English Intelligibility Research Articles

Intelligibility in Context Scale: Sensitivity and specificity in the Jamaican context

ABSTRACT The present study investigated the sensitivity and specificity of the English Intelligibility in Context Scale (ICS) and the ICS-Jamaican Creole (ICS-JC) translation with bilingual preschool-aged Jamaican children. Participants in this study were 262 English-Jamaican Creole simultaneous bilingual children (aged 3;3 to 6;3, M = 4;11, SD = 7.8). The ICS and ICS-JC were administered to parents in auditory form, rather than written form. Although recent evidence has demonstrated the validity and reliability of the ICS as an assessment tool in various languages, further data are needed to determine diagnostic accuracy of the ICS and ICS-JC in Jamaican children. The sensitivity and specificity of both tools were high in this cohort of children, indicating that in the Jamaican context, these versions of the ICS could be used as screening tools to identify children who require further assessment of speech sound disorders. A cut-off score of 4.12 was used for both tools to achieve high sensitivity (0.84) and specificity (0.70) values for the ICS, as well as high sensitivity (0.84) and specificity (0.71) for the ICS-JC. The results of this study also demonstrate that administration of the auditory ICS is a valid way of collecting parent reports about children’s speech intelligibility, which has implications for use of the ICS in languages with no written form or with parents who have a low level of literacy in the languages they use. This investigation is relevant not only to this underserved population but broadens knowledge of research-based tools for working with bilingual children.

Intelligibility and Comprehensibility of Korean English Speakers’ Phonological Features in Lingua Franca Listening Contexts

This study investigated L2 English listeners’ intelligibility and comprehensibility ratings of L2 English recordings of L1 Korean speakers’ speech. Specifically, it considered which segmentals and features resulting from Korean phonotactics cause a breakdown in Korean speakers’ L2 English intelligibility and comprehensibility for Mandarin L1-background L2 English speakers. As Korean speakers use English as a lingua franca primarily with their L1 Mandarin speaking neighbours, recordings of scripted and unscripted speech of Korean university students were sent to L1 Mandarin raters in mainland China and Taiwan, who rated utterances for intelligibility and comprehensibility. Findings showed that the most frequently mistranscribed features were epenthesis (inclusion of extra vowels to separate clustered consonants), substitution of nasals for plosives between vowels and sonorant consonants, and the consonant-vowel combination [wʊ]. Findings also suggest that less problematic features, such as [əʊ], /r/, and the distinction between [ʊ] and [u], are at times aided by similar realisations by L2 listeners.

‘Eh?,’ ‘Huh?,’ ‘Hmm’: Pronunciation intelligibility of Vietnamese-accented English to Taiwanese EFL learners

‘Eh?,’ ‘Huh?,’ ‘Hmm’: Pronunciation intelligibility of Vietnamese-accented English to Taiwanese EFL learners

Research on College English Teaching under the Background of Artificial Intelligence

The application of language service products of artificial intelligence has brought great challenges and opportunities to language teaching in colleges and universities: promoting the teaching model innovation; changing the way of students learning; changing the basic functions of teachers. The teaching mode of college English under the background of artificial intelligence should be influenced by several aspects as follows: based on artificial intelligence in college English listening teaching; college English oral teaching based on robot; based on the number of the teaching of artificial intelligence in college English writing; cloud service based artificial intelligence college English in translation teaching.

Receptive multilingualism versus ELF: How well do Slovenes understand Croatian compared to Croatian speakers’ English?

Abstract This study investigates the degree of intelligibility of Croatian and Croatian speakers’ English for native Slovene listeners. For the purposes of the present experiment, 18 native speakers of Croatian were recorded narrating two short films in their mother tongue as well as in English. Each of the 135 participants, whose L1 is Slovene, listened to a recorded Croatian speaker retelling one story in their native language and another in English. The intelligibility of the two communicative modes was measured using multiple-choice questions. Overall, the level of comprehension was found to be higher for English than for Croatian. Two extralinguistic factors (border proximity and language preference) were also considered so as to gain a deeper insight into the nature of the intelligibility of English as a lingua franca (ELF) and receptive multilingualism as two potential mediums of communication between Croatian and Slovene speakers.

