Minimal Pairs Research Articles

Study of minimal invariant pairs for relatively nonexpansive mappings with respect to orbits

ABSTRACT In this article, we survey the existence of best proximity pairs for noncyclic contractions with respect to orbits which are defined on a non-convex and weakly compact pair of subsets of a strictly convex Banach space. We then consider the class of relatively nonexpansive mappings with respect to orbits and present a characterization for proximal normal structure. Finally, the structure of minimal invariant pairs under relatively nonexpansive mappings with respect to orbits will be studied. Our conclusions improve and extend the well-known results in the literature.

The Implementation of Cooperative Script Learning Model to Increase Students' Intensive Speaking Skill

Intensive speaking is drills or repetitions focusing on specific phonological or grammatical points, such as minimal pairs or repetition of a series of imperative sentences, where learners are going over to practice some phonological or grammatical aspect of language. Cooperative script learning model is a learning where students work in pairs and take turns verbally summarizing the parts of the material being studied.The purpose of this research was to know the difference students’ intensive speaking skill before and after using cooperative script learning model atSMK DDI Parepare.The samples of this research were 23 students from XI TKJ (Teknik Komputer dan Jaringan) class and XI PMR (Bisnis Daring danPemasaran) class. The researcher used cluster sampling technique to decide the sample.The researcher used pre-experimental design in one group was given pre-test, treatment and post-test design.To collect the data, the researcher used tests that are pre-test and post-test. The researcher also gave observation.The result in this research was indicated that there was the improvement of the students’ intensive speaking skill. It was indicated by the students’ mean score of post-test (7) was greater than pre-test (5.5). Even, for the level significant (p) 5 % and df = 21, and the value of table is 1.721, while the value of t-test is 12.5. It means that the t-test value is greater than t-table (12.5 1.721). Thus, it can be concluded that the students’ intensive speaking skill is significant better after getting the treatment. So, the null hypothesis (H0) is rejected.

Impact of Watching Cartoons on Pronunciation of a Child in an EFL Setting: A Comparative Study with Problematic Sounds of EFL Learners

The purpose of this study is to describe a longitudinal case study of pronunciation acquisition for an Arabic child who watched English TV cartoons in an English as a foreign language (EFL) setting, basically in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia. The child, whose name is Anmar, was raised in a typical Arabic environment where Arabic was the only means of communication he experienced. He watched selected English TV cartoons since he was three years old and until he was ten years old. This research study focused on Anamr's acquisition of pronunciation, although the chances to use the language were very limited due to his EFL environment. Additionally, the study aims at comparing Anmar's pronunciation of problematic sounds to Arab learners of English, as stated in previous studies. The research adopted a longitudinal research methodology aiming to find if watching English TV cartoons without even minimum use of language could impact the child's pronunciation compared to his counterparts of Arab learners of English. Therefore, this research utilized some methods, including rating some audio and video recordings of conversations with his father and storytelling. Two native speakers of English rated his performance. A mispronunciation recognition test was carried out to evaluate Anmar's recognition of mispronunciation. The study found out that Anmar's pronunciation was native-like. He far outperformed the Arab learners of English concerning the problematic sounds to Arab learners. He easily differentiates between, for instance, minimal pairs, diphthongs, consonant clusters, vowels, and intonation. The study concluded that children might acquire English pronunciation by watching TV cartoons to be able to overcome the pronunciation problems that many Arab speakers experience. Additionally, English learners in elementary schools may watch such programs to train them to listen to authentic language in media.

Only the right noise? Effects of phonetic and visual input variability on 14-month-olds' minimal pair word learning.

Seminal work by Werker and colleagues (Stager & Werker [1997] Nature, 388, 381-382) has found that 14-month-old infants do not show evidence for learning minimal pairs in the habituation-switch paradigm. However, when multiple speakers produce the minimal pair in acoustically variable ways, infants' performance improves in comparison to a single speaker condition (Rost & McMurray [2009] Developmental Science, 12, 339-349). The current study further extends these results and assesses how different kinds of input variability affect 14-month-olds' minimal pair learning in the habituation-switch paradigm testing German learning infants. The first two experiments investigated word learning when the labels were spoken by a single speaker versus when the labels were spoken by multiple speakers. In the third experiment we studied whether non-acoustic variability, implemented by visual variability of the objects presented together with the labels, would also affect minimal pair learning. We found enhanced learning in the multiple speakers compared to the single speaker condition, confirming previous findings with English-learning infants. In contrast, visual variability of the presented objects did not support learning. These findings both confirm and better delimit the beneficial role of speech-specific variability in minimal pair learning. Finally, we review different proposals on the mechanisms via which variability confers benefits to learning and outline what may be likely principles that underlie this benefit. We highlight among these the multiplicity of acoustic cues signalling phonemic contrasts and the presence of relations among these cues. It is in these relations where we trace part of the source for the apparent paradoxical benefit of variability in learning.

