English Intelligibility Research Articles

중국, 베트남, 몽골 학생 영어발화 이해도 측정과 이해도가 영어연계 수업에 미치는 영향

English Medium Instruction (EMI) has been widely implemented and the number of international students has increased sharply, resulting from Korean universities’ major efforts towards becoming more international. This preliminary study was aimed at how Korean lecturers (n= 30) and Korean students (n= 31) measured the intelligibility and comprehensibility of Chinese, Vietnamese, and Mongolian students’ (n= 9) English utterances. The Korean participants listened to speakers’ utterances for the purposes of the intelligibility check and reported words that they did not recognize; in order to measure comprehensibility, they indicated their degree of perceived understanding of each speaker’s verbalization on the 5-point Likert scale. The Korean lecturers and students both measured the Chinese utterances of intelligibility and comprehensibility as the highest, whilst the students statistically measured the Vietnamese utterances as the lowest. The correlation coefficient between intelligibility and comprehensibility showed a relatively low relationship of r= 0.401. The Korean lecturers and students reported that they had difficulty understanding unfamiliar accented English such as Vietnamese and Mongolian English, which somehow affected communication held within EMI. Large-scale research involving various factors affecting English intelligibility and comprehensibility should be conducted with various L1 backgrounds in EMI.

INTEGRATING MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES THEORY IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

Nine types of multiple intelligence theories are proposed by Gardner (1999), which include the following: verbal-linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, and existential. Since all these types of intelligence are on an equal footing, educators can use various strategies to help students develop their full potential. Silent Way, Suggestopedia, CLT, etc., are some methods used to incorporate multiple intelligence into teaching and learning activities. However, the use of multiple intelligence in learning English is still rare. This results in teachers not using the most effective methods for teaching and learning the English language. Following the steps outlined in this paper can help teachers integrate at least some of these nine types of intelligence. This paper provides teachers with new ideas for improving the quality of teaching and learning through multiple intelligence. This paper attempts to answer the following questions: 1) What exactly is multiple intelligence, and how can it be encouraged? 2) In the context of teaching English as a foreign language, what methods are most effective in fostering multiple intelligences? This study is descriptive qualitative work being done in preparation for a conceptual paper. The method consists of reviewing all related literature to provide sufficient arguments. The discussion focuses on multiple intelligence theory, English language instruction, and incorporating multiple intelligence into teaching-learning activities.

Speech Intelligibility Level Determinants and Measurement Methods

With the ever-increasing population of non-native speakers (NNSs) of English around the globe to the extent of exceeding the population of native speakers, encountering foreign-accented speech (FAS) has become frequent and inevitable. In this paper, the author highlights English in its new position, and its impact on speech intelligibility. The concept of speech intelligibility is discussed as it correlates with accentedness. It is viewed as an indicator for successful oral communication. A review of the different factors that impact speech intelligibility, in relation to the speakers and others related to the listeners. Moreover, speech intelligibility is modulated in relation to the different factors. Finally, numerous measurement methods that have been used regarding assisting the speech intelligibility of English in general and the intelligibility of English variety are discussed in particular.

No news is good news: Social priming and the intelligibility of American-accented English

Social information, such as a speaker’s race, can affect the perception of speech. In some cases, these social primes facilitate perception, while in others they can lead to reduced speech intelligibility. For example, a picture of an East Asian face may facilitate perception of Mandarin Chinese-accented English but interfere with perception of American-accented English. Using a large sample recruited online, we aimed to test whether there is a link between implicit racial associations and the effects of social primes on the perception of American-accented English. We examined priming for a White versus an East Asian prime and for a White versus a Latina prime. In both cases, the difference between priming conditions was non-significant. Subjects also completed two implicit association tests, examining associations of these races/ethnicities with the constructs American versus Foreign and Good versus Bad. Individual differences in implicit associations did not predict social priming for either cohort. However, in some cases they did predict overall performance on the speech perception task. We discuss how these findings diverge from prior work on multiple accounts, and how consideration of the racial and linguistic diversity of listeners’ interpersonal networks may improve our understanding of individual differences in social priming susceptibility.

SuperSpeech: Multilingual Speech and Language Maintenance Intervention for Vietnamese-Australian Children and Families via Telepractice.