Intelligibility Enhancement Assessment and Intervention: a single-case experimental design with two multilingual university students

ABSTRACT Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) may be approached by multilingual speakers wishing to improve their intelligibility in English. Intelligibility is an essential element of spoken language proficiency and is particularly important for multilingual international students given their need to express complex ideas in an additional language. Intelligibility Enhancement aims to improve the intelligibility and acceptability of consonants, vowels and prosody with multilingual speakers who are learning to speak English. This study aimed to describe the Intelligibility Enhancement Assessment and Intervention Protocols and determine whether the intervention changed multilingual university students’ English intelligibility. A multiple-baseline single-case experimental design was applied with direct inter-subject replication across two female participants whose home languages were Vietnamese and Putonghua (Mandarin). English intelligibility was assessed at multiple intervals pre, post and during intervention. The intervention protocol consisted of 11 weekly 1-h sessions with an SLP targeting English consonants, vowels and prosody. Following intervention, both participants displayed increased performance across most measures. For example, the Vietnamese participant’s percentage of consonants correct (PCC) increased from 62.5% to 85.0% in probe keywords. Effect sizes, when comparing baseline and withdrawal phases, were 5.5 for PCC, 4.6 for final consonants, 2.3 for consonant clusters and 1.6 for syllables indicating improvements in all variables measured. Her speech rate reduced, word stress increased in accuracy and she perceived less difficulty communicating in English. These promising results suggest further testing of the Intelligibility Enhancement Protocols is warranted to determine effectiveness as an intervention for multilingual speakers.

Perceptual analysis of the speech intelligibility and soundscape of multilingual environments

This paper examines the perceived speech intelligibility of English, Polish, Arabic, and Mandarin and, more generally, the soundscape associated to multilingual environments. Listening tests were used to evaluate three acoustic environments (an airport, a hospital, and a café) under three room acoustic conditions defined by a different speech transmission index (STI) (STI = 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6). In the tests, participants rated eleven semantic attributes representative of speech perception and the overall soundscape (speech intelligibility, speech level, speech pleasantness, noisiness, annoyance, relaxation, comfort, environment pleasantness, eventfulness, excitement, and familiarity). Results obtained indicate that inter-language comparisons based on perceived speech intelligibility are different from those obtained from objective speech intelligibility tests. Noticeably, English participants were found to be most sensitive to changes in room acoustic conditions and to meaningful and distractive noise sources, whilst Arab participants were least sensitive to changes in room acoustic conditions and more tolerant to noise. Perceived speech intelligibility correlated significantly with non-acoustical factors (speech pleasantness, comfort and environment pleasantness), and ‘emotional factors’ (annoyance, relaxation, comfort and environment pleasantness) explained a large portion of the variance in soundscape assessment. Results also showed that language affected the perceived speech intelligibility marginally (p = 0.051) and noisiness significantly (p = 0.047), the latter being the best indicator of cultural variations amongst the attributes tested. Overall, the study shows that designing for speech intelligibility cannot be solely based on room acoustic parameters, especially in the case of multi-lingual environments.

Exploring multilingual speakers’ perspectives on their intelligibility in English

ABSTRACT Multilingual speakers’ ability to communicate effectively and intelligibly in the language of their country of residence is crucial to their participation. This study explored multilingual speakers’ motivations for improving their intelligibility in English and their perceptions of potential barriers and facilitators to enhancing intelligibility. Participants were multilingual students and staff at 14 Australian universities. Extended response data from 137 survey responses were combined with seven semi-structured interviews, thematically analyzed using the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health as a conceptual framework, and coded using NVivo software. Three overarching themes were: motivations, barriers, and facilitators. Themes that emerged under motivations were meeting their own and others’ expectations and career aspirations. Themes that emerged under barriers to intelligibility were lack of self-awareness of reduced English intelligibility, use of ineffective strategies (e.g., fast speech rate to disguise pronunciation difficulties), language differences, lack of opportunity to practise English, participants’ perceptions of others’ negative attitudes to their English skills, and challenging conversational partners. Facilitators to intelligibility were emotional support from others, beneficial strategies (e.g., confirming listener understanding), and opportunities to practice. The results highlight the importance of supporting multilingual speakers’ efforts to improve their English intelligibility. An environment with barriers such as lack of opportunity to practise English may restrict an individuals’ performance and participation, while facilitators such as support from others may increase participation. This study will inform the understanding of speech-language pathologists engaged in intelligibility enhancement, as well as SLPs working with multilingual speakers in any context.

