Brazilian efl learners'identification of word-final/m-n/: native/nonnative realizations and effect of visual cues

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras/Inglês e Literatura Correspondente.As consoantes nasais /m/ e /n/ em posição final de palavra possuem diversos padrões de realização fonética. Em inglês elas são pronunciadas de forma distintiva, enquanto em português brasileiro (PB) elas não são completamente realizadas. Tendo em vista tal diferença, o principal objetivo deste estudo foi investigar a percepção das nasais inglesas /m/ e /n/ em posição final de palavra por brasileiros aprendizes de inglês como língua estrangeira. O estudo objetivou (a) investigar se brasileiros conseguem identificar a pronúncia de /m/ e /n/ em posição final de palavra na realização nativa do inglês; (b) verificar se pistas visuais favorece a identificação das consoantes alvos, e (c) examinar se a vogal antecedente às nasais interfere na identificação das mesmas. Dois testes de percepção foram utilizados: (a) o Teste de Identificação de realização Nativa versus Não-nativa; no qual se contrastou palavras com realização fonética de /m/ e /n/ tanto em inglês quanto em PB e (b) o Teste de Identificação de Três-condições, o qual contrastou a presença e/ou ausência de pistas visuais na identificação das nasais através de três formas de apresentação de estímulos-Áudio-Vídeo, apenas Vídeo, e apenas Áudio. The word-final nasals /m/ and /n/ have different patterns of phonetic realizations across languages, whereas they are distinctively pronounced in English, in Brazilian Portuguese (BP) they are not fully realized. Bearing in mind this phonetic difference, the main objective of this study was to investigate perception of the English word-final nasals /m/ and /n/ by Brazilian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). More specifically, the present study aimed at (a) investigating whether Brazilian EFL learners were able to identify the native-like realization of English word-final nasals; (b) verifying whether visual cues favored the identification of the target consonants, and (c) whether there was effect of the preceding vowel on the identification of /m/ and /n/. Two perception tests were used: (a) the Native-like versus Nonnative-like Identification Test, which contrasted CVC words produced with both English and BP phonetic /m/ and /n/ realizations, and (b) the Three-condition Identification Test, which contrasted the presence and/or absence of visual cues in the identification of /m/ and /n/ through three types of stimuli presentation-Audio/Video, Video only, and Auditory only

Perception and production of english final stops by young brazilian efl students

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras/Inglês e Literatura correspondenteThis research focuses on the investigation of the perception and production of English final-stops by young Brazilian EFL students. It was reported the quantitative results of one AX discrimination, one imitation and one free-production test. The discussion of the tendencies of production as well as the relationship between perception and production tested the hypothesis of markedness degree in relation to voicing and place of articulation of the target phonemes. In addition, the correlation between the perceptual sensitivity of CVC syllable pattern and the ability to produce the final-stops in a target-like fashion was also analyzed in the present study. Twelve learners (mean age 5.2 years) in their 4 ½ semesters of L2 instruction were tested. Following Koerich (2002), the six stops were investigated in terms of markedness of the consonants by: (1) voicing of the final-stops, and (2) place of articulation. In addition, it was examined the markedness of the CVC syllabic pattern and the simplification strategies applied by this sample. The relationship between perception and production was assessed in terms of syllabic complexity (CVC versus CVCi). The overall results revealed that the participants do apply simplification strategies to final-stops in CVC words. The voiced stops were not more mispronounced than the voiceless targets and the bilabials seemed to be the only ones that, if not modified by epenthesis, followed the prediction concerning place of articulation. A positive correlation was found between the results from the imitation and the production tests, and not from the AX discrimination results. Esta pesquisa tem o objetivo de investigar a percepção e a produção das obstruintes finais em palavras do inglês por crianças falantes do Português. Resultados quantitativos dos testes de percepção (AX), de imitação e de produção foram reportados conjuntamente com discussão sobre as tendências na produção e na relação entre produção e percepção, testando a hipótese da marcação em relação a vozeamento e ao ponto articulatório das consoantes-alvo, assim como a da correlação entre a percepção do padrão silábico CVC e a habilidade de produzir as obstruintes apropriadamente. Doze estudantes (M = 5 anos e 2 meses) em seu 4? semestre de instrução foram testados. Seguindo Koerich, 2002, as obstruintes foram investigadas em duas variáveis relacionadas à marcação das consoantes: (1) vozeamento das obstruintes e (2) ponto articulatório. Foram examinadas as estratégias de simplificação utilizadas pela população testada em relação à marcação do padrão silábico CVC. A relação entre percepção e produção foi verificada de acordo com o contraste entre CVC e CVCi. Os resultados revelaram que os participantes fizeram uso de estratégias de simplificação nas obstruintes finais. As obstruintes vozeadas não mostraram mais erros de pronúncia do que as surdas e as labiais foram as únicas que, quando não receberam a vogal epentética, seguiram a tendência em relação ao ponto articulatório. Foi verificada uma fraca correlação positiva apenas entre os resultados obtidos no teste de imitação e produção

