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ERIC Number: EJ1422833
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Nov
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1718-2298
EISSN: EISSN-2200-2014
Available Date: N/A
How Well is English with Mora-Timed Rhythm Understood by a Multilingual Community?
Tomokazu Nakayama; Seoh Koon Tan; Hoo Chun Pek
Journal of English as an International Language, v11 n2 p35-42 2016
This study investigates the intelligibility of English with mora-timed rhythm or Japanese Katakana Hatsuon Eigo among NNSs living in a multilingual community, utilizing shadowing to measure the concept of intelligibility. Eighty-six participants (10 Malay NSs, 28 Mandarin NSs, and 30 Tamil NSs) were asked to shadow a recording of a 300-word English speech read aloud by a Japanese speaker, and to check their understanding by comparing the written transcript of the speech to their shadowed voices. The analysis revealed that the overall average of shadowing performance was 46.84% (the Mandarin NSs had a performance score of 33%, the Tamil NSs oriented of 49.54%, and the Malay NSs of 57.67%). Further statistical analysis indicates that the Tamil NSs and Malay NSs significantly outperformed the Mandarin NSs (p<0.01, p<0.01). These findings suggest that: 1) teachers and policy makers should be aware that even heavily Japanese-accented speech preserves intelligibility to some extent and that the listeners' mother tongue might affect such intelligibility, and 2) teachers and policy makers should find a way to promote both intelligibility and Japanese identity in students' pronunciation.
English Language Education Publishing. Site Skills Training - Clark, Centennial Road, Clark Freeport Zone, Clark, Pampanga 2023, Philippines. e-mail: asianefl@gmail.com; Web site: https://www.elejournals.com/journal-of-english-as-an-international-language/; Web site: https://www.eilj.com/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Malaysia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A