Speech-language pathologists’ support for multilingual speakers’ English intelligibility and participation informed by the ICF

PurposeTo use the ICF to classify characteristics and aspirations of multilingual university students and faculty who seek speech-language pathologists’ support for intelligibility in English and to identify activities, facilitators, and barriers that impact participation in society. MethodA retrospective record review was conducted on files of 175 clients attending a university clinic for intelligibility enhancement (accent modification). Participants came from 35 countries and spoke 28 different home languages. ResultsAssessment and intervention for intelligibility enhancement involved consideration of ICF components of Body Functions and Structures (e.g., articulating phonemes, rate, prosody), Environmental Factors (e.g., support), and Personal Factors (e.g., motivation). Consonant substitutions and deletions were common, although participants were often unaware of these. For example, only 25.6% of participants reported English dental fricatives (/θ/ and /ð/) were difficult to pronounce; however, 94.9% substituted them with other phonemes such as [t] and [d]. The combination of substitutions/deletions, fast speech rate, low speaking volume, and differences in word stress exacerbated poor intelligibility. More time conversing in English was associated with greater confidence and less difficulty communicating in English, although more time knowing English was not. Difficult communication situations were reported to be conversing over the phone, talking to strangers, and communicating in English on professional fieldwork placements. Participants were motivated to seek intelligibility enhancement for academic, employment, and social reasons. ConclusionsTo ensure multilingual speakers are able to participate fully in society, intelligibility enhancement requires a multi-pronged approach where speech and environmental characteristics interweave.

Listener judgments of speaker and speech traits of varieties of Asian English

ABSTRACTThis study examines language attitudes towards different varieties of English through listener judgments of speaker and speech traits; in addition, the study explores the relationship of these judgments to the intelligibility, as well as the perceived accentedness and comprehensibility, of varieties of Asian English and General American English. While a great deal of research has examined the intelligibility, accentedness, and comprehensibility of English, including varieties of Asian English, no research to date has examined the relationship between language attitudes and the aforementioned dimensions of Asian English speech. That is, little is known about how listeners’ judgments regarding speaker and speech traits relate to intelligibility, as well as how such judgments relate to the way in which the listener evaluates the accentedness and comprehensibility of the speaker's speech. The current study addresses these issues through an examination of listener reactions to three varieties of Asian English (Hong Kong English, Singapore English, and China English), as well as American English.

Effect of altering three phonetic features on intelligibility of English as a lingua franca: a Malaysian speaker and Swedish listeners

ABSTRACTOur previous study examined the mutual intelligibility of Malaysian English to Swedish listeners and Swedish English to Malaysian listeners. The results showed that Swedish listeners did not understand the Malaysian speaker well. In the present study, the Malaysian speaker was trained to alter her realization of the word stress, consonant clusters and long vowels in a way that previous research has found intelligible for both native and non-native English speakers. The audible and measurable alteration significantly increased the intelligibility of the speaker for Swedish listeners. This indicates that the three phonetic features are important for intelligibility in international contexts and suggests including the word stress in the Lingua Franca Phonetic Core. Moreover, we discuss that Malaysian English being a dialect and Swedish English being a similect may be relevant to their mutual intelligibility and relate the discussion to teaching English pronunciation in countries where English has been localized.