The relationship between perception and production of words ending in-ed by brazilian efl learners

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras/Inglês e Literatura CorrespondenteThis research focuses on the relationship between perception and production of words ending in -ed by Brazilian learners of English as a foreign language. The relationship between perception and production was investigated in terms of the participants' ability to perceive and produce the target sound with the oral stops /p,t,k,b,d,g/ as the preceding and the semi-vowel /J/ as the following phonological environment. Thirty-two learners attending advanced English classes in the extracurricular course at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina were tested. The hypotheses were investigated in terms of correlation and mean comparisons for /t/, /d/ and /Id/. Production data was obtained by the creation of sentences elicited through carrier phrases provided in writing. Perception data was obtained through an oddity discrimination test (Flege, Mackay & Meador, 1999). The results showed that a) there was a statistically significant and positive correlation between the perception and production of the -ed ending; b) the mean for the perception of /Id/ was significantly higher than those for /t/ and /d/; c) the mean for the perception of /t/ was significantly higher than the mean for /d/; d) the mean for the production of /Id/ was significantly higher than those for /t/ and /d/; and e) ?the mean for the production of /t/ was significantly higher than that for /d/. Results of the present study provide interesting data to be related in theoretical terms to Flege's (1995) Speech Learning Model, Best's (1995) Perceptual Assimilation Model, Hooper's (1976) Hierarchy of Strength, Selkirk's (1984) Sonority Sequencing Generalization, and Eckman's (1977, 1987) Markedness Differential Hypothesis, and corroborate the findings reported in previous studies (Koerich, 2002; Silveira, 2004) regarding voicing and the relationship between perception and production. Esta pesquisa focaliza a relação entre percepção e produção de palavras terminadas em -ed por estudantes brasileiros de inglês. A relação entre percepção e produção foi investigada em termos da habilidade dos participantes em perceber e produzir o som alvo com as plosivas orais /p,t,k,b,d,g/ como ambiente fonológico precedente e a semi-vogal /J/ como ambiente fonológico seguinte. Trinta e dois estudantes freqüentando aulas de inglês avançado no curso extracurricular da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina foram testados. As hipóteses foram investigadas em termos de correlação e comparação de médias para /t/, /d/ e /Id/. Os dados de produção foram obtidos pela criação de sentenças a partir de 'frases guias' fornecidas por escrito. Os dados de percepção foram obtidos através de um teste de identificação do item estranho (Flege, Mackay & Meador, 1999). Os resultados mostraram que a) existe uma relação estatisticamente significativa e positiva entre a percepção e produção do -ed; b) a média na percepção do -ed pronunciado /Id/ foi significativamente maior do que as de /t/ e /d/; c) a média na percepção de /t/ foi estatisticamente significativa e maior que a de /d/; d) a média na produção de /Id/ foi significativamente maior do que as de /t/ e /d/; e e) a média na produção de /t/ foi significativamente maior do que a de /d/. Os resultados do presente estudo fornecem dados interessantes a serem relacionados em termos teóricos ao Modelo de Aprendizagem da Fala (Flege, 1995), ao Modelo de Assimilação da Percepção (Best, 1995), a Hierarquia de Sonoridade (Hooper, 1976), a Generalização da Seqüência Sonora (Selkirk, 1984), e a Hipótese da Relação da Marcação (Eckman, 1977, 1987), e ainda, corroboram os resultados de estudos prévios (Koerich, 2002; Silveira, 2004) em termos de efeito do vozeamento e da relação entre percepção e produção

