth are the most difficult sounds for the Taiwanese learners to perceive. In addition, both voiceless and voiced IFs were found to be difficult to pronounce in the final position. Regarding the source where the target sounds were located, the results indicated that reading text (rather than a word list) caused more pronunciation errors for most of the learners except the group with LOR at least 7 years, which had a better performance in the production task compared with the other two groups, regardless of which source the target sounds were located. From the overall findings, ESL teachers are encouraged to apply multiple teaching tools and to provide feedback with effective correction techniques to learners in order to adjust and overcome their pronunciation errors.

This study investigated the production of the English voiceless bilabial stop /p/ in three word positions (initial, medial, and final). By a group of 20 male and female ESL Saudi Arabian learners in the United States. The stimulus of this work was a list of 20 English words with an equal number of words for the three word positions initial, medial, and final. By measuring the Voice Onset Time in word initial and the duration of the release of the target phoneme /p/ in word medial and final positions this study identified several types of error in the participants’ utterances, including substitution of /p/ with /b/, approximation, and frication. The position of /p/ in words had a significant effect on the accuracy of pronunciation as the position that yielded the highest level of accuracy was the final position. The other two positions, initial and medial, showed a significantly higher number of production errors than word- final position.

The present study aims to investigate the production of the voiced labiodental fricative /v/ of Saudi Arabian speakers of English in view of linguistic and extra-linguistic factors. The linguistic aspect focuses on the role of the position of the sound in words, initial and final, and the distribution of errors per word in view of more and less familiar words. The extra-linguistic factors include participants' lengths of stay in the US and their ages and the potential influence these may have on the accuracy of pronouncing the target sound /v/. The total number of the subjects is 20 (10 male and 10 female), and their ages range between 20 and 35, with Mean age 27. Data is elicited through participants' reading of a word list with the target sound in initial and final position. The data coding is performed through spectrographic analysis and rater judgments. The analysis employs descriptive statistics, a dependent t-test used to compare production errors between initial and final position, and correlation analyses through which subjects' length of stay in the US and age are correlated with their total number of errors in both word positions. The findings show that word-final position is more difficult in pronouncing the phoneme /v/ than word-initial position. In addition, when the voiced labiodental fricative /v/ is mispronounced, it is substituted with the voiceless labiodental fricative /f/. Also, the correlation analysis shows that the longer the subjects have stayed in the USA, the more accurate their pronunciation of the target sound is (and vice versa). A significant correlation is also found between age and accuracy of pronunciation, as the younger subjects have more accurate pronunciation. The results of this study provide empirical evidence in support of several language acquisition theories, such as Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (Lado, 1957), Markedness Differential Hypothesis (Eckman, 1977) and Language Transfer Theory (Gass & Selinker, 1994), all of which claim the influence of learners' first language on their second language. In the context of this study, the substitution of the voiced labiodental fricative /v/ with its voiceless counterpart /f/ can be attributed to the fact that /f/ is the only labiodental fricative phoneme in the Arabic language.

This thesis deals with phonetic transcription in lower-secondary school English classes. The theoretical part concerns the relationship between pronunciation and transcription. It also outlines the present situation from the point of view both, the teacher and learner, and examines transcriptional systems in lower-secondary textbooks. The practical part is aimed to the analysis of learner?s skills to take down familiar and unknown words with phonetic transcription and read it afterwards. The presented recommendations and the methodical manual with types of exercises, which would help to improve the learner?s pronunciation quality by using phonetic transcription, are based on the found connections.

