Spontaneous Speech Production Research Articles

Task complexity effects on L2 speech rhythm in spontaneous speech production

Task-based pronunciation teaching studies have shown that the cognitive complexity of a task affects different aspects of second language (L2) speech, such as vowel accuracy and comprehensibility. However, its impact on L2 speech rhythm is still under-researched, especially in spontaneous pronunciation-unfocused tasks. In this study, we first investigated how task complexity influences L2 speech rhythm, and we then explored how L2 speech rhythm metrics might predict global pronunciation proficiency (comprehensibility and accentedness). Eighty-two Spanish/Catalan bilingual learners of English and a control group of eight native speakers (NSs) completed a simple and a complex version of an adapted monologic decision-making task. Oral production data were analysed using well-established rhythm metrics (%V, VarcoV, nPVI-V, and VarcoC), novel distance measures (Euclidean and Mahalanobis distance scores) and ratings from 13 English NSs. Results showed differential task complexity effects on L2 speech rhythm depending on the rhythm metrics and distance measures considered. Additionally, the %V rhythm metric and the Mahalanobis distance measure accounted for a modest amount of variance in both comprehensibility and accentedness scores, with Mahalanobis distances having a more reliable predicting power. The outcomes of this study point to the importance of further examining the role of task complexity in L2 speech rhythm in spontaneous speech and to what extent L2 speech rhythm is related to global measures of L2 pronunciation proficiency. These findings also highlight the need for identifying which rhythm metrics are more suitable to depict L2 speech elicited through different methods, particularly spontaneous speech.

SELF-ASSESSMENT METACOGNITIVE STRATEGIES IN A SPONTANEOUS ESL SPEECH PRODUCTION CONTEXT

Purpose – Self-assessment is regarded as a complex metacognitive process by scholars. Nevertheless, in the context of English as a Second Language (ESL) speaking, self-assessment practices often rely on assessment criteria and teacher commentaries. However, speaking involves spontaneous expression with limited access to external standards. Therefore, this case study aims to explore the metacognitive strategies that proficient ESL students use during selfassessment in spontaneous speech production contexts. Methodology – Three participants, purposefully selected, participated in two spontaneous group discussions recorded on video. Instances of participants’ dysfluency served as prompts in stimulated recall interviews, complemented by video recordings to validate participants’ responses. The thematic analysis of interview data utilised a conceptual framework integrating O’Malley and Chamot’s (1990) metacognitive strategies and Kormos’ (2006) speech production model. Findings – The analysis revealed that participants employed three key metacognitive strategies – organisational planning, selective attention, and self-monitoring to self-assess their spontaneous speech. Feedback sources, such as their proficiency in the second language (L2) and contextual factors, influenced the application and effectiveness of these strategies during self-assessment (SA). Significance – This study offers insights into how proficient ESL students self-assess their spontaneous speech production, leveraging their available resources. In addition, this study identifies speech challenges the participants encountered and how they applied metacognitive strategies to address them.

SpEx: a German-language dataset of speech and executive function performance

This work presents data from 148 German native speakers (20–55 years of age), who completed several speaking tasks, ranging from formal tests such as word production tests to more ecologically valid spontaneous tasks that were designed to mimic natural speech. This speech data is supplemented by performance measures on several standardised, computer-based executive functioning (EF) tests covering domains of working-memory, cognitive flexibility, inhibition, and attention. The speech and EF data are further complemented by a rich collection of demographic data that documents education level, family status, and physical and psychological well-being. Additionally, the dataset includes information of the participants’ hormone levels (cortisol, progesterone, oestradiol, and testosterone) at the time of testing. This dataset is thus a carefully curated, expansive collection of data that spans over different EF domains and includes both formal speaking tests as well as spontaneous speaking tasks, supplemented by valuable phenotypical information. This will thus provide the unique opportunity to perform a variety of analyses in the context of speech, EF, and inter-individual differences, and to our knowledge is the first of its kind in the German language. We refer to this dataset as SpEx since it combines speech and executive functioning data. Researchers interested in conducting exploratory or hypothesis-driven analyses in the field of individual differences in language and executive functioning, are encouraged to request access to this resource. Applicants will then be provided with an encrypted version of the data which can be downloaded.