РЕПРЕЗЕНТАЦИЯ ЭМОЦИОНАЛЬНОГО ИНТЕЛЛЕКТА В СОВРЕМЕННОМ АНГЛИЙСКОМ ЯЗЫКЕ

The subject of the study is the linguistic means of the modern English language, expressing emotional intelligence. The object of the research is emotional intelligence in modern English. The article reveals the content of the notion “emotional intelligence”, which is an actual topic in modern linguistics. The modern English language represents the language of aesthetics, emotions and intellect and shows their simultaneous double complexity and interdependence. The models of emotional intelligence demonstrate its impact on a person’s life success. The author focuses on the identification of the linguistic means of modern English expressed in the emotive attitude of the subject of speech to the designated feature of the evaluated object. The research methods are the analysis of factual material on the basis of the interpretative approach, the analysis and generalization of scientific and methodological literature, abstraction and comparison.

Impact of the usage of Vietnamese consonant-vowel (CV) structure on the intelligibility of Vietnamese speakers of English

This paper reports on findings from an investigation into the potential impact of the mother tongue of 50 Vietnamese adult EFL learners on their English intelligibility, with a particular focus on CV (consonant - vowel) syllable structure. The data from this quantitative study indicate that participants applied the Vietnamese CV syllable structure (open syllables CV.V) to the pronunciation of English CVC syllable structure (closed syllables CVC.V particularly in polysyllabic words and words with CVL (consonant – vowel – lateral) structure, potentially affecting speech intelligibility. These outcomes contribute to research on EFL speakers’ intelligibility.

Investigating the influence of listener attitudes and expectations on the intelligibility of Hindi-influenced English

Phoneme recognition and speech intelligibility can be affected by purely social factors, such as beliefs about or attitudes toward speakers of varying races and ethnicities (e.g., Babel & Russell, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 137 [2015]). The current study examined whether implicit and explicit attitudes about people from South Asian (SA) affect the intelligibility of Hindi-influenced English (HIE). Three measures were used: an Implicit Association Test (IAT) to measure general associative attitudes toward SA individuals; an intelligibility task in which listeners repeated HIE and North American English (NAE) sentences in noise, accompanied by pictures of SA or white individuals; and an ethnographic interview to acquire qualitative data about stereotypes, communicative practices with nonnative speakers, and other language attitudes. Data collection is ongoing in a more ethnically diverse location (Vancouver, BC) and a more homogenous one (Minneapolis, MN). Drawing from past studies on socioindexical influences on nonnative speech, we predict that individuals who harbor negative attitudes and stereotypes about SA people will perceive HIE as less intelligible than those without such beliefs. The results of this study will inform the growing body of literature regarding the ways in which socioindexical factors influence speech recognition across individuals with diverse ethnicities and language varieties.

Awareness of L2 American English Word Stress: Implications for Teaching Speakers of Indo-Aryan Languages

This study aims to investigate the word stress placement in English and Sindhi words in learners from Indo-Aryan language and American English backgrounds. Since correct placement of word stress is key for L2 English intelligibility, and it is known that native language background affects English language learners’ word stress perception and production. The study explores English language learners’ intuition through behavioral data from the native speakers of Sindhi and American native speakers to compare their awareness of word stress in L1 and L2. It further investigates learner’s stress patterns by measuring their reports of word stress location in their Sindhi and in their L2 English. There were twenty native speakers (10 from Sindh, Pakistan-10 from Illinois State, America) who were recruited from the location in their countries. Results of three experiments show that Sindhi native speakers have less awareness of stress location in their native language than native English controls, and this effect carries into their L2 English. Teachers of Sindhi-speaking students should be prepared to provide explicit training on word stress.

Development of discursive practices for the intelligibility of Thai English in interaction: Sequence and categories as contextual resources

Intelligibility research has substantially advanced our understanding of how second-language (L2) English intelligibility is influenced by characteristics of the L2 speaker's pronunciation and experience and by listener-related variables. Comparatively few studies, however, have investigated the influence of contextual factors on intelligibility. This study aims to address this lack with an analysis of how one Thai learner of L2 English increasingly utilized context for constructing L2 English intelligibility in interactions. The focal participant was a Thai college student attending an eight-week business English course at a Thai university. The data for this study came from a series of one-on-one conversations, alternating among six instructors with diverse first language backgrounds and discussions during regular office hours. Applying the methodology of membership categorization analysis (MCA) and conversation analysis (CA), the analysis revealed that the focal participant increasingly used sequential organization and descriptors in order to proactively construct an intelligible pronunciation of the job referent term that she used. The findings add to our understanding of how context supports the interactive construction of L2 English intelligibility. They also support the use of (M)CA as an innovative methodology for intelligibility research and, further, suggest teaching implications for ensuring L2 English intelligibility in interaction.

