This study describes the prosodic and functional patterns of the particle "t?ayb[superscript 2]" in Spoken Saudi Arabic (SSA; the variety of Arabic spoken in Saudi Arabia) through phonetic and conversational analysis. This particle, literally meaning "good/well/okay," is one of the most common spoken particles used in SSA. Data…

This dissertation examines heritage language learners of Spanish enrolled in university Spanish courses, focusing on their strategic use of suprasegmental speech features in two speaking tasks. The research investigates attitudes' influence on heritage language learners' speech production in different task types. Participants engaged in two…

In spoken discourse, understanding irony requires the apprehension of subtle cues, such as the speaker's tone of voice (prosody), which often reveal the speaker's affective stance toward the listener in the context of the utterance. To shed light on the interplay of linguistic content and prosody on impressions of spoken criticisms and compliments…

We report on three experiments that aim at measuring the role of prosody in the acceptability and interpretation of discourse relations between utterances connected by two French discourse markers, viz. "et" "and" and "alors" "then/well." These two discourse markers are highly polyfunctional: "et"…

Although videos are now used pervasively in English as a Foreign Language settings, most existing literature centers on learners as knowledge receivers or passive video viewers (Lialikhova, 2014; Fisher & Frey, 2015; Bakar et al., 2019). Rarely do studies involving videos engaged learners as knowledge generators or active, self-directed…

The current project longitudinally investigated the extent to which first-year Japanese university students developed their second language (L2) oral ability in relation to increased input in foreign language classrooms. Their spontaneous speech was elicited at the beginning, middle and end of one academic year, and then judged by linguistically…

The paper presents the research on the effectiveness of the future translator and / or interpreter training using modern methods which facilitate the development of their professional competency in bilateral interpreting. The authors analyse psychological and pedagogical experience, modern educational technologies and prospects for future…

This study determines the fine-grained bottom-up linguistic features involved in successful second language (L2) English academic group oral tutorial discussion through the use of a spoken learner corpus composed of more than 20 hrs of L2 production. Student performances were graded by teacher-raters using a can-do rating scale, which assessed…

Research and development of a new type of scoring rubric for the integrated speaking tasks of "TOEFL iBT"® are described. These "analytic rating guides" could be helpful if tasks modeled after those in TOEFL iBT were used for formative assessment, a purpose which is different from TOEFL iBT's primary use for admission…

The current study lays the groundwork for a model of Mandarin tones based on both native speakers' and non-native speakers' perception and production. It demonstrates that there is variability in non-native speakers' tone productions and that there are differences in the perceptual boundaries in native speakers and non-native speakers. There…

Designed to assess a reader's comprehension of items differing in contrastive vocal stress, this test consists of 64 items divided evenly between eight sentence types: declarative active, declarative passive, interrogative, and imperative, with each in a positive and negative form. The element of contrastive stress is placed on nouns functioning…

Twenty different monologues were analyzed; and the interrelating roles that clause relations, lexico-grammatical cohesion, and intonation choices play in creating cohesive monologue were examined. It is argued that these linguistic resources can be exploited by speakers to signal underlying concepts and help listeners interpret the text. (Contains…

Examined the intonation of second-language speakers of English from three language groups--Spanish, Japanese, and Thai--focusing on how native nonnative speakers use intonation to signal meaning in the structure of their discourse. Results revealed that nonnative speakers did not consistently use pitch to signal meaningful contrasts in many…

A study of feedback in conversational question-response exchanges focused on the questioner's feedback to the respondent. It examined three types of "followup" moves: the ordinary type revealing the questioner's attitude to the response and closing the exchange; the type signaling the questioner's reaction to the response and inviting…