Speech Fluency Production and Perception in L1 (Slovak) and L2 (English) Read Speech.

Research on fluency in native (L1) and non-native (L2) speech production and perception helps us understand how individual L1 speaking style might affect perceived L2 fluency and how this relationship might be reflected in L1 versus L2 oral assessment. While the relationship between production and perception of fluency in spontaneous speech has been studied, the information provided by reading has been overlooked. We argue that reading provides a direct and controlled way to assess language proficiency that might complement information gained from spontaneous speaking. This work analyzes the relationship between speech fluency production and perception in passages of L1 (Slovak) and L2 (English) read by 57 undergraduate Slovak students of English and rated for fluency by 15 English teachers who are Slovak natives. We compare acoustic production measures between L1 and L2 and analyze how their effect on perceived fluency differs for the two languages. Our main finding is that the articulation rate, the overall number of pauses, and the number of between-clause and mid-clause pauses predict ratings differently in L1 Slovak versus L2 English. The speech rate and durations of pauses predict ratings similarly in both languages. The contribution of our results to understanding fluency aspects of spontaneous and read speech, the relationship between L1 and L2, the relationship between production and perception, and to the teaching of L2 English are discussed.

Post-stroke aphasia rehabilitation using an adapted visual P300 brain-computer interface training: improvement over time, but specificity remains undetermined.

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of visual P300 brain-computer interface use to support rehabilitation of chronic language production deficits commonly experienced by individuals with a left-sided stroke resulting in post-stroke aphasia. The study involved twelve participants, but five dropped out. Additionally, data points were missing for three participants in the remaining sample of seven participants. The participants underwent four assessments-a baseline, pre-assessment, post-assessment, and follow-up assessment. Between the pre-and post-assessment, the participants underwent at least 14 sessions of visual spelling using a brain-computer interface. The study aimed to investigate the impact of this intervention on attention, language production, and language comprehension and to determine whether there were any potential effects on quality of life and well-being. None of the participants showed a consistent improvement in attention. All participants showed an improvement in spontaneous speech production, and three participants experienced a reduction in aphasia severity. We found an improvement in subjective quality of life and daily functioning. However, we cannot rule out the possibility of unspecific effects causing or at least contributing to these results. Due to challenges in assessing the patient population, resulting in a small sample size and missing data points, the results of using visual P300 brain-computer interfaces for chronic post-stroke aphasia rehabilitation are preliminary. Thus, we cannot decisively judge the potential of this approach.