An ω-REA set forming a minimal pair with 0 ~ ′

It is easy to see that no n -REA set can form a (non-trivial) minimal pair with 0 ~ ′ and only slightly more difficult to observe that no ω -REA set can form a (non-trivial) minimal pair with 0 ~ ″ . Shore has asked whether this can be improved to sh

Orthogonality for (0, −1) tropical normal matrices

AbstractWe study pairs of mutually orthogonal normal matrices with respect to tropical multiplication. Minimal orthogonal pairs are characterized. The diameter and girth of three graphs arising from the orthogonality equivalence relation are computed.

Pronunciation Pedagogy and Intelligibility Issues in Language Acquisition

Language teachers’ knowledge of pronunciation pedagogy affects their classroom practice. The study sought to find out language approaches used to teach pronunciation and to establish how teachers’ mastery of pronunciation facilitate the acquisition of sounds by learners. The findings revealed that teachers of English had challenges when teaching pronunciation hindering mastery of English sounds by learners. Some of their pronunciation was not comprehensible distorting meaning. They used imitation, phonetic transcriptions, minimal pair drills and sentence drills to teach pronunciation. It was established that some of them had pronunciation difficulties affecting the intelligibility or comprehensibility of what they were communicating about. Learners do not have to achieve native like pronunciation but they should surpass the threshold level to ensure that their pronunciation does not distort the meaning of what they communicate. When a teacher who is meant to be a role model and source of input for learners uses incomprehensible pronunciation distorting meaning, it is a significant setback to English Language Teaching (ELT). There is need to reassess policies concerning who should be trained to teach English as a Second Language.

Performance of normal hearing school age children on Hindi minimal pair test

Speech perception is the process of transforming a continuously changing acoustic signal into discrete linguistic units and is a developmental process having several aspects i.e. Pattern perception, Perception of phonemic contrasts, Vowel & Sentence perception. There is no standardized minimal pair test material available for testing Hindi school aged children and no normative data for this test is available in Indian scenario. Such normative data will act as a reference for using of Hindi Minimal Pair Test (HMPT) test with children with hearing impairment in clinical situation. Hence, this study is warranted. The aim of study is to obtain normative data for school aged children on HMPT of speech perception. A total of 200 participants were included in the study. Each subject underwent Otoscopic examination, Oto Acoustic Emission, Pure tone audiometry, Immittance audiometry and Screening for CAPD. This study indicates perception of minimal pair contrast significantly improves as the age increases. P value obtained for comparison between males and females is 0.62 which is greater than 0.05 suggesting no significant difference between mean scores of male and female participants. For age comparison obtained p value is 0.00, suggesting a significant difference between the two age groups. P value of 0.051 for interaction suggests no significant interaction between age and sex statistically.

Phonetic Feature Interpretation in Second Language Phonology: The Acquisition of the Final Obstruent Voicing Contrast

Although languages may share certain phonological features, their phonetic realizations can be variable. The classical example is the difference in VOT as the underlying factor of the binary distinction in voicing. In this paper, we examine the voicing contrast of English final obstruents (plosives and fricatives) in the production of native speakers of Serbian. The paper reports the results of a production experiment, in which 14 relatively proficient speakers of English as L2 read eight monosyllabic words (minimal pairs) inside frame sentences. Although both English and Serbian contrast final voiced and voiceless obstruents, the results indicate that L2 speakers in our study have not fully mastered the phonetic realization of word-final voicing in English, but greatly retain the phonetic realization of voicing typical of their L1.

