A sociolinguistic analysis of phonological variation in Japanese EFL textbooks

This paper explores whether Korean EFL listeners perception of English vowels and their English vowel category development can be estimated from cross-language labelling between English and Korean. The paper also investigates whether cross-language labelling makes different predictions for General American English (GAE) vowels and British English (Received Pronunciation, RP) vowels, given that vowel category variation exists between the two accents. Thirty-six university students in Seoul completed cross-language labelling and English vowel identification. Fit indices were calculated based on cross-language labelling for both GAE and RP vowels in order to answer the questions posed. Specifically, the paper tested the assumption of the Speech Learning Model (SLM) that L2 category development is closely related to the perceived phonetic distance between L1 and L2 sounds by calculating fit indices. The results reveal that the fit indices computed had limitations in accounting for the identification accuracy of L2 vowels. The fit indices also made similar predictions for GAE and RP vowels, but there were accent and vowel category variations between GAE and RP. Thus, the overall results suggest that L2 vowel perception or L2 vowel category learning depends on factors such as L2 learners’ target language accent and their overall interlanguage phonological system, as well as the perceived phonetic distance between an L2 sound and its closest L1 counterpart.

Studies relating to the vocabulary items within EFL textbooks have revealed a divergence from well-researched wordlists such as the New General Service List (NGSL) (Browne et al., 2013), and the BNC/COCA wordlist (Nakayama, 2022; Sun and Dang, 2020). In Japan, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) recently updated its course of study in 2019 to increase the target vocabulary for junior high school students from 1,200 words to a range between 1,600 and 1,800 words, in addition to the 600 to 700 words taught in elementary school. To analyze the content of the increased vocabulary for Japanese junior high school students, this study examined a corpus of six EFL textbooks from the New Horizon series: three elementary texts and three junior high school texts, (published between 2020 and 2021) using the new JACET8000 wordlist (2016), generating data pertaining to lexical coverage, in-corpus frequency, and in-corpus dispersion. It was found that 42.9% of the first 3,000 words from the JACET list were not found in the corpus, and 50.4% of the high-frequency words studied by junior high school students occurred less than two times within the corpus. Additionally, 35% of analyzed words were found to have a dispersion value of zero, indicating that several items were isolated into single units of study. Lastly, factors contributing to lexical difficulty of the textbooks were also examined.

ABSTRACTSpeech intelligibility in a multitalker background can be affected by the language of both the talker and the interfering speech. This study investigated whether this interaction is modulated by dialect variations of the same language. American English listeners were presented with target sentences in either their own General American English (GAE) or a different accent (Southern American English [SAE]) masked by either GAE or SAE two-talker babble at three sound to noise ratios (SNRs): +3, 0, and –3 dB. All speech materials were produced by male talkers. Across all conditions, SAE target was more intelligible than GAE. Intelligibility of either target decreased as the level of the interfering babble noise increased. Target accent interacted with masking accent: at +3 dB SNR, GAE (and not SAE) was the more effective masker. The target-masker interaction was different as listening conditions deteriorated: at 0 and –3 dB SNR, masking accent did not affect GAE target, but when the target was SAE, the SAE masker (and not GAE) was more effective. Thus, at increased noise levels, listeners benefited from the mismatch between the target and masking accents only when the target was in a nonnative accent. These results demonstrate that dialect variation can influence listeners’ performance in a multitalker environment. The apparent asymmetry in intelligibility of accents may be in part related to dialect-specific prosodic and phonetic features.

The current study explored the intelligibility and acceptability ratings of dysarthric speakers with African American English (AAE) and General American English (GAE) dialects by listeners who identify as GAE or AAE speakers, as well as listener ability to identify dialect in dysarthric speech. Eighty-six listeners rated the intelligibility and acceptability of sentences extracted from a passage read by speakers with dysarthria. Samples were used from the Atlanta Motor Speech Disorders Corpus and ratings were collected via self-report. The listeners identified speaker dialect in a forced-choice format. Listeners self-reported their dialect and exposure to AAE. AAE dialect was accurately identified in 63.43% of the the opportunities; GAE dialect was accurately identified in 70.35% of the opportunities. Listeners identifying as AAE speakers rated GAE speech as more acceptable, whereas, listeners identifying as GAE speakers rated AAE speech as more acceptable. Neither group of listeners demonstrated a difference in intelligibility ratings. Exposure to AAE had no effect on intelligibility or acceptability ratings. Listeners can identify dialect (AAE and GAE) with a better than chance degree of accuracy. One’s dialect may have an effect on intelligibility and acceptability ratings. Exposure to a dialect did not affect listener ratings of intelligibility or acceptability.