Individual-level contact limits phonological complexity: Evidence from bunched and retroflex /ɹ/

We compare the complexity of idiosyncratic sound patterns involving American English /ɹ/ with the relative simplicity of clear/dark /l/ allophony patterns found in English and other languages. For /ɹ/, we report an ultrasound-based articulatory study of 27 speakers of American English. Two speakers use only retroflex /ɹ/, 16 use only bunched /ɹ/, and nine use both /ɹ/ types, with idiosyncratic allophonic distributions. These allophony patterns are covert, because the difference between bunched and retroflex /ɹ/ is not readily perceived by listeners. We compare this typology of /ɹ/ allophony patterns to clear/dark /l/ allophony patterns in 17 languages. On the basis of the observed patterns, we show that individual-level /ɹ/ allophony and language-level /l/ allophony exhibit similar phonetic grounding, but that /ɹ/ allophony patterns are considerably more complex. The low complexity of language-level /l/ allophony patterns, which are more readily perceived by listeners, is argued to be the result of individual-level contact in the development of sound patterns. More generally, we argue that familiar phonological patterns (which are relatively simple and homogeneous within communities) may arise from individual-level articulatory patterns, which may be complex and speaker-specific, by a process of koineization. We conclude that two classic properties of phonological rules, phonetic naturalness and simplicity, arise from different sources.published_or_final_versio

Methods in prosody

This book presents a collection of pioneering papers reflecting current methods in prosody research with a focus on Romance languages. The rapid expansion of the field of prosody research in the last decades has given rise to a proliferation of methods that has left little room for the critical assessment of these methods. The aim of this volume is to bridge this gap by embracing original contributions, in which experts in the field assess, reflect, and discuss different methods of data gathering and analysis. The book might thus be of interest to scholars and established researchers as well as to students and young academics who wish to explore the topic of prosody, an expanding and promising area of study

The effect of perceptual training on the learning of english vowels by brazilian portuguese speakers