Impact of Watching Cartoons on Pronunciation of a Child in an EFL Setting: A Comparative Study with Problematic Sounds of EFL Learners

The purpose of this study is to describe a longitudinal case study of pronunciation acquisition for an Arabic child who watched English TV cartoons in an English as a foreign language (EFL) setting, basically in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia. The child, whose name is Anmar, was raised in a typical Arabic environment where Arabic was the only means of communication he experienced. He watched selected English TV cartoons since he was three years old and until he was ten years old. This research study focused on Anamr's acquisition of pronunciation, although the chances to use the language were very limited due to his EFL environment. Additionally, the study aims at comparing Anmar's pronunciation of problematic sounds to Arab learners of English, as stated in previous studies. The research adopted a longitudinal research methodology aiming to find if watching English TV cartoons without even minimum use of language could impact the child's pronunciation compared to his counterparts of Arab learners of English. Therefore, this research utilized some methods, including rating some audio and video recordings of conversations with his father and storytelling. Two native speakers of English rated his performance. A mispronunciation recognition test was carried out to evaluate Anmar's recognition of mispronunciation. The study found out that Anmar's pronunciation was native-like. He far outperformed the Arab learners of English concerning the problematic sounds to Arab learners. He easily differentiates between, for instance, minimal pairs, diphthongs, consonant clusters, vowels, and intonation. The study concluded that children might acquire English pronunciation by watching TV cartoons to be able to overcome the pronunciation problems that many Arab speakers experience. Additionally, English learners in elementary schools may watch such programs to train them to listen to authentic language in media.

Qualitative and Quantitative Distinctions Between Lexical Accents of Standard Serbian in the Speech of Novi Sad (Minimal Pair Corpus)

Qualitative and Quantitative Distinctions Between Lexical Accents of Standard Serbian in the Speech of Novi Sad (Minimal Pair Corpus)

Using Challenges to Enhance a Learning Game for Pronunciation Training of English as a Second Language

Learning games have a remarkable potential for education. They provide an emergent form of social participation that deserves the assessment of their usefulness and efficiency in learning processes. This study describes a novel learning game for foreign pronunciation training in which players can challenge each other. Native Spanish speakers performed several pronunciation activities during a one-month competition using a mobile application, designed under a minimal pairs approach, to improve their pronunciation of English as a foreign language. This game took place in a competitive scenario in which students had to challenge other participants in order to get high scores and climb up a leaderboard. Results show intense practice supported by a significant number of activities and playing regularity, so the most active and motivated players in the competition achieved significant pronunciation improvement results. The integration of automatic speech recognition (ASR) and text-to-speech (TTS) technology allowed users to improve their pronunciation while being immersed in a highly motivational game.

TEACHING PHONETICS TO ENHANCE PRONUNCIATION IN AN ESL CLASSROOM

This paper highlights the importance of English pronunciation for an ESL learner while speaking the language to a native speaker as well as understanding the context of another English speaker. This paper also throws light upon the importance of phonetics in teaching pronunciation. The researcher attempts to find out the factors affecting English pronunciation of ESL learners by conducting an experiment on Indian university level students as samples. The selection of student sample is done through ‘purposive sampling technique’. Based on the observations obtained from the experiment conducted by the researcher, the necessary methods and techniques that is feasible and adaptable for the learners to enhance their English pronunciation based on CLT (Communicative Language Teaching) theory is suggested. Acquiring native like pronunciation is not a short-term process. A few effective methods like drilling and minimal pair techniques will help language teachers to gradually give the learners an insight about the English sound system and support in the development of spontaneous speaking.

Emphasis, Manner, and Voice in Urban Jordanian Arabic: Linguistic and Extralinguistic Interactions

The present paper examines the impact of extra-linguistic variables (gender and social class) on the linguistic interaction between emphasis and manner, on the one hand, and voice, on the other hand, in Urban Jordanian Arabic. To achieve this goal, 40 participants produced 12 monosyllabic CVC minimal pairs with the target consonant (plain or emphatic) occurring word-initially. Measurements taken were F1, F2, and F3 at vowel onset and midpoint positions. Acoustically, it was found that emphasis was stronger following a stop than following a fricative, and it is more pronounced following a voiced consonant than following a voiceless one. However, the extra-linguistic factors did not have a strong bearing on these linguistic interactions. In general, the interaction between emphasis and manner or voice was not influenced by gender or social class. An exception to this finding was the overlap between emphasis and manner at F1 onset, where the interplay of both gender and social class affected the linguistic interaction. In particular, upper-class males produced stronger emphasis following stops than following fricatives, whereas lower-middle class males produced stronger emphasis following a fricative than following a stop..

Durational properties of Polish geminate consonants.