Data from perceptual tests in which subjects were asked to identify tense and lax vowels are used to suggest correlates for the tense/lax distinction in general American English. Four vowel parameters were manipulated in synthetic nonsense words of the form [dVs]: formant frequency, duration, breathiness, and first‐formant bandwidth. The tense/lax pairs included [ɪ], [aeɛ], [uᴜ], and [ɑʌ]. Three separate identification tests are created in which the stimuli vary only in formant frequency and one of the other three parameters. Each test was presented to five naive native speakers of general American English. Results so far indicate that shortening the vowel shifts judgments toward the lax vowel, and that this effect is greater in the low vowel pairs than in the high vowel pairs. Increased breathiness shifts judgments toward the tense vowel for high vowels. The effect of breathiness on low vowels and the effect of bandwidth of the first formant on all vowels is as yet unclear. [Supported in part by NINCDS and a NSF Fellowship.]

In manual training classes at Japanese elementary and junior high schools, many schoolchildren have an awareness that they are not good at manufacturing, and the negative feeling is considered to be due to the shortage of teacher's manufacturing skill. Audiovisual learning materials are usually used to support the teacher's manufacturing ability, but in the manufacturing training, audiovisual information is insufficient to convey the certain manufacturing skill. Previously, there have been some research efforts supporting to obtain the particular manufacturing ability. On the other hand, a manufacturing skill training system for elementary and junior high school education has not been addressed enough. Therefore, this study aims to develop a system for supporting teachers of the manual training class at Japanese elementary and junior high schools and especially focuses on brush coating skill, a traditional manufacturing skill with the great necessity to success. The proposed system consists of hardware and software system; as the hardware system, a measurement equipment of brush coating motion was developed using PHANTOM Omni, and as the software system, 3D graphics application to reproduce the records of user's brush coating operation was designed. Additionally, this paper evaluated each trainee's brush coating motion and analyzed the relationship between trainees with a torus self-organizing map where the mapping result is for giving the same kind of instruction to trainees who have similar habit and skill level. From the experiments, the effectiveness of the proposed system was shown.

This study examines whether and how early sequential bilingual speakers of Indian English (IE) accommodate General American English (GAE) in the production of the alveolar lateral /l/. To explore first language (L1) influence on second language (L2) accommodation of IE, we compared Hindi–English bilinguals (HEBs), who consistently produce clear [l], with Telugu–English bilinguals (TEBs), who produce clear [l] word-initially but retroflex [É­] word-finally. We hypothesized that HEBs’ laterals in IE, particularly in the word-final position, would differ more from GAE’s dark laterals than TEBs’ laterals, leading to more convergence toward GAE for HEBs. Participants (N = 10) completed a baseline production task and a shadowing task, repeating words spoken by a GAE interlocutor. A 30-ms steady-state interval was annotated for each lateral, with F1 and F2 measured within this interval. At baseline, HEBs’ laterals were, as predicted, more distant from GAE laterals than TEBs’ laterals. For F1, HEBs showed slight convergence toward GAE for word-initial and word-final /l/, whereas TEBs showed even less. For F2, both groups converged, but TEBs showed greater convergence than HEBs for word-final /l/. Taken together, these findings provide evidence of L1 effects but do not fully support the hypothesis that greater phonetic distance leads to more accommodation.

Foreword

This ethnographic study examines how students are sorted through sophisticated grading and tracking in a Japanese junior high school, thereby acquiring a sense of their place in society, as well as in school. Through the sorting processes, they are socialised to think about where they are likely to fit within the society relative to their academic standing in school. While most low-achieving students come from working class families, they blame themselves rather than their family backgrounds for their academic failures in school. Despite conscious efforts by teachers at Shōbun Junior High School to revise the Ministry of Education’s tracking system to provide more support to remedial students, tracking still served to sort students on the basis of family background. By illuminating the manner in which one Japanese junior high school in a Buraku neighbourhood contributes to rationalising social reproduction, this article explores the psychosocial mechanisms through which class identity is constructed.

