Correlation between students’ L1 frequency use and their L2 speaking ability scores

The purpose of this study was to find out the correlation between students’ L1 frequency use and their L2 speaking ability scores in speaking class. The researcher took a class of 3th semester students of English department at IAIN Palangka Raya of 2016/2017 year.The researcher used correlation design with quantitative approach. For the instrument, the researcher used questionnaire and students’ speaking test. The researcher used inter-rater reliability to measure the reliable of the test instrument with the speaking lecturer as the second rater. In measuring the correlation, the researcher took a theory of Pearson Product Moment which calculated by SPSS program. The finding of this research showed the result of r calculation for students’ L1 frequency use and their speaking test is -.220. Based on the table of interpretation of r value, the result of r calculated (-.220). This value shows that there is a negative correlation. From the significance (2 tailed), researcher get the score .301. It means r>0.05 which showed Ho cannot be rejected. The result explained that there is no correlation between two variables, students’ L1 frequency use and their L2 speaking ability scores of 3th semester students of English Department at IAIN Palangka Raya

EFEKTIVITAS FORMAL INSTRUCTION DALAM PENINGKATAN KEMAMPUAN MAHASISWA MELAFALKAN FONEM-FONEM FRIKATIF BAHASA ARAB

The present study examines the effect of formal instruction in order to improve the skill\ud of students of Hasanuddin University in the pronunciation of Arabic. Formal instruction\ud presenting the learners with minimal pairs of selected Arabic phonemes and then giving\ud them practice in how to pronounce these phonemes in sentences. Nineteen participants\ud took part in this study; they are students of department Western Asian Languages,\ud Faculty of Arts, Hasanuddin University. Nine of them (seven females and two males and\ud their ages are between 20 to 22 years old) received formal instruction in ten days and the\ud other nine (eight females and one male in which their ages are similarly to the first\ud group) did not received formal instruction. The last subject was bilingual (Arabic-\ud Indonesian) and became a control group in this study, representing native speaker\ud ability. Pre-course and post course recording of the production task were analyzed using\ud Microsoft Excel. Results revealed a significant effect in that subjects who received\ud formal instruction and for period of time performed or produced better pronunciation of\ud Arabic than subjects who did not receive any formal instruction

Global Foreign Accent Rating of Code-Switched and L2-Only Sentences

Recent studies of short-term phonetic interference suggest that code-switching can lead to momentary increases in L1 influence on L2. In an earlier study using a single acoustic measure (VOT), we found that Czech EFL learners’ pronunciation of English voiceless stops had shorter, i.e. more L1-Czech-like, VOTs in code-switched compared to L2-only sentences. The first aim of the current study was to test the prediction that native listeners would judge the code-switched English productions as more foreign-accented than the L2-only productions. The results provide only weak support for this prediction. The second aim was to test whether more native-like VOT values would correlate with improved accentedness scores. This was confirmed for sentence-initial stops

Foreign language learners acquire L2 phonetic detail: Goose and Foot fronting in non-native English

Whether late learners discern fine phonetic detail in second-language (L2) input, form new phonetic categories, and realize them accurately remains a relevant question in L2 phonology, especially for foreign-language (FL) learning characterized by limited exposure to interactional native input. Our study focuses on advanced Czech learners’ production of the L2 English vowels GOOSE and FOOT. While English /u/ and /ʊ/ have been undergoing fronting, their Czech equivalents, /uː/ and /u/, are fully back. We show that although the spectral differentiation of /u/-/ʊ/ is smaller in the learners’ than in native speech, the vowels being contrasted primarily in length, even FL learners can shift their L2 sound categories towards native-like targets, or in this case, produce English /u/-/ʊ/ as fronted

Production accuracy of L2 vowels: Phonological parsimony and phonetic flexibility

Ultimate attainment in foreign-language sound learning is addressed via vowel production accuracy in English spoken by advanced Czech EFL learners. English FLEECE–KIT, DRESS–TRAP, and GOOSE–FOOT contrasts are examined in terms of length, height, and backness. Our data show that, while being constrained by phonemic category assimilation (new vowel height distinctions are not created), the learners’ interlanguage combines phonological parsimony (reusing L1 length feature to contrast L2 vowels) with phonetic flexibility (within-category shifts reflecting L1–L2 phonetic dissimilarity). Although achieving nativelike phonological competence may not be possible learners who acquire L2 in the prevailingly L1 environment, the Czech learners’ implementations of English vowels revealed their ability to adjust for phonetic detail of L2 sounds