The aim of this pilot feasibility study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the group VietSpeech SuperSpeech program targeting speech skills and home language maintenance via telepractice. In Stage 1, using a case-control design, 30 Vietnamese-English-speaking children were assessed in English and Vietnamese, and parents completed questionnaires about speech and language competency and practices. During Stage 2, children were allocated to intervention (n = 14) or control (n = 16) conditions. COVID-19 restrictions resulted in changes including nonrandom allocation. Online group intervention targeting speech, home language maintenance, and multilingualism as a superpower was delivered 1 hr/week for 8 weeks. For Stage 3, assessments were undertaken approximately 10 weeks after the pre-intervention assessment. Parents in the intervention group significantly increased encouragement of their children to speak Vietnamese. The intervention group significantly increased intelligibility in English. Growth of Vietnamese vocabulary was faster for the control group. There was a moderate effect of intervention for children's perception of being happy talking in Vietnamese and English. There was no significant mean change from pre- to post-intervention compared with the control group for measures of speech sound accuracy in Vietnamese or English, Vietnamese intelligibility, English vocabulary, or hours of Vietnamese spoken each week. This study presents preliminary evidence that this 8-hr online group program targeting speech skills and home language maintenance had some impact on Vietnamese-Australian children's speech and home language maintenance. Further research involving a randomized trial is warranted.

PENGEMBANGAN KECERDASAN VERBAL BAHASA INGGRIS DI TK NEGERI GEMOLONG SRAGE

This paper describes the development of verbal intelligence in English at TK Negeri Gemolong Sragen. English is an international language that must be introduced to children to face global competition in the future. Therefore, this study aims to determine the teacher's strategy in stimulating the verbal intelligence of early childhood in Kindergarten Negeri Gemolong. This research method uses qualitative research methods. The results of this study indicate that the teacher's strategy in developing children's English verbal intelligence is carried out by intracurricular and extracurricular activities. Intracurricular activities are activities that are carried out based on scheduled, regular and structured activities carried out by the teacher during the learning process. In intracurricular activities the teacher uses collaborative methods from several existing methods consisting of the habituation method, the playing method, the singing method. The standard of achievement in English for children in Gemolong Kindergarten, namely self-introduction material, body parts, numbers 1-10, colors, animals, and fruit.

The Salient Pronunciation Errors and Intelligibility of Turkish Speakers in English

Intelligibility is a critically important aspect for effective oral communication. This study explored salient (important) pronunciation errors and their relative roles in the intelligibility of nonnative speech based on listener judgments. Speech samples, collected from speakers with a Turkish as a native language (L1) background, were presented to listener groups in two consecutive sub-studies. In expert listening sessions, listeners with an academic background in pronunciation research and teaching (N=3) detected salient pronunciation errors via a thinking aloud protocol. During the intelligibility research, native listeners (N=33) transcribed the target words with salient pronunciation errors presented either as individual words isolated from their contexts or in longer utterances. The intelligibility scores were calculated and analyzed to investigate the role of salient pronunciation errors on speakers’ intelligibility in English. The findings indicated that mispronunciations of segmentals and incorrect stress placement were the most common error types as detected by expert listeners. Negative transfer was found to be an important factor in such salient errors. According to the results of the intelligibility research, pronunciation errors affected speakers’ intelligibility to a certain extent. Segmental errors were the main causes of reduced intelligibility. Moreover, mispronunciations of two sounds that were seen in most error sites, /ə/ and /θ/, seemed to make speech more accented while not seriously affecting intelligibility. Also, errors in strong syllables had a more detrimental effect on intelligibility compared to those in weak syllables.

Jordanian EFL Students’ Types of Intelligence in Learning English

The present study investigated the types of intelligence BAU students prefer to use in learning English. This study used a quantitative method for collecting data via a questionnaire. The subjects of the study were 138 Jordanian students at Al-Huson University College, Al-Balqa Applied University. The results revealed that logical-mathematical and linguistic intelligence was the most dominant type of intelligence among the students. However, neither their gender nor their academic degree program had a significant effect on their learning type of intelligence. Nevertheless, the data showed substantial differences among the students in the interpersonal type of intelligence in favor of male students, while these differences were in favor of the females in the intrapersonal type. There were significant differences in the logical-mathematical type of intelligence between the bachelor’s degree students and their diploma colleagues in favor of the bachelor ones. The researcher attempts to shed light on Jordanian EFL students’ types of intelligence and their preferred types when learning English, in hopes that it becomes possible for teachers to recognize the types according to their students’ profiles and help match them with those present or assess whether they need to develop strategies to cover the full spectrum of the types found in MI Theory.