2012年から実施される中学校学習指導要領（文部科学省, 2008）によれば、まとまりのある英語に焦点をあてて指導することが明記されている。まとまりのある英語とは、「一つのテーマに沿って話されたものや内容に一貫性のあるものなどを示している。例えば、スピーチや機内アナウンス、天気予報などが挙げられる。」(p. 12) と説明されている。そこで、平成18年度版中学校英語教科書にどのようなまとまりのある英語が扱われているのかを調べた。分析の結果、比較的多様なジャンル・テキストタイプが用いられていることがわかった。また、社会的行為や目的が明確でない基本的なジャンル・テキストタイプも見られた。頻度の高いジャンル・テキストタイプは、会話、スピーチ、自己紹介、放送、散文、電子メール、手紙、ウェブサイトであった。6社の教科書すべてで扱われているジャンル・テキストタイプは少なかった。これらの分析結果に基づき、教育的示唆を行った。 The purpose of this study is to obtain information about EFL teaching materials used in Japanese junior high schools by analyzing textbooks in terms of genre/text types, one aspect of discourse organization. This study was motivated by the growing recognition of the importance of teaching discourse organization. For example, the new Course of Study (Monbukagakusho, i.e., the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, 2008) is now emphasizing discourse organization. Furthermore, Grabe and Stoller (2002) suggested that it is necessary to teach discourse organization because of inherent differences in L1 and L2 reading processes and reading situations. They also pointed out that features of discourse organization and social expectations in a particular genre may differ among cultures and thus argued that raising L2 learners’ awareness about discourse organization is important. Moreover, in light of these points, it is clear that an analysis of textbooks used as the main materials for EFL education in junior high schools will be beneficial for junior high school EFL teachers. As far as we know, no previous studies have analyzed such textbooks in terms of genre/text types. In this study, we posited two research questions as follows: (a) What types of genre/text types are utilized in junior high school EFL textbooks? and (b) How often does each genre/text type appear? We analyzed 18 government-authorized EFL textbooks (six titles, each consisting of three books for three grades). To analyze the textbooks, we proceeded as follows: We made a basic list of genre/text types based on previous studies. We each coded two textbooks independently. We made a list of genre/text types through actual coding of those textbooks. We each coded one book using that list of genre/text types. Our agreement reached 97.6%. One or the other of us coded all the other books. We discussed the codes and made final decisions about coding. The results show that a variety of genre/text types was used in the textbooks, including both more basic genre/text types that have less clear communicative purposes or do not show clear social behaviors, and also genre/text types that can easily and definitely be regarded as a genre. Among the genre/text types, certain types such as conversations, speeches, self-introductions, and broadcasting were frequently used for the oral modes of communication whereas stories, emails, letters, and websites were the more frequent types for the written modes of communication. The range of genre/text types was not very different among the textbooks, but the specific types covered were. On the basis of the findings, we discuss the pedagogical implications. First, taking into consideration that both more basic genre/text types as well as genre/text types with clearer communicative functions were identified, teachers can arrange the texts from basic to more complex genre/text types throughout the 3 years of EFL instruction in junior high school. Second, because the specific genre/text types covered were different among textbooks, teachers need to know which genre/text types appear in the textbooks they use. If necessary, then, teachers can create additional materials to supplement the textbooks when teaching a certain genre/text type. Lastly, teachers must be careful about the terms for describing genre/text types because those used in the textbooks themselves are very often ambiguous.

Growing consensus in the literature identifies the ideology of native-speakerism as a problematic aspect of EFL education and applied linguistics. The prevalence of native-speakerism in EFL education can be said to affect both “native” and “non-native” English speakers, creating and reinforcing divisions based on the “native speaker” criterion. Part of this growing consensus is the notion that fostering critical cultural awareness among EFL teachers and learners constitutes a viable strategy for curbing the said effects of native-speakerism on EFL education. At the heart of these deliberations, however, are questions related to the actual presence of native-speakerism in—and importance to—EFL practices on the ground. One way to explore these questions is through analysis of EFL teachers’ interview narratives, which can yield valuable insight into teachers’ interpretations of their own practice, the context of education and the potential for change. In this chapter, I explore possible links between native-speakerism and Japanese junior high school (JHS) EFL education. To achieve this task, I analyse JHS English teachers’ oral narratives which occasionally include references to native-speakerism as a discourse of inclusion/exclusion. Following a stratified approach to critical social research, I then look at points of convergence and divergence between these references and data gathered from recorded and transcribed classroom discourse, classroom materials, textbooks and recent MEXT policies on EFL education.

