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/fɑɪs/, /fes/ or /feɪs/? Teachers’ phonetic accommodation of diphthongs in an L2 classroom setting

100%

Steinbrich P.

Roczniki Humanistyczne

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2016

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vol. 64

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issue 11: Anglica

87-114

EN

The following paper aims to investigate whether, and if so to what extent, native speaker teachers resort to phonetic accommodation in the use of diphthongs in the classroom setting. In the course of analysis, seven native speaker teachers, each representing a different variety of British English, were recorded in two distinct contexts: classroom and natural. The recordings were used in acoustic analysis in order to gauge potential differences in F1 and F2 in each context. It was concluded that phonetic accommodation does occur in the classroom setting and the modifications of either individual segments or the whole glides can be observed, irrespective of the native accent of the user. It was found, however, that the speakers representing northern varieties of English accommodate more than those speaking with other accents. Another important observation resulting from the analysis was that some diphthongs are likely to undergo phonetic accommodation more than others. On the one end of the cline we observe the diphthong price, whereas the other end is occupied by the glides goat and cure. It is still unclear, however, whether the modifications occur consciously, thus representing a rather developed declarative knowledge of the users, or subconsciously, which would suggest an inner need to attempt to pronounce diphthongs in a standardized way.

PL

Niniejszy artykuł stawia sobie za cel zbadanie, czy i w jakim stopniu, nauczyciele native speakers stosują akomodację fonetyczną w odniesieniu do dyftongów w kontekście klasowym. W badaniu udział wzięło siedmiu nauczycieli reprezentujących różne akcenty brytyjskiej odmiany języka angielskiego. Nagrań, na podstawie których przeprowadzono analizę, dokonano w dwóch kontekstach—klasowym i naturalnym i poddano analizie akustycznej w celu zbadania potencjalnych różnic w F1 i F2 i obydwu kontekstach. Wyniki wskazują, że akomodacja fonetyczna występuje w kontekście klasowym oraz, że da się zaobserwować modyfikacje zarówno w przypadku pojedynczych segmentów jak i całych dyftongów, niezależnie od natywnego akcentu użytkownika. Zaobserwowano, że akomodacja występuje w większym stopniu u użytkowników posługujących się północnymi odmianami angielszczyzny. Kolejną istotną obserwacją było to, że niektóre dyftongi są bardziej podatne na akomodację. Na jednym końcu spektrum występuje dyftong reprezentujący kategorię leksykalną price, a na drugim kategorie goat i cure. Na podstawie badania, nie dało się jednoznacznie stwierdzić, czy modyfikacje następują w wyniku świadomych decyzji użytkownika, co mogłoby sugerować rozwiniętą wiedzę deklaratywną, czy też następują one nieświadomie, co z kolei może świadczyć o próbach wymawiania dyftongów w kontekście pedagogicznym w formie zbliżonej do standardu.

2

Phonetic Imitation of Vowel Duration in L2 Speech

84%

Zając M.

Research in Language

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2013

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vol. 11

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issue 1

19-29

EN

This paper reports the results of a pilot study concerned with phonetic imitation in the speech of Polish learners of English. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether native speakers of Polish imitate the length of English vowels and to determine whether the extent of phonetic imitation may be influenced by the model talker being a native or a non-native speaker of English. The participants were asked to perform an auditory naming task in which they indentified objects and actions presented on a set of photos twice, with and without the imitation task. The imitation task was further sub-divided depending on the model talker being a native or non-native speaker of English (a native Southern British English speaker and a native Polish speaker fluent in English). As the aim was to investigate the variability in durational characteristics of English vowels, the series of front vowels /æ e ɪ iː/ were analysed in the shortening and lengthening b_t vs. b_d contexts. The results of the study show that the participants imitated the length of the investigated vowels as a result of exposure to the two model talkers. The data suggest that the degree of imitation was mediated both by linguistic and social factors and that the direction of convergence might have been affected by the participants’ attitude toward L2 pronunciation.

3

Phonetic Imitation of Vowel Duration in L2 Speech

84%

Zając M.

Research in Language

|

2013

|

vol. 11

|

issue 1

19-29

EN

This paper reports the results of a pilot study concerned with phonetic imitation in the speech of Polish learners of English. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether native speakers of Polish imitate the length of English vowels and to determine whether the extent of phonetic imitation may be influenced by the model talker being a native or a non-native speaker of English. The participants were asked to perform an auditory naming task in which they indentified objects and actions presented on a set of photos twice, with and without the imitation task. The imitation task was further sub-divided depending on the model talker being a native or non-native speaker of English (a native Southern British English speaker and a native Polish speaker fluent in English). As the aim was to investigate the variability in durational characteristics of English vowels, the series of front vowels /æ e ɪ iː/ were analysed in the shortening and lengthening b_t vs. b_d contexts. The results of the study show that the participants imitated the length of the investigated vowels as a result of exposure to the two model talkers. The data suggest that the degree of imitation was mediated both by linguistic and social factors and that the direction of convergence might have been affected by the participants’ attitude toward L2 pronunciation.

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2 Research in Language

1 Roczniki Humanistyczne

2 Zając M.

1 Steinbrich P.

1 2016

2 2013

/fɑɪs/, /fes/ or /feɪs/? Teachers’ phonetic accommodation of diphthongs in an L2 classroom setting

Phonetic Imitation of Vowel Duration in L2 Speech

Phonetic Imitation of Vowel Duration in L2 Speech