Cross-directional Development of Prosody

This study examined L2 cross-directional development on the production of prosody features such as fundamental frequency range, speech rate, duration in the boundary word, and declination tiltof intonation. L2 learners of native Korean and English speakers with different levels were compared and analyzed. It was expected that L2 learners would have suprasegmental features more similar to native L1 speakers by the effect of longer immersion, while the variationin L2 acquisition could be found by the effect of background language. Two experiments for Korean learners of English and English learners of Korean were carried out to check the hypothesis. In the first experiment for Korean learners of English, thirty subjects in three groups joined. Also, another experiment was designed for English learners of Korean, in which thirty subjects in three took part. The results showed that L2 longer-immersed groups exerted the similar features of L1 native speakers. As we expected, the direction of L2 development, however, was different. That is, Korean immersed group of English was more native-like by having a wider F0 range, and a comparatively longer duration for the final boundary word, as well as a steeper F0 declination tilt. On the contrary, English immersed group of Korean followed more Korean-like features: a narrower F0 range, and a comparatively longer duration for the final-sentence word, as well as a gentle F0 slope of declination tilt. As a result, both groups have features withsimilar and different patterns at the same time. The similar features are realized in fast speech rate and longer duration in sentence-final words, while the contrastive features are found in F0 range and declination tilt. The result suggests that L2 development is decided by both factors: L1 background language and universal L2 developmental features

Analysis of EFL speech production corpora according to the Speech Learning Model

[ES] Este TFG trata de mostrar cómo pronuncia una persona del País Vasco al hablar en Inglés (teniendo esta lengua como lengua extranjera) de acuerdo a un modelo teórico sobre el aprendizaje de segundas lenguas. También trata de mostrar si éste modelo es capaz de explicar todos los fallos de pronunciación de la hablante y, en caso de que no lo haga, sugerir que puede que haya necesidad de desarrollar una teoría enfocada al aprendizaje del habla de lenguas extranjeras.[EN] Nowadays learning a language other than one's own mother tongue is seen as a must in our society. The reasons for considering this are various: possibilities of moving from one place to another (travelling), immigrating to start a better life in a foreign country, bigger chances to achieve a better career and the like. In this context, it is important to speak the language of the place of destination accurately to be understood by the native population. This means that grammar is not the only important aspect to be acquired in a new language but also its speech patterns and pronunciation. One of the main researchers investigating the phenomenon of pronunciation is J. E. Flege. He has conducted numerous experiments and pieces of research regarding second language (L2) speech acquisition and developed the Speech Learning Model (SLM) (1995) to explain and predict the pronunciation mistakes L2 learners make. A similar phenomenon to L2 learning is foreign language (FL) learning. Nevertheless, it has to be stressed that, although similar, they are not the same event. One of the main differences between these two learning processes is that L2 learners are in a linguistic immersion setting whereas FL students are not; and also that the latter ones receive formal classroom instruction mostly oriented to grammar skills rather than to oral skills. Thus, from this first impression, it can be deduced that L2 and FL learning do not occur in the same circumstances. As a consequence, a need to verify whether an L2 learning oriented theory was sufficient to explain all phenomena occurring in FL learning was detected. Therefore, the aim of this study is on the one hand, to analyse FL speech production and see whether the SLM can explain all pronunciation errors of a FL speaker; and on the other, to shed some light on FL speech teaching methodologies so that it becomes more effective and efficient. The confirmation of the existence of unexplained or unpredicted mistakes might mean that a FL speech learning theory would be needed; and a big amount of predicted mistakes might suggest that the teaching practices should be remodelled. The methodology followed in the analysis of errors was listening to the data with Praat and classifying the mistakes according to the SLM (as new, same or similar sound categories). The results showed that some of the participant's mistakes were not explained by the model (such as orthographically motivated mistakes). Taking into account that, as demonstrated by many studies -such as the one by Gómez Lacabex & García Lecumberri (2010)-, perception and production ii training do help improving those abilities, it would be interesting to incorporate such training sessions into the classrooms. Finally, this dissertation also aims to encourage more research within the field of FL speech learning in order to firstly, understand better this phenomenon and secondly, improve the teaching system

Fundamental frequency range in the bilingual repertoire of traditional and new Welsh speakers

Aims: This research aims to examine cross-linguistic interaction and intra-linguistic variation in the Welsh and English of bilingual speakers in two areas of north Wales. Specifically, I present an analysis of fundamental frequency range (FFR) and examine both cross-linguistic and intra-linguistic differences in speech production between bilinguals from Welsh-speaking and English-speaking homes. Design: Data were collected from Welsh–English bilinguals aged 16–18 in the areas surrounding the Welsh-dominant town of Caernarfon (Gwynedd) and the English-dominant town of Mold (Flintshire). The sample was equally stratified by speaker gender and home language. Data: The data were elicited from a reading passage task and were analysed acoustically. Measures of level and span were taken. Data were analysed using conditional inference trees and random forests. Findings: The results of the analysis of FFR in Caernarfon and Mold revealed no significant differences between English and Welsh. In Mold, gender was the only significant predictor of FFR across all measures. In Caernarfon, home-language differences in level were found in female speakers’ data only, and gender differences in span were found in the speech of those from English-speaking homes. Originality: The study contributes to previous studies of traditional and new speakers in minority-language contexts by examining both languages in the speakers’ repertoires. Specifically, it is the first study to examine the regional and home-language variation in FFR of bilingual speakers. Implications: The results highlight (1) the importance of community-specific patterns in minority-language contexts and (2) the way in which linguistic background might interact with other social factors in situations of long-term language contact. The results imply that a more holistic approach to examinations of variation in such contexts will be fruitful