2 Reading Aloud Elicits Connected Speech and Autocorrection: a Novel Marker of Alzheimer’s Disease and Risk

Objective:Spontaneous speech involves tight coordination of a constellation of cognitive mechanisms (including planning, lexical selection, grammatical encoding, internal & external monitoring). Recent years brought a flurry of interest in detailed analysis of spontaneous speech in search of markers of prodromal Alzheimer’s disease. This work dates back to the nun studies by Snowdon et al (1996) and reveals promise for early detection through identification of subtle but significant changes in the nature of speech output years prior to diagnosis of dementia. A major challenge for neuropsychology is to develop methods to harness the potential sensitivity of language to subtle cognitive changes when testing individuals in clinical settings. In this talk I will present two lines of research that illustrate how reading aloud can be used to engage the cognitive mechanisms of spontaneous speech production in a manner that provides an easily accessible measure of Alzheimer’s disease/risk.Participants and Methods:In the first study, Spanish-English bilinguals with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease (n=20) and proficiency matched controls (n=29) read aloud mixed-language paragraphs with a small number of language-switched words, and we recorded the number of times they automatically translated switch words by accident (e.g., saying pero instead of but; effectively autocorrecting language switches to avoid producing switches overtly). In the second study, cognitively normal monolinguals at risk for AD based on CSF biomarkers (n=14) and controls (n=50) read aloud short paragraphs in which ten critical target words were replaced with autocorrect targets (e.g., The player who scored that final [paint] for the local team reported [him] experience). Participants were instructed to avoid autocorrecting (e.g., avoid saying point instead of paint or his instead of him), and we recorded the number of times they autocorrected by accident.Results:Bilinguals with AD translated switch words more often than controls, and ROC curves revealed good-to-excellent discrimination between patients and controls based solely on the number of errors produced during reading aloud (AUC or Area Under the Curve values ranged from .71-.92). In the second study, cognitively normal monolinguals with high CSF Tau/Aß42 (i.e., an AD-like biomarker profile) produced more autocorrect errors (e.g., saying point instead of paint)than those below the biomarker threshold, and autocorrection errors showed potential for discriminating individuals with higher AD risk from controls (AUC=.76; 95%CI .62-.90).Conclusions:Difficulty stopping automatic translation of language switch words and autocorrection during reading aloud reveals promise as a diagnostic tool. Reading aloud elicits rapid production of hundreds of words while maintaining tight experimental control over the content of speech and harnessing the power and complexity of language to enable detection of very subtle cognitive changes through simple analysis of critical targets. I will discuss the theoretical implications of this work for understanding how bilinguals choose a single language for production, the nature of cognitive impairments in early AD and areas of need for further research to maximize the potential utility of reading aloud for detection of cognitive impairment.

Limited connectedness of spontaneous speech may be a marker of dementia due to Alzheimer's disease.

The study evaluated the connectedness of spontaneous speech production in individuals with dementia as a potential predictor of dementia severity. Data were derived from the baseline sample of 143 individuals with dementia in the English Pitt corpus. Dementia severity was assessed via the Mini Mental Status Exam, the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale, and the Blessed Dementia Scale. Language abilities were evaluated using verbal fluency and picture description tasks. Graph analysis was carried out for the picture description task using the computational tool SpeechGraphs to calculate connectedness. Results demonstrated that higher educational attainment, higher verbal fluency and strongly-connected spontaneous speech were associated with better cognitive function. Results suggest that automated language processing approaches, such as graph structure analysis, may provide a faster and ecologically valid method of detecting dementia symptoms.

Syntactic complexity and diversity of spontaneous speech production in schizophrenia spectrum and major depressive disorders

Syntax, the grammatical structure of sentences, is a fundamental aspect of language. It remains debated whether reduced syntactic complexity is unique to schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD) or whether it is also present in major depressive disorder (MDD). Furthermore, the association of syntax (including syntactic complexity and diversity) with language-related neuropsychology and psychopathological symptoms across disorders remains unclear. Thirty-four SSD patients and thirty-eight MDD patients diagnosed according to DSM-IV-TR as well as forty healthy controls (HC) were included and tasked with describing four pictures from the Thematic Apperception Test. We analyzed the produced speech regarding its syntax delineating measures for syntactic complexity (the total number of main clauses embedding subordinate clauses) and diversity (number of different types of complex sentences). We performed cluster analysis to identify clusters based on syntax and investigated associations of syntactic, to language-related neuropsychological (verbal fluency and verbal episodic memory), and psychopathological measures (positive and negative formal thought disorder) using network analyses. Syntax in SSD was significantly reduced in comparison to MDD and HC, whereas the comparison of HC and MDD revealed no significant differences. No associations were present between speech measures and current medication, duration and severity of illness, age or sex; the single association accounted for was education. A cluster analysis resulted in four clusters with different degrees of syntax across diagnoses. Subjects with less syntax exhibited pronounced positive and negative symptoms and displayed poorer performance in executive functioning, global functioning, and verbal episodic memory. All cluster-based networks indicated varying degrees of domain-specific and cross-domain connections. Measures of syntactic complexity were closely related while syntactic diversity appeared to be a separate node outside of the syntactic network. Cross-domain associations were more salient in more complex syntactic production.

