The paper investigates the dynamics of speech rhythm in Polish learners of English and, specifically, how rhythm measurements revealing durational characteristics of vocalic and consonantal intervals through the measures (%V, ΔV, ΔC, VarcoV, VarcoC and nPVI) change along the process of second language acquisition as a result of language experience and phonetic training, and influence rhythmic characteristics of L2 English. The data used for the analysis come from 30 Polish first-year students of the University of Łódź recorded reading two texts (English and Polish) during two recording sessions separated by a 7-month period of language studies and compared to the data obtained from the recordings of native speakers of English. The experiment aims at verifying whether the participants achieve progress in the rhythm measure scores under the influence of language experience and phonetic training, as it has already been confirmed that general proficiency of non-native speakers of English is a key factor contributing to the successful production of rhythmic patterns in English (Waniek-Klimczak 2009, Roach 2002). The results have shown no substantial and consistent progress for the whole group and across all the measures. Statistical tests, however, have revealed significant changes in the subjects' performance with respect to the vocalic measures ΔV and VarcoV. This may reflect the effect of the type of phonetic training the students are offered, which is segment-based with particular emphasis on vowels.
The paper investigates the dynamics of speech rhythm in Polish learners of English and, specifically, how rhythm measurements revealing durational characteristics of vocalic and consonantal intervals through the measures (%V, ΔV, ΔC, VarcoV, VarcoC and nPVI) change along the process of second language acquisition as a result of language experience and phonetic training, and influence rhythmic characteristics of L2 English. The data used for the analysis come from 30 Polish first-year students of the University of Łódź recorded reading two texts (English and Polish) during two recording sessions separated by a 7-month period of language studies and compared to the data obtained from the recordings of native speakers of English. The experiment aims at verifying whether the participants achieve progress in the rhythm measure scores under the influence of language experience and phonetic training, as it has already been confirmed that general proficiency of non-native speakers of English is a key factor contributing to the successful production of rhythmic patterns in English (Waniek-Klimczak 2009, Roach 2002). The results have shown no substantial and consistent progress for the whole group and across all the measures. Statistical tests, however, have revealed significant changes in the subjects' performance with respect to the vocalic measures ΔV and VarcoV. This may reflect the effect of the type of phonetic training the students are offered, which is segment-based with particular emphasis on vowels.
This paper investigates native and non-native speech rhythm in the speech of Polish learners of English at an intermediate/upper-intermediate level. More specifically, it attempts to explore the relationship between rhythm measures scores in L1 Polish and L2 English within individual speakers. Phonological vowel reduction in terms of duration is present in English and crucial for the perception and acoustic measurements of linguistic rhythm. Polish, on the other hand, has no phonological reduction of that kind. The acquisition of L2 vowel reduction is highly determined by the level of language proficiency and influences non-native rhythmic patterns. The study tests six speech rhythm measures: %V, DV, DC, VarcoV, VarcoC and nPVI-V in two tempos: normal and fast. The results show that most of these measures are positively and significantly correlated with each other between L1 Polish and L2 English across the subjects and for two tempos, although to a different degree. Highly significantly correlation has been noted for %V and ΔC in fast tempo. Moderate significant correlations between the two languages are observed for ΔV, ΔC (normal tempo), VarcoV and nPVI in fast tempo.
The aim of this pilot study is to describe, analyse and interpret the outcome of a pronunciation self-assessment task carried out by Polish learners of English at an academic level and their reflections on progress and what they believe they need in order to feel more successful as speakers of English in terms of pronunciation. It also attempts to discuss certain individual factors determining the perceptions of the learners’ performance. Seventeen Polish first-year university students of English philology were asked to assess their improvement in the production of individual English sounds based on two recording sessions that they had undergone at the beginning and at the end of the academic year, i.e. before and after a two-semester pronunciation course. The results of the students’ assessment were then compared with the teacher’s assessment. All of the participants were recorded reading a diagnostic passage which concentrates on examining individual segments of Standard British English (SBE). They were also asked a number of questions in the form of an open-ended questionnaire related to their attitudes and feelings towards certain mispronunciations and general performance in the two recording sessions, how they perceive the way they speak English, their opinions as to the most effective techniques and activities in pronunciation training.
PL
Celem niniejszego badania pilotażowego jest opis, analiza i interpretacja wyników samooceny wymowy języka angielskiego przeprowadzonej wśród polskich studentów filologii angielskiej oraz przedstawienie ich refleksji na temat postępu i potrzeb związanych z przyswajaniem wymowy angielskiej. Artykuł zwraca również uwagę na indywidualne czynniki wpływające na postrzeganie własnej wymowy, takie jak pewność siebie czy lękliwość. Siedemnastu studentów anglistyki wzięło udział w badaniu oceniającym własny postęp w artykulacji poszczególnych dźwięków angielskich, bazując na dwóch nagraniach przeprowadzonych przed i po kursie wymowy, trwającym dwa semestry. Wyniki samooceny zostały zestawione i porównane z oceną nauczyciela. Wszyscy uczestnicy czytali tekst diagnostyczny, uwzględniający poszczególne segmenty standardowej wymowy języka angielskiego (Standard British English – SBE). Następnie wypełnili kwestionariusz zawierający pytania otwarte związane z nastawieniem studentów i odczuciami względem swoich błędów w wymowie, postrzegania swojego sposobu mówienia oraz z oiniami na temat najbardziej efektywnych metod i technik wspomagających trening wymowy i chęci jego kontynuacji.
The pilot study presented in this paper is exploratory in nature and aims first to investigate if there exists a relationship between the production of word stress and learners’ musical abilities, and then, to explore the effects of this relationship on teachability of word stress to Polish advanced students of English. The results of the analysis on the auditory recordings were compared with the information provided by the informants in a questionnaire and a performance music test. The obtained data were analysed using descriptive statistics. The results show that the students tend to overgeneralise word stress rules in English rather than transfer the penultimate syllable rule from Polish. In addition, there seems to be a relationship between word stress production and musical ability for the majority of the participants.
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