Polish is a geminating language with true lexical geminates that form minimal pairs with their singleton counterparts. What is more, Polish, unlike many other geminating languages, allows both single-articulated and rearticulated geminate realisations. In this study, durational properties of Polish geminates together with preceding and following vowels were analysed to compare Polish to other geminating languages. Fifty-four native speakers of Polish were recorded producing geminates and singletons in controlled carrier sentences during a reading task. The results revealed that the main durational cue to the geminate/singleton contrast was consonant duration with a geminate-to-singleton ratio (G/S) of 2.48. Vowels preceding or following geminates and singletons did not differ significantly in duration. Rearticulated geminates occurred 22% of the time and were not significantly longer or shorter than single-articulated geminates. The current results locate Polish among the languages with a medium-to-high G/S ratio and without vowel duration as a cue to a geminate/singleton contrast. Finally, the results allow for the discussion of the behaviour of Polish geminates relative to other languages as well as to indicate directions for further research into the phenomenon of geminate rearticulation.

The phonology and micro-typology of Arabic R

The R sound exhibits considerable variability both across and within Arabic dialects; one that covers place and manner of articulation, as well as the notorious emphatic-plain distinction. Some R phones are in contrastive distribution, while others are contextually conditioned or free variants. This article aims to establish the underlying R phonemes in the spoken varieties of Arabic, evidence of which is sought in R’s dialect-specific phonological behavior: in minimal pair contrasts, distributional phenomena, loanword phonology, and phonological processes that target or are triggered by R. Investigation of such evidence reveals four major patterns based on the nature and number of R phonemes, consequently classifying Arabic dialects into four types: the split-R dialects (primarily Maghrebi and Egyptian dialect groups), the emphatic-R dialects (the Levantine group), the plain-R dialects (the Gulf group together with most peripheral dialects), and the uvular-R dialects (the qeltu-dialects of Mesopotamia). The analysis employs a minimalist, contrast-based model of feature geometry to characterize aspects of the attested R’s – such as emphatic-ness, coronality, dorsality, and sonority – and shows that the typology is directly mirrored in the representation. This has theoretical implications as well. Diverse rhotic representations within closely related language varieties demonstrate that distinctive features should not be interpreted as rigidly as is often assumed, and call attention to the semi-arbitrary relationship between phonetics and phonology.

A MINIMAL PAIR IN THE GENERIC DEGREES

AbstractWe show that there is a minimal pair in the nonuniform generic degrees, and hence also in the uniform generic degrees. This fact contrasts with Igusa’s result that there are no minimal pairs for relative generic computability and answers a basic structural question mentioned in several papers in the area.

On the symmetric intersection of Rauzy fractals associated with the k-bonacci substitution

In this article, we study the intersection of Rauzy fractals associated with the k-bonacci substitution and its reversed substitution. Applying the balanced pair algorithm to these two substitutions, we characterise all minimal balanced pairs, and we obtain a general formula for the associated intersection substitution. This substitution is defined over letters.

Korean EFL Learners’ Identification of English Consonant Contrasts in Word-final Position

The study investigated whether Korean EFL learners’ identification of English consonant contrasts in word-final position was affected by the types of contrasting consonants and by vowel contexts. The study also examined whether Korean EFL learners’ identification accuracy had a correlation with their English listening comprehension test scores. To that end, 123 Korean high school students completed an English consonant identification task with English nonce words. The nonce word stimuli consisted of 8 types of English consonant minimal pairs (/p-f/, /b-v/, /t-ɵ/, /d-ð/, /s-ʧ/, /z-ʤ/, /s-ɵ/, /z-ð/) combined with one of three vowels (/i, a, u/). The results showed that both the types of contrasting consonants and vowel contexts had a great impact on Korean high school students’ identification of English consonant contrasts in word-final position. Korean high school students’ ability to identify English consonant contrasts was also correlated with their English listening comprehension test scores. Based on the findings of the study, some implications for the teaching and learning of English consonant contrasts for Korean EFL learners were drawn. (Korea University)

Quelques caractéristiques phonologiques de la langue wu parlée à Suzhou

According to the traditional view, the Wu language is different from other Sinitic languages by preserving tonal system and the voicing realization of Middle Chinese. This recent study zooms in on Wu spoken in the Suzhou City. An analysis of diachronic evolution of Chinese language is presented to understand the difference between Wu and Mandarin. The phonological system of occlusives of Suzhou Wu is also presented and examined with minimal pairs and the tonal system is described after the acoustic experimentation.