From demonstrative to filler:estein Amazonian Spanish and beyond

AbstractIn Amazonian Spanish,estehas two main functions: demonstrative and filler. Filler-este, which originally evolved from demonstrative-este, serves to deal with word-formulation delays during spontaneous speech production. Analyses of conversations reveal thatesteprimarily functions as a filler: 70% of the tokens ofesteare either fillers serving as placeholders, which replace lexical items in specific syntactic slots, or fillers serving as hesitators, which are non-referential and distributionally free. Further, phonetic analyses show that demonstrative-esteand filler-esteexhibit different phonetic shapes. Demonstrative-estepatterns with disyllabic words with penultimate stress – the first vowel is longer than the second vowel. Filler-esteshows the opposite configuration – the second vowel is significantly longer than the first vowel. The evolution ofestefrom demonstrative to filler may have been facilitated by two conspiring forces: its use as cataphor whose referent comes later in the discourse, and its use for recognitional purposes, in which establishing a referent relies on shared knowledge. This use is often accompanied by signs of hesitation. The diachronic proposal outlined here can account for the emergence of the filler-estein several varieties of Spanish spoken in Latin America. Overall, this study contributes to our understanding of the syntax of real-time interaction.

Chunks, pauses, and holistic processing in Mandarin spontaneous speech.

Chunks are multiword sequences with independent meaning and function, or formulaic based on the intuition of native speakers, hypothesized to be holistically restored and retrieved in the mental lexicon. Previous studies suggest that pauses and intonational boundaries tend to occur at the boundaries of chunks, but less discussion was made on the influence of chunk categories over mental processing and on pause placement associated with intonational continuity. This study adopted spontaneous monologs of Mandarin natives in formal and informal settings. It examined the co-occurrence of chunks and pause-defined processing units and pause placement around chunks to explore to what extent chunks are holistically processed. The results showed that Mandarin chunks were likely to be situated within a single processing unit, indicating chunks as smaller units than processing units in spontaneous speech. Major chunk categories exhibited significantly different patterns in co-occurring with processing units, indicating the influence of chunk properties on the mental processing of chunks. In addition, chunks tended to be fluently processed in spontaneous speech production as fewer hesitations occurred before and during chunk production. Major chunk categories shared a similar threshold in encountering hesitations before chunk production and differed significantly in hesitation distribution during chunk production. Hesitations in the middle of chunks were more likely to be situated within intonation units compared to those before chunk production. Speakers' effort to maintain the intonational continuity of chunks when they encounter processing difficulties reveals the mental reality of the holistic nature of chunks. Furthermore, the co-occurrence of chunks and processing units differed significantly between the formal and informal speech genres, indicating genre influence on the mental processing of chunks. Altogether, the findings of this study have provided implications for theories on chunks and the syntactic-prosody interface and contributed to implications for the design of Mandarin instructions and teaching.

“The challenge was fun”: Critical literacy and growth mindset in L2 multiliteracies

Although second language (L2) experts have advocated for multiliteracies pedagogies in language courses, little is known about how students experience learning with multiliteracies curricula. This article examines the perspectives of 185 undergraduate students enrolled in a fourth-semester French multiliteracies course at a university in the Southwestern United States. Through the theory and pedagogy of multiliteracies, this design-based implementation research investigates how students traversed multimodal composing in 376 video reflections and 265 digital multimodal projects. These data, along with interviews from 10 focal students, are analyzed qualitatively through multimodal transcription, open, axial, and selective coding to illuminate student perceptions. Findings demonstrate how the multimodal projects and the multiliteracies curricula provided students an avenue to develop critical literacy, a growth mindset, and a sense of community. Analysis additionally revealed that students perceived spontaneous speaking and time constraints as tensions in the multiliteracies curriculum. These findings hold implications for designing and scaffolding L2 multiliteracies courses throughout the scope and sequence of university language courses.

Mapping Commission Errors to Grammatical Development: A Case Study of Malayalam

Young children learning Malayalam use morphological categories and inflections quite productively and accurately in general. However, their utterances sometimes show the use of extra morphological material (or commission errors), revealing mismatches between adult and child grammars. In this paper, we present a survey of such errors that are observed in longitudinally collected, spontaneous speech production data of monolingual Malayalam and bilingual Malayalam–English acquiring children in order to identify both the range of commission errors and the underlying grammatical features that may have triggered them. A close analysis of the data shows us that such errors are restricted to a few grammatical loci and shed light on the specific challenges that some grammatical constraints pose for developing grammars.