An examination of 3rd and 5th grade students' use of dialect specific forms during a written editing task.

African American English (AAE)-speaking children’s ability to judge the grammaticality of sentences was evaluated by their clinical status and grammatical structure. The study originated from a need to understand more about the tense and agreement systems of AAE speakers with specific language impairment (SLI) relative to their typically developing (TD) AAE-speaking peers. Tense and agreement forms are typically excluded from the assessment and treatment of children who speak AAE in fear of misinterpreting a dialect difference as a language disorder. As a result, limited information exists about the tense and agreement systems of AAE-speaking children. The data were archival and from 91 AAE-speaking kindergartners (SLI = 34; TD = 57). The children’s judgments were elicited from the Rice/Wexler Test of Early Grammatical Impairment (Rice & Wexler, 2001). This test was designed for General American English (GAE). Given this, I first examined the items using A’ values and GAE as the dialect referent. Then I re-analyzed the data using percentages of acceptability and AAE as the dialect referent. Not surprisingly, the A¢ values based on GAE did not differ by clinical group. Although both groups earned higher A’ for the control forms than the zero forms, both groups performed at chance level on the zero forms. When AAE was used as the dialect referent and percentages of acceptability were examined, clinical differences were found, with the TD group accepting the AAE-appropriate overt forms at higher percentages than the SLI group. The TD group also showed greater discernment within their acceptability percentages when AAE-appropriate forms were compared to AAE-inappropriate forms, although both groups accepted the former forms at higher percentages than the latter. The findings indicate that AAE-speaking children with SLI are not as discerning as TD controls when asked to judge the grammatical acceptability of AAE-appropriate tense and agreement forms and when asked to judge the acceptability of AAE-appropriate and inappropriate forms. These findings contribute to the growing literature base that shows tense and agreement weaknesses in AAE-speaking children with SLI and calls for the inclusion of tense and agreement structures in dialect-appropriate assessments and treatments of SLI within AAE.

Guided by the research works of Tayao (2004) and de Leon (2016), and the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) conventions of sounds, this study describes the phonological varieties of interdental fricative voiced and voiceless ‘th’ among the six lectal speakers. Six participants took part to embody the speakers from acrolect, mesolect, and basilect groups. With the use of a poem read by the participants and which was audio- taped for transcription purposes, the following research objectives were attained: 1) frequency of deviation of each speaker from the GAE to a new variety of pronouncing words in terms of voiced interdental fricatives and voiceless interdental fricatives; 2) lectal categories which conformed to the GAE pronunciation; and 3) the rate of speaking of each participant. Analysis exhibits that pronunciation of words with regard to both voiced and voiceless interdental fricatives, the basilectal speakers produced the greatest number of deviations, followed by acrolectals while mesolectals have the least. In other words, it is the mesolectal speakers who conformed and observed well the General American English (GAE) standard of pronunciation. However, as to their rates of speaking, the acrolectal speakers emerged to be the fastest.

Within General American English (GAE), the grammar weaknesses of children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have been documented with many tasks, including grammaticality judgments. Recently, Vaughn et al. replicated this finding with a judgment task targeting tense and agreement (T/A) structures for children who spoke African American English (AAE), a dialect that contains a greater variety of T/A forms than GAE. In the current study, we further tested this finding for children who spoke Southern White English (SWE), another dialect that contains a greater variety of T/A forms than GAE but less variety than AAE. Then, combining the SWE and AAE data, we explored the effects of a child's dialect, clinical group, and production of T/A forms on the children's judgments. The data were from 88 SWE-speaking children (DLD, n = 18; typically developing [TD], n = 70) and 91 AAE-speaking children (DLD, n = 34; TD, n = 57) previously studied. As in the AAE study, the SWE judgment data were examined both with A' scores and percentages of acceptability, with comparisons between dialects made on percentages of acceptability. As in AAE, the SWE DLD group had significantly different A' scores and percentages of acceptability than the SWE TD group for all sentence types, including those with T/A structures. Additional analyses indicated that the judgments of the TD but not the DLD groups showed dialect effects. Except for verbal -s, overt production and grammaticality judgments were correlated for the TD but not for the DLD groups. Children with DLD across dialects of English present grammar difficulties that affect their ability to make judgments about sentences. More cross-dialectal research is needed to better understand the grammatical weaknesses of childhood DLD, especially for structures such as verbal -s that are expressed differently across dialects of English.