The Role of Intelligence in Learning English as a Foreign Language

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between intelligence and learning English ingeneral, and learning grammar and reading comprehension in particular. Participants wereteenage Iranian learners from Kerman high schools in second grade. The tests wereadministered at the end of the year to two mixed classes of 60 learners whose ages ranged from15 to 19. Standardized tests were employed to assess learners' performance in readingcomprehension, grammar and intelligence (both verbal and nonverbal). The correlation betweenthe two variables was determined through Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient.Results of the investigation showed that unlike first language acquisition, there was a positivecorrelation between verbal and nonverbal intelligence and learners' English languagedevelopment. Data analysis showed that the relationship between intelligence scores and thoseof comprehension and grammar scores was significant across all the groups. The results of thisresearch prove that intelligence is one of the important factors in acquisition of English as aforeign language, but it is not the only factor.

Analysis of the Spoken English Used by Teachers in Kenyan Primary School Classrooms: Phonological and Grammatical Variations

The research reported in this paper identifies and describes phonological and grammatical variations in the English spoken by teachers at Kenyan primary school level, correlates the variations observed with the teachers’ amount of education completed in the English language and discusses pedagogical implications of the emergent patterns. First, the results indicate that the teacher’s spoken English varies from the British standard variety - the model of correctness at all the education tiers in Kenya - and second, that the amount of education a speaker has completed in the English language significantly influences language variability. The findings imply that if more primary school teachers were to receive further exposure to English grammar and phonology through the continuing education programs available in Kenyan universities, their spoken English would then vary less from the standard English and international mutual intelligibility would be improved.

Effects of Listeners’ Communicative Experiences in Thai English on the Intelligibility of Thai English

Intelligibility of second language (L2) English has become an important goal in English pronunciation teaching. However, intelligibility research primarily focused on L2 English users and L2 production features; only a handful of studies have examined other effects on the intelligibility of L2 English. In line with the three-part model of intelligibility (Munro, 2008), this study focuses on listener factors by examining how listener experience with Thai English affects the actual understanding of Thai English utterances. Study participants were 40 students at a U. S. university. Data were collected through a questionnaire and a 38-item intelligibility test. While controlling for participants’ English proficiency, Analysis of Covariance confirmed that participants with experience in Thai English outperformed those with no experience in Thai English, as measured by the Thai English intelligibility task. The findings suggest that listeners’ communicative experiences in an L2 English variety improves the intelligibility of that English variety regardless of the listeners’ first languages. Implications for research and pronunciation pedagogy are discussed.

MUTUAL INTELLIGIBILITY OF MALAY- AND SWEDISH-ACCENTED ENGLISH: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

In using English as an international language (EIL), one important issue is mutual intelligibility among EIL speakers from different language backgrounds. The present study investigates the cross-linguistic intelligibility of Malay-accented English and Swedish-accented English, regarding the three phonetic features – word stress pattern, consonant clusters, and long vowel in particular. We prepared 15 English statements that are evidently true or false if understood, and examined to what extent the three phonetic features are related to 30 Swedish and 38 Malaysian listeners’ understandings of the statements read by a speaker from the other language group. We compared the Malaysian and Swedish listeners’ answers given with understanding as well as processing time to respond. The listeners’ own accounts of their struggles in understanding the speakers’ pronunciations were also analyzed. Results show that Malaysian listeners easily understood Swedish-accented English, while Swedish listeners struggled to understand Malay-accented English. The difference between the two groups of listeners seems to be closely related to the degree of the realization of the three phonetic features by the speakers as well as to the degree of the use of these features as perceptual cues by the listeners. Based on the findings, we discuss potential phonetic core features of EIL for intelligibility and some pedagogical implications for teaching English pronunciation to the learners of the language.