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras/Inglês e Literatura Correspondente.Pesquisas recentes mostram que o treinamento perceptual é uma ferramenta eficaz para melhorar a habilidade de perceber certos sons não-nativos de aprendizes de uma L2, especialmente quando esse treinamento é feito com a manipulação das pistas acústico-perceptuais. O presente estudo investigou o efeito do treinamento perceptual no aprendizado das vogais do inglês /i/, /I/, /E/, /Q/, /U/ e /u/, cuja percepção deficiente pode causar problemas de compreensão. Os objetivos específicos incluem investigar (i) o efeito do treinamento com estímulo artificial, (ii) a generalização do novo conhecimento para novos contextos e novos falantes, (iii) a transferência da melhora na percepção auditiva para produção oral e (iv) os efeitos de longo prazo. O treinamento das vogais foi ministrado durante o período de três semanas para 29 aprendizes brasileiros distribuídos em dois grupos: 15 treinaram com estímulo natural (grupo NatS) e 14 com estímulo sintetizado (grupo SynS). O estímulo sintetizado consistiu em elocuções com pistas espectrais enfatizadas e sem variação de duração e foram geradas por computador, enquanto que o estímulo natural foi gravado por falantes nativos de inglês americano. Os resultados apontam para uma melhora significativa dos grupos experimentais após o treinamento, sendo que houve uma melhora maior no grupo SynS do que no grupo NatS. Considerando que o treinamento ministrado para o grupo SynS consistiu apenas de estímulos sintetizados e que os testes incluíam apenas estímulos naturais, esse resultado também sugere que houve uma transferência do conhecimento adquirido com estímulo artificial para estímulos produzidos naturalmente. A melhora na performance dos alunos também foi mantida durante um mês após o final do treinamento. Estes resultados mostram que o treinamento perceptual pode servir como uma ferramenta eficaz para professores auxiliarem seus alunos a superar dificuldades perceptuais, evitando possíveis mal entendidos. Recent research has shown perceptual training to be an effective tool for improving L2 learners# ability to perceive certain non-native sounds, especially when done with enhanced acoustic-perceptual cues. This study investigates the effect of perceptual training on the learning of the English vowels /i/, /I/, /E/, /Q/, /U/ and /u/, whose misperception can potentially cause comprehension problems. Secondary objectives include (i) the effect of training with enhanced stimuli, (ii) generalization of the acquired knowledge to new contexts and speakers, (iii) transfer of the perceptual improvement to the production domain, and (iv) long-term effects. The training on these vowels was given over a three-week period to twenty-nine Brazilian EFL learners, who were distributed within two groups: fifteen trained with natural stimuli (NatS group) and fourteen with synthesized stimuli (SynS group). The synthesized stimuli consisted of computer-generated utterances with enhanced spectral cues and no variation in duration, whereas the natural stimuli were recorded normally by native speakers of American English. Results show that the experimental groups improved significantly after training, and there was more improvement in the SynS group than in the NatS group. Considering that the training given the SynS group involved only synthesized stimuli and the tests involved only natural stimuli, this finding suggests also that the knowledge acquired with artificially enhanced stimuli is transferred to stimuli produced naturally. The improvement was also maintained one month after the training was over. These findings support the claim that perceptual training may serve as an effective tool for teachers to help learners overcome potential perceptual difficulties, and thus prevent potential miscomprehension

An exploration of the rhythm of Malay

In recent years there has been a surge of interest in speech rhythm. However we still lack a clear understanding of the nature of rhythm and rhythmic differences across languages. Various metrics have been proposed as means for measuring rhythm on the phonetic level and making typological comparisons between languages (Ramus et al, 1999; Grabe & Low, 2002; Dellwo, 2006) but the debate is ongoing on the extent to which these metrics capture the rhythmic basis of speech (Arvaniti, 2009; Fletcher, in press). Furthermore, cross linguistic studies of rhythm have covered a relatively small number of languages and research on previously unclassified languages is necessary to fully develop the typology of rhythm. This study examines the rhythmic features of Malay, for which, to date, relatively little work has been carried out on aspects rhythm and timing. The material for the analysis comprised 10 sentences produced by 20 speakers of standard Malay (10 males and 10 females). The recordings were first analysed using rhythm metrics proposed by Ramus et. al (1999) and Grabe & Low (2002). These metrics (∆C, %V, rPVI, nPVI) are based on durational measurements of vocalic and consonantal intervals. The results indicated that Malay clustered with other so-called syllable-timed languages like French and Spanish on the basis of all metrics. However, underlying the overall findings for these metrics there was a large degree of variability in values across speakers and sentences, with some speakers having values in the range typical of stressed-timed languages like English. Further analysis has been carried out in light of Fletcher’s (in press) argument that measurements based on duration do not wholly reflect speech rhythm as there are many other factors that can influence values of consonantal and vocalic intervals, and Arvaniti’s (2009) suggestion that other features of speech should also be considered in description of rhythm to discover what contributes to listeners’ perception of regularity. Spectrographic analysis of the Malay recordings brought to light two parameters that displayed consistency and regularity for all speakers and sentences: the duration of individual vowels and the duration of intervals between intensity minima. This poster presents the results of these investigations and points to connections between the features which seem to be consistently regulated in the timing of Malay connected speech and aspects of Malay phonology. The results are discussed in light of current debate on the descriptions of rhythm