Spanish–English Cross-Linguistic Influence on Heritage Bilinguals’ Production of Uptalk

The present study examines the production of uptalk in Spanish and in English by Spanish heritage speakers in Southern California. Following the L2 Intonation Learning Theory, we propose that cross-linguistic influence in heritage bilinguals’ uptalk may occur along multiple dimensions of intonation. In this study, we examined the systemic dimension (i.e., presence of uptalk and presence of uptalk with IP-final deaccenting), the frequency dimension (i.e., frequency of uptalk and frequency of uptalk with IP-final deaccenting), and the realizational dimension (i.e., pitch excursion and rise duration) of heritage bilinguals’ uptalk. Our data showed that the three dimensions of intonation demonstrate varying degrees of cross-linguistic influence. The heritage bilinguals produced uptalk with IP-final deaccenting in both languages (i.e., systemic dimension), but produced it more in English than in Spanish (i.e., frequency dimension). That is, IP-final deaccenting emerges in heritage bilinguals’ uptalk in Spanish, but heritage bilinguals seem to recognize that this is an English feature that is not allowed in Spanish and try to suppress it as much as possible when producing uptalk in Spanish. However, in the realizational dimension, the heritage bilinguals demonstrated either phonetic assimilation to English (i.e., pitch excursion) or individual variability conditioned by language learning experience (i.e., rise duration). The asymmetry found across the dimensions suggests that, when bilinguals’ two languages are in competition for finite online resources, such as in the case of spontaneous speech production, phonological distinctions between L1 and L2 prosodic structures are kept, whereas phonetic differences that do not lead to any change in meaning are more prone to undergo cross-linguistic influence in order to reduce online processing cost. This study attempts to fill a gap in the literature on the cross-linguistic influence of intonation by bringing attention to heritage bilinguals. Heritage bilingualism introduces bilingual contexts that are often left unnoticed in traditional L2 acquisition scenarios (e.g., transfer from L2 to L1 intonation, asymmetry between order of acquisition and language dominance). Given that many aspects of cross-linguistic influence are shared across bilinguals, the investigation of heritage bilinguals’ intonation will contribute to building robust models of bilingual intonation.

Brain activity during the preparation and production of spontaneous speech in children with persistent stuttering

Speech production forms the basis for human verbal communication. Though fluent speech production is effortless and automatic for most people, it is disrupted in speakers who stutter, who experience difficulties especially during spontaneous speech and at utterance onsets. Brain areas comprising the basal ganglia thalamocortical (BGTC) motor loop have been a focus of interest in the context of stuttering, given this circuit’s critical role in initiating and sequencing connected speech. Despite the importance of better understanding the role of the BGTC motor loop in supporting overt, spontaneous speech production, capturing brain activity during speech has been challenging to date, due to fMRI artifacts associated with severe head motions during speech production. Here, using an advanced technique that removes speech-related artifacts from fMRI signals, we examined brain activity occurring immediately before, and during, overt spontaneous speech production in 22 children with persistent stuttering (CWS) and 18 children who do not stutter (controls) in the 5-to-12-year age range. Brain activity during speech production was compared in two conditions: spontaneous speech (i.e., requiring language formulation) and automatic speech (i.e., overlearned word sequences). Compared to controls, CWS exhibited significantly reduced left premotor activation during spontaneous speech production but not during automatic speech. Moreover, CWS showed an age-related reduction in left putamen and thalamus activation during speech preparation. These results provide further evidence that stuttering is associated with functional deficits in the BGTC motor loop, which are exacerbated during spontaneous speech production.