As dificuldades de pronúncia percebidas por adultos jovens e idosos, ambos totalmente desdentados com ou sem próteses completas, e por adultos com dentição natural, foram investigadas e relacionadas a suas respectivas avaliações miofuncionais orais, adaptação às novas próteses e idade. Os participantes foram solicitados a julgar por procedimento psicofísico a dificuldade de pronunciar: (1) frases com predomínio de cada fonema do idioma português brasileiro e (2) frases com predominância de fonemas fricativos. Estes julgamentos foram realizados em três sessões: (1) na condição oral em que se encontravam os participantes antes de tratamento odontológico, (2) após uma semana da instalação da prótese total e (3) após aproximadamente 40 dias de uso da prótese total. As tarefas para a avaliação miofuncional de cada participante foram realizadas em cada sessão, gravadas em videocassete e posteriormente avaliadas por duas fonoaudiólogas. As avaliações miofuncionais indicaram alterações entre as sessões quanto às condições musculares, a postura de lábios e de língua, nas funções de deglutição, na mastigação e na fala dos usuários de prótese total, independente da idade dos participantes. Houve diferença entre as frases quanto à dificuldade para pronunciar, independentemente se os participantes eram ou não desdentados. As avaliações da condição muscular e das funções orais foram correlacionadas com os julgamentos de dificuldade para pronúncia, indicando que as condições musculares e funcionais dos usuários de prótese total interferem na produção de frases com determinados fonemas e na dificuldade de sua pronúncia. / Perceived difficulties of pronunciation by totally-edentulous young adults and totally-edentulous old people, both with and without complete denture, and by adults with natural dentition were investigated and related to their oral miofunctional evaluations, adaptation to the usage of complete denture, and age. For such purpose, the participants were asked to judge by psychophysical procedure the difficult to pronounce: (1) sentences with predominance of each phoneme of the Brazilian Portuguese idiom and (2) sentences with predominance of fricative phonemes. These judgments were carried out in sessions: (1) in the oral condition that the participants exhibited before the onset of the dental treatment, (2) one week after the insertion of the complete denture and (3) after approximately 40 days of routine usage of the complete denture. The tasks for miofunctional evaluations of each participant were performed before each session, videocassette recorded and further evaluated by two speech therapists. The miofunctional evaluations revealed alterations in the muscular structures, positions of the lips and tongue, functions of deglutition, mastication and speech of the users of complete dentures at the three sessions, irrespectively of the age. There were differences among the judgments regarding the difficulty to pronounce the sentences, regardless whether or not the participants were edentulous. The evaluations of the muscular condition and oral functions were correlated to the judgments of the difficulty of pronunciation, indicating that the functional and muscular conditions of the users of complete dentures interfere with the production the sentences with certain phonemes, as well as with the difficulty of their pronunciation.

Among a rich variety of studies in second language acquisition research, relatively few have investigated the role of textbooks for language teachers and learners, in spite of their nearly universal importance in language classrooms (Kramsch, 1988; Plews & Schmenk, 2013). This three-article dissertation examines this issue for the context of Hebrew as a less commonly taught language (LCTL), through considering the goals and identities of four types of teachers (Native, Ethnic Heritage Language [HL], Linguistic HL, and Foreign Language [FL]teachers)and three types of learners (Ethnic HL, Linguistic HL, and FL learners). In order to explore these diverse goals and identities, this research included a mixed-methods approach in three stages: (a) a nationally distributed survey that included 18 teachers and 36 students in first- and second-year Hebrew courses; (b) a case study involving surveys, observations, and select interviews with 65 students and 5 teachers at two universities in the US; and (c) an analysis of the content related to goals and identity within five commonly used Modern Hebrew textbooks. Due to this unique context and research focus, these instruments are partially homegrown and partially adapted from past related studies (e.g. Allen, 2008; Burns Al Masaeed, 2014; Ducar, 2006). The first article of this dissertation consisted of a general analysis of these Hebrew textbooks, the second article focused on portrayals of pronunciation within Hebrew textbook pronunciation guides and explanations, and the third article on multimedia that accompanies Hebrew textbooks. Each of these textbook areas was compared to the goals and identities of the Hebrew teachers and students involved in the study. Findings included a general consensus that Modern Hebrew textbooks were lacking in many ways as far as meeting these goals and identities, although diversity in motivations and backgrounds led to a range of responses. Results also present several implications to improve the contexts of Hebrew, LCTLs, and language teaching in general.

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 master thesis deals with the teaching of pronunciation in primary schools in the Czech Republic. The theoretical thesis explains the importance of pronunciation, of phonetics and of phonology, because of achieving communication skills. It explains terms, that are related with pronunciation, describes phenomena in the German phonetic system, that are difficult for Czechs, and discusses methods of teaching German pronunciation in the context of primary school. It also points out that the inclusion of teaching German pronunciation is insufficient in RVP and very diverse in the school educational plans. The practical part of the thesis introduces three textbook files and analyses the degree of the inclusion of pronunciation in their concepts. Afterwards, it shows research that took place in five classes in primary school. It conducts observations and interviews with teachers in this research. The mastery of the very difficult German sounds by the pupils was found out. Finally, the results of the research in all classes are compared. The results of the research show that there is some connection between the teacher's teaching skills and the pupil's pronunciation skills. However, pupils don't manage the pronunciation of German sounds after two years of learning German. KEYWORDS German as a foreign...

No description available.

No description available.