Pronunciation Norms Research Articles

Affricate gemination in the English of Polish speakers: A study in second language variability

This study investigates the nature of the acoustic variation in sequences of identical affricates produced by Polish learners of English. In both English and Polish sequences of identical affricates occur across word boundaries, but only in Polish do such sequences also occur root internally and across morpheme boundaries. In Polish sequences of identical affricates are manifested variably both by rearticulation of both affricates and by articulation of a single affricate but with lengthened duration of either the stop or the fricative. To investigate their English, the subjects performed two tasks: repetition of 12 English sentences and orally responding to 17 multiple choice questions. The task produced significant cross-speaker differences in the phonetics of the geminates, differences correlated with differences in their proficiency levels in English. The more Polish-like singly articulated long affricates were produced by 22% of the intermediate speakers but by 48% of the advanced speakers, the opposite of what one might expect. The intermediate speakers appear to have paid more attention to the phonetics of the English cues, thus producing more fully rearticulated affricates; the more advanced speakers appear to have paid less attention to the phonetics of the cues, thus reverting more to the norms of Polish pronunciation.

Sound barriers: influences of social prestige, peer pressure and teacher (dis)approval on FL oral performance

Social pressure and prestige have been viewed as barriers to oral performance in the L2 classroom, but their impact has not been extensively examined in foreign language (FL) contexts. Learner decisions to accept or reject prescriptive pronunciation norms may confer prestige, which may both privilege and marginalize novice classroom learners. This paper examines how adult, monolingual FL learners’ oral performance is affected by the degree to which they associate prestige with classmate and teacher (dis)approval. We explore relationships among the following variables: (1) learners’ views of their own and their peers’ pronunciation skills; (2) values associated with native-like speech; (3) beliefs about social conditions favourable to target-like speech; and (4) the accuracy of learners’ perceptions of desirable pronunciation patterns. Data are drawn from 11 audio-recorded FL class sessions, 10 ethnographic interviews, and questionnaire responses supplied by 282 students in French and Spanish cohorts. Analyses reveal that participants profess a strong desire to attain ‘standard’ pronunciation. However, findings also highlight striking disjunctions between learners’ perceptions and their observed production, reflecting a concern for social status and solidarity. Finally, results expose a tendency to inflate oral performance self-assessments, which may conceal learners’ inability to notice mismatches between their production and target norms.

Which pronunciation norms and models for English as an International Language?

The recent growth in the use of English as an International Language (EIL) has led to changes in learners' pronunciation needs and goals. The acquisition of a native-like accent is no longer the ultimate objective of the majority of learners, nor is communication with native speakers their primary motivation for learning English. Instead, what they need above all is to be able to communicate successfully with other non-native speakers of English from different L1 backgrounds. This article proposes that with English assuming the position of the world's major lingua franca, a radical rethink is called for in terms of the role of pronunciation and its aims within the ELT curriculum. In particular, there is an urgent need to consider the question of which pronunciation norms and models are most appropriate for classes aiming to prepare learners for interaction in EIL contexts, and to raise teachers' awareness of the issues involved.

Modelos probabilísticos multinomiales para el estudio del ceceo, seseo y distinción de /s/ y /?/: datos de la ciudad de Málaga

The aim of this paper is to propose a multinomial probabilistic model able to account for the variation of /?s/ in Southern Spanish varieties. The current analyses carried up till now are based on frequency counts of mergers between /s/ and /?/, which are labeled 'ceceo' and 'seseo', as two social and regional norms of pronunciation. Standard Spanish distinction between /s/ and /?/ is therefore to be deduced from the total body of cases, counting every [s] corresponding to an etymological or canonical s as an occurrence of /s/, including the tokens of those individuals whose pronunciation pattern of /?s/ is overtly 'seseo' (exactly the same for the contrary case of 'ceceo'). Since both types (s > ? and ? > s) currently coexist in Southern speech communities as in Málaga city, it is not obvious to decide about the high proportion of cases where /s/ and /?/ are pronounced in a canonical way. Therefore we need a procedure to decide the rate of cases of canonical pronunciation due to chance. Two related multinomial models have been developed, implemented and tested on a sociological body of data from a social network of 31 individuals from Málaga city, extracted from a sociolinguistic investigation of vernacular varieties in Málaga (M.U.V.-Project). The first model calculates the single probability of seseo (s > s and ? > s), ceceo (? > ? and s > ?) and distinction (s > s and ? > ?) for every individual studied. The second model calculates the single probability of distinction (s > s and ? > ?) vs. the single probability of reduction or 'confusión' (s > ? and ? > s). To measure the degree of fit of both models, a maximum likelihood estimator has been developed with consistent and hopeful results. Comparison between relative frequency and probabilistic results demonstrates, finally, the more realistic approach lo this problem on the basis presented here.

Language shift in standard Italian and dialect: A case study

ABSTRACTThe level of penetration of standard Italian pronunciation norms into a rural Southern Italian dialect is examined, and the factors that influenced this italianization are assessed.

NORMA KULTIVOVANÉ VÝSLOVNOSTI, JEJÍ POPIS A OSVOJOVÁNÍ

The norm of received pronunciation and its description in the codification does not have a long tradition. Beside short remarks in grammars, several short individual works were written since the mid-19th century but they were usually not generally accepted. Although 75 years ago, general guidelines for the codification of the pronunciation in Czech were proposed, followed by the first publication 60 years ago, its practical implementation was difficult. It should have an impact on public speech but the articulation mechanism is fixed naturally since childhood, and the defects are hard to remove without motivation. What is more, pronunciation instructions are presented in a written form, and it is necessary to express them with the user – a layman – in mind. Still, endeavours should be made to understand and to codify the pronunciation norms.