Acquisition of stress in the speech of Ammani Arabic-speaking children

ObjectivesThe aim of this research is to examine the developmental stages of acquiring stress in the speech of Ammani Arabic-speaking children (henceforth AASC). MethodsElicited and spontaneous speech productions of 48 typically developing children were transcribed and coded with the primary stress. Words were also analyzed according to their metrical shapes. The children were divided into four age groups: (1; 0–1; 6), (1; 7–2; 0), (2; 1–2; 6), and (2; 7–3; 0). Data were collected through spontaneous speech samples and picture-naming tasks. ResultsAcquisition of stress goes through the four developmental stages until they become adult-like at the age of 3. Children misplace stress in the first two age stages, using an iambic foot in forms having a trochic shape. Thus, they place stress on a syllable with a geminate irrespective of the weight of other syllables. The stress shift stopped when children reached 30 months. Results support the neutral-start hypothesis which shows that children have no bias for any stress type; instead they use both trochaic and iambic feet at the outset of speaking. ConclusionIt was shown that adult weak forms are more likely to be omitted in children's production, and stressed and final ones are often preserved. This conforms with the widely accepted Perceptual Salience.

Exploring the relationship between English speaking skills and the learning environment

The objective of this empirical study is to conduct a survey among linguistics students and teachers teaching English to non-linguistics students in order to identify possible obstacles to the speaking practice development. The purpose of the study is identification the factors forming obstacles to the speaking practice development from teachers and students’ point of view and correlate them with each other in order to improve the teaching speaking skills. A total of 680 students and 125 teachers participated in the survey. This study is based on a survey of respondents and analysis of its results. Teachers identified the following challenges: class heterogeneity; low motivation; the lack of awareness of the importance of speaking for learning English; and the lack of conditions encouraging the speaking practice. The survey of linguistics students identified the following challenges: the lack of spontaneous speaking, сommunication with native speakers, non-applicability of speech skills in real life, the overall climate in the classroom. The research results can be practically used for improving the educational environment for acquiring spoken language skills and as a basis for other studies in the field of learning environment and English proficiency. 
 Keywords: communication skills, English, language learning, speaking practice, spoken English.

Auditory brainstem implantation in children: the case of place of articulation

This study aimed to investigate the development of the production of place of articulation of three children with auditory brainstem implants (ABI) in spontaneous speech production. The main participants were three children implanted with an ABI. They were compared against two different control groups: children with a cochlear implant (CI) and children with normal hearing (NH). Data was obtained fromspontaneous speech between the children and their caregivers. For each word production, the place of articulation of both the target word as the child’s own production was identified. This was broadly identified in three categories: labial, coronal and dorsal. The analysis revealed that in general, the coronal place of articulation was most used in all children’s own production, as well as in the target words, except for one child with ABI, who showed a preference for labials. In terms of accuracy, labial place of articulation was produced more accurately than the coronal place of articulation for all children. The dorsal place of articulation had very low accuracy probabilities. Children with ABI had the lowest accuracy rates. When the place of articulation was not correctly produced, they were often omitted instead of replaced by another place of articulation. It was concluded that the children with ABI benefit from their device, but still have a long way to go to catch up to their peers. It is suggested that sign language is needed to guarantee smooth communication. Keywords: auditory brainstem implantation; pediatric; oral language, place of articulation;labial; coronal; dorsal

Atypical prosodic realization by Mandarin-speaking autistic children: Evidence from tone sandhi and neutral tone

Introduction Atypical prosodic features have been widely reported in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), primarily in non-tonal language speakers. Nevertheless, the prosodic realizations in autistic people who speak tonal languages were relatively understudied. This study aimed to investigate the acoustic and phonetic patterns at the word-level speech in Mandarin-speaking autistic and typically developing (TD) children at different age ranges.Methods Thirty Mandarin-speaking autistic children (15 three- to five-year-olds and 15 six- to eight-year-olds) were recruited into the ASD group. The TD group consisted of 30 age- and gender-matched children. We employed a picture-naming task to elicit the spontaneous speech production of Mandarin disyllabic words in which tone change processes occur, namely Tone 3 (T3) sandhi and neutral tone (T0).Results The phonetic analysis showed that the ASD group generally could produce typical-like T3 sandhi and T0 in terms of pitch height. However, relative to the TD group, they exhibited flatter pitch contours during T3 sandhi production. Moreover, the acoustic pitch mean of citation tones in the ASD group was also significantly higher, accompanied by more rigid pitch curves in contour tones. In addition, the atypical temporal realization in the ASD group was manifested by the longer duration of T0 and the earlier inflection position of T3.Conclusions Mandarin-speaking autistic children under eight had the phonological ability to produce context-dependent tones based on connected tonal information at the word level. Nevertheless, their phonetic prosodic realization of tone change processes was atypical. Our findings provide evidence of atypical prosody in autistic children who speak tone languages. Clinically, these findings may be attributable to underlying neural differences in autistic children.