The Direct and Indirect Effects of Implicit Beliefs of Intelligence on Academic Achievement in English among High School Students: Goal Orientation as a Mediator

Introduction. High academic achievement in English is a valued key for high school students in Sudan to guide them toward a better life, career, and social opportunities. At the same time, many of the Sudanese students have linguistic, cultural, and rhetorical problems in the English language, and many of them face challenges in expressing themselves in English. Thus, the core purpose of this study is to explore what may help them in this matter; this includes examining the direct effects of the entity and incremental beliefs of intelligence on academic achievement in English and testing the indirect effects through goal orientation. Method. A quantitative research method was used by applying scales of implicit beliefs of intelligence (Dweck, 2000) and goal orientation (Elliot & Church, 1997). The data were collected using a cluster sampling technique from 392 respondents, mainly high school students in Sudan. A structural equation model (SEM-AMOS) of relations among constructs was employed to examine the relationships among the construct variables. Results. The findings of the structural equation modelling indicated that there was no direct effect of entity belief of intelligence and that there was a direct effect of incremental belief of intelligence on academic achievement in English. Regarding the mediation role of the goal orientation in the relationship between entity belief of intelligence and academic achievement in English, there was no mediation role play. Nevertheless, the goal orientation partially mediated the relationship between the incremental belief of intelligence and academic achievement in English among Sudanese high school students. Discussion and Conclusion. Academic achievement in English is influenced by students' motivations, beliefs of intelligence, and goal orientations. Accordingly, the English language of Sudanese high school students requires more attention and consideration for the incremental belief of intelligence, goal orientation, and other significant variables in order to support those students in Sudanese high schools to overcome their weaknesses in English and improve themselves so that they can achieve high scores academically in English.

Multilingual university students’ perceived English proficiency, intelligibility and participation

This paper reports on 137 multilingual students enrolled at 14 English-speaking Australian universities who completed a 27-item online survey investigating the relationship between perceived English proficiency, intelligibility, and their academic, social and vocational participation. Open-ended responses described strategies used to enhance spoken English. Participants came from 44 countries and spoke 49 home languages. Self-ratings of English communication skills were significantly affected by age, English experience, number of languages spoken and home language. Participants reported spoken English proficiency impacted participation; however, results highlighted lack of awareness of intelligibility as an essential component of spoken language proficiency. Although environmental factors (e.g. more time using English in conversations) were associated with higher self-ratings of proficiency, participants preferred using individual strategies (e.g. listening/repeating) to support English intelligibility rather than social interactions with native speakers. The results demonstrate the importance of conversation practice in language learning to increase proficiency and confidence, as well as participation.

Effects of attention to segmental vs. suprasegmental features on the speech intelligibility and comprehensibility of the EFL learners targeting the perception or production-focused practice

The present study investigated the training benefits of segmental vs. suprasegmental aspects for the intelligibility and comprehensibility of spoken English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Five groups of lower intermediate EFL learners were formed by random assignment. A pretest of the speaking skills, intelligibility, and comprehensibility of the learners’ speech confirmed that the five groups were homogeneous before starting the training program. The control group listened to authentic audio tracks in English, and discussed their contents, watched authentic English movies, and did exercises to improve speaking skills without receiving explicit segmental and suprasegmental explanations and exercises. The experimental groups received an explanation of segmental or suprasegmental features (during one-sixth of the teaching time) followed by production-focused or perception-focused practice (during another one-sixth of the teaching time). The total instruction time was the same for all five groups, i.e., 15 h. Students then took a posttest in speaking skills targeting their speech intelligibility and comprehensibility. The findings revealed that the speech intelligibility of learners who received segmental training followed by production-focused practice was better than that of all other groups. Learners who received suprasegmental instruction followed by production-focused practice outperformed all other groups in terms of comprehensibility.

Intelligibility of Korean-Accented English: Effects of Listener’s Familiarity

Intelligibility of Korean-Accented English: Effects of Listener’s Familiarity

Corpus-based analysis of semi-automatically extracted artificial intelligence-related terminology

Abstract Artificial Intelligence (AI), as a multidisciplinary field, combines computer science, robotics and cognitive science, with increasingly growing applications in many diverse areas, such as engineering, business, medicine, weather forecasting, industry, translation, natural language, linguistics, etc. In Europe, interest in AI has been rising in the last decade. One of the greatest hurdles for researchers in automated processing of technical documentation is large amounts of specific terminology. The aim of this research is to analyse the semi-automatically extracted artificial intelligence-related terminology and the most common phrases related to artificial intelligence in English and Lithuanian in terms of their structure, multidisciplinarity and connotation. For selection and analysis of terms, two programmes were chosen in this study, namely SynchroTerm and SketchEngine. The paper presents the outcomes of an AI terminological project carried out with SynchroTerm and provides an analysis of a special corpus compiled in the field of artificial intelligence using the SketchEngine platform. The analysis of semi-automatic term extraction use and corpus-based techniques for artificial intelligence-related terminology revealed that AI as a specialized domain contains multidisciplinary terminology, and is complex and dynamic. The empiric data shows that the context is essential for the evaluation of the concept under analysis and reveals the different connotation of the term.