The Pitch Range of Italians and Americans. A Comparative Study

Linguistic experiments have investigated the nature of F0 span and level in cross-linguistic comparisons. However, only few studies have focused on the elaboration of a general-agreed methodology that may provide a unifying approach to the analysis of pitch range (Ladd, 1996; Patterson and Ladd, 1999; Daly and Warren, 2001; Bishop and Keating, 2010; Mennen et al. 2012). Pitch variation is used in different languages to convey different linguistic and paralinguistic meanings that may range from the expression of sentence modality to the marking of emotional and attitudinal nuances (Grice and Baumann, 2007). A number of factors have to be taken into consideration when determining the existence of measurable and reliable differences in pitch values. Daly and Warren (2001) demonstrated the importance of some independent variables such as language, age, body size, speaker sex (female vs. male), socio-cultural background, regional accents, speech task (read sentences vs. spontaneous dialogues), sentence type (questions vs. statements) and measure scales (Hertz, semitones, ERB etc.). Coherently with the model proposed by Mennen et al. (2012), my analysis of pitch range is based on the investigation of LTD (long-term distributional) and linguistic measures. LTD measures deal with the F0 distribution within a speaker’s contour (e.g. F0 minimum, F0 maximum, F0 mean, F0 median, standard deviation, F0 span) while linguistic measures are linked to specific targets within the contour, such as peaks and valleys (e.g. high and low landmarks) and preserve the temporal sequences of pitch contours. This investigation analyzed the characteristics of pitch range production and perception in English sentences uttered by Americans and Italians. Four experiments were conducted to examine different phenomena: i) the contrast between measures of F0 level and span in utterances produced by Americans and Italians (experiments 1-2); ii) the contrast between the pitch range produced by males and females in L1 and L2 (experiment 1); iii) the F0 patterns in different sentence types, that is, yes-no questions, wh-questions, and exclamations (experiment 2); iv) listeners’ evaluations of pitch span in terms of ±interesting, ±excited, ±credible, ±friendly ratings of different sentence types (experiments 3-4); v) the correlation between pitch span of the sentences and the evaluations given by American and Italian listeners (experiment 3); vi) the listeners’ evaluations of pitch span values in manipulated stimuli, whose F0 span was re-synthesized under three conditions: narrow span, original span, and wide span (experiment 4); vii) the different evaluations given to the sentences by male and female listeners. The results of this investigation supported the following generalizations. First, pitch span more than level was found to be a cue for non-nativeness, because L2 speakers of English used a narrower span, compared to the native norm. What is more, the experimental data in the production studies indicated that the mode of sentences was better captured by F0 span than level. Second, the Italian learners of English were influenced by their L1 and transferred L1 pitch range variation into their L2. The English sentences produced by the Italians had overall higher pitch levels and narrower pitch span than those produced by the Americans. In addition, the Italians used overall higher pitch levels when speaking Italian and lower levels when speaking English. Conversely, their pitch span was generally higher in English and lower in Italian. When comparing productions in English, the Italian females used higher F0 levels than the American females; vice versa, the Italian males showed slightly lower F0 levels than the American males. Third, there was a systematic relation between pitch span values and the listeners’ evaluations of the sentences. The two groups of listeners (the Americans and the Italians) rated the stimuli with larger pitch span as more interesting, exciting and credible than the stimuli with narrower pitch span. Thus, the listeners relied on the perceived pitch span to differentiate among the stimuli. Fourth, both the American and the Italian speakers were considered more friendly when the pitch span of their sentences was widened (wide span manipulation) and less friendly when the pitch span was narrowed (narrow span manipulation). This happened in all the stimuli regardless of the native language of the speakers (American vs. Italian)