The Corpus of Irish English Speech

The past years have witnessed the collection of various corpora for the study of Irish English (IE). Most have been developed and driven by diverse research foci with a specific aim in mind, however, at present data sources consist of unavailable and/or outdated audio files of English spoken primarily in Dublin and Belfast. Additionally, a very limited number of investigations on the prosodic features of IE varieties have been conducted to date. As a result, a comprehensive overview of IE prosodic diversity is still missing and existing speech corpora do not allow for the analysis of intonation patterns, which requires more controlled, purpose-built data sets. A prosodic corpus devoted to the analysis of IE varieties needs to be incorporated into the research agenda. This contribution presents the corpus of Irish English Speech (IES) with the following objectives: to collect recordings of spoken IE across present-day Ireland under a unified protocol in order to guarantee comparisons among different datasets; to obtain an initial phonological inventory of each variety examined; to compare the phonological systems of diverse IE varieties; and to provide researchers with accessible and open data sources. The core of the corpus has been gathered in accordance with the guidelines of the Interactive Atlas of Romance Intonation project (Prieto, Borràs-Comes & Roseano, 2011-2014) via a questionnaire based on the Discourse Completion Task, which was translated and readapted for Irish English speakers, and a Map Dialogue Task designed to obtain spontaneous speech productions. This method has yielded the collection of a wide range of intonation patterns concerning different types of context-specific utterances, such as statements, questions, imperatives and vocatives. After an overview of the segmental phonology of IE, previous studies on the prosodic features of IE varieties and the speech corpora of IE will be examined with the purpose of identifying the gaps in existing literature, which will then be followed by a detailed outline of the development of the corpus of IES. This contribution will provide an illustrative example for fully exploiting the potential of the IES database and call for further in-depth investigations on IE prosody.

Creating an Oral Educational Corpus of the Russian Language for Non-Native Speakers: the Initial Results and Prospect

The article presents initial results of the project on design of the oral educational corpus containing a transcribed and annotated collection of spontaneous/unprepared speech recordings of students learning Russian as a foreign language. This article includes a literature review on design of oral corpora; a discussion on how to choose stimuli for production of spontaneous oral speech by non-native speakers; a description of the transcription experience, the classification and the summary of non-standard phonetic and communicative phenomena; the quality examination of a number of deviances which properties are impossible to investigate in the written speech. The article explores the following prosodic features typical for the oral speech of a foreign student: pauses, hesitations (voiced pauses), physiological pauses, phonetic inaccuracies, and self-corrections. The quantitative examination of the four trial speech pieces revealed the fact that the recordings do not demonstrate any differences in terms of the number of physiological pauses. However, there are significant fluctuations in the number of phonetic inaccuracies, voiced pauses and self-corrections. Comparing the above mentioned observations we identified several profiles, which reflect communicative performance of the speaker: a) the profile with a significant number of pauses indicating planning of the statement, but with a few corrections and phonetic inaccuracies; in this case the foreigner’s speech is slow but grammatically and phonetically more accurate and cohesive; b) the profile with a significant number of pauses, phonetic inaccuracies and self-corrections: the speaker has difficulties with statement planning and pronunciation; с) the profile with a few pauses and hesitations, but with a significant number of phonetic inaccuracies: the speech is quite fast, while the pronunciation is rather poor.