Intelligibility of first-language (L1) and second-language (L2) speech by switched-dominance Spanish-English bilinguals.

Recordings of Spanish and English sentences by switched-dominance bilingual (SDB) Spanish (i.e., L2-dominant Spanish-English bilinguals) and by L1-dominant Spanish and English controls were presented to L1-dominant Spanish and English listeners, respectively. At –4 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), Spanish and English productions by SDBs were equally intelligible with both reaching L1-dominant control levels. At –8 dB SNR, SDB English intelligibility matched that of L1-dominant English controls, yet SDB Spanish intelligibility was significantly lower than that of L1-dominant Spanish controls. These results emphasize that extended (but not early) exposure is both necessary and sufficient for robust speech learning.

INTELLIGIBLE PRONUNCIATION: TEACHING ENGLISH TO VIETNAMESE LEARNERS

L1 (first language) phonological transfer in L2 (second/foreign language) learning appears unavoidable; concerns are whether it is positive or negative and which strategies could help to deal with negative transfer. This paper discusses the exploitation of an innovative approach to English pronunciation teaching named the L1 point of reference (L1POR) approach, in which L1 phonological impacts on L2 pronunciation are taken into account in the teaching process. Teaching points and strategies to improve the intelligibility of Vietnamese-accented English are recommended with reference to the L1POR and literature in teaching English as an international language.

Intelligibility of South Indian Accented English to Standard English using HMM with MFCC

Intelligibility of South Indian Accented English to Standard English using HMM with MFCC

Intelligibility Enhancement via Telepractice During COVID-19 Restrictions

Purpose Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) may be approached by multilingual speakers seeking to improve their intelligibility in English. Intelligibility is an essential element of spoken language proficiency and is especially important for multilingual university students given their need to express complex ideas in an additional language. Intelligibility Enhancement is an assessment and intervention approach that aims to improve the intelligibility of consonants, vowels, and prosody with multilingual speakers who are learning to speak English. This article describes the student-led delivery of Intelligibility Enhancement with multilingual clients in a university clinic using a telepractice model after restrictions were imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions Telepractice offered an appropriate mode of service delivery that facilitated a high-quality, best practice, and continuous service to Intelligibility Enhancement clients while also permitting student SLPs' ongoing clinical education employing an increasingly utilized technology. Previous research demonstrated the effectiveness of the Intelligibility Enhancement Assessment and Intervention Protocols in increasing English intelligibility in multilingual university students. The modifications necessary to provide this intervention via telepractice in a student-led clinic not only offer a possible solution to supporting multilingual university students' English intelligibility during the COVID-19 pandemic but also will inform the understanding of SLPs providing similar interventions in the future.

Intelligibility in English as a lingua franca – The interpreters’ perspective

Abstract This article aims at examining the topic of ELF intelligibility from the interpreters’ perspective. Therefore, the focus is put on listener factors affecting intelligibility in settings typical for interpreting i.e. monologic settings. Data from various intelligibility studies are compared with results from a study that tested an ELF user’s intelligibility in a conference-like ELF setting and examined the influence of listener variables such as background knowledge, familiarity with ELF use or proficiency in English. In this study, an Italian speaker gave an impromptu speech in English to participants who subsequently were asked to answer written questions on the topic. The results showed that listeners with more experience in ELF settings reached the highest score in the test, while participants with specialist knowledge were unable to profit from it. The participants’ English language skills played a rather subordinate role. The findings of this study may prove useful for considerations in interpreter training and can contribute to the development of concrete, evidence-based training methods for interpreters in the interpreting sub-skill of comprehension.

Using Artificial Intelligence in Learning English as a Foreign Language: an Examination of IELTS LIULISHUO as an Online Platform

EFL (English as a foreign language) learners seem destined to make errors and continuously need to test their changing language levels. However, the unbalance between supply and demand always exists in the process of learning English. Teachers sometimes are also tired of doing repetitive jobs to correct the same mistakes of nonnative speakers. Therefore, many researchers tend to improve the efficiency of learning and teaching processes by using computer-assisted instruction. Specifically, artificial intelligence software is an unstoppable trend to solve this problem. This study aims to find which characteristics in IELTS Liulishuo (an artificial English-learning app to improve IELTS performance) are following the elements of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) pedagogy (Chapelle, 2003). Meanwhile, it will also be evaluated under the mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) principles and some concepts of AI-powered foreign language software, as was put forward by Stockwell (2013) and Pokrivcakova (2019). The results showed that IELTS Liulishuo has affordability to be used as an online platform for foreign English learning. More importantly, it shed some light on CALL pedagogy and the design of artificial applications of foreign language learning.

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.