Purpose: This study examined the effects of lexical tone contour on the intelligibility of Mandarin sentences in quiet and in noise. Method: A text-to-speech synthesis engine was used to synthesize Mandarin sentences with each word carrying the original lexical tone, flat tone, or a tone randomly selected from the 4 Mandarin lexical tones. The…

This article details the use of field recorders as part of a soundwalk intended to make listening itself an object of scrutiny. A soundwalk is an outing wherein one concentrates on listening to certain aspects of the soundscape, just as one might take a guided tour to admire the landscape. However, as scholars of sound and listening are well…

In ordinary life we are constantly imbued by listening, and we seem to interact in different contextual dimensions of culture and society (Adelmann, 2002; Linell, 1998), both verbally and nonverbally. "Life by its very nature is dialogic. To live means to participate in dialogue," according to the Russian scholar Mikhail M. Bakhtin (1984, p.…

The purpose of this paper is to examine the intelligibility and attitude towards four English varieties to Korean-speaking learners (KSLs) of English, who have been exposed mainly to General American (or Korean-accented English) in their English language learning classrooms throughout the primary and secondary schools. A total of 105 Korean…

Reading difficulties in school are very challenging for teachers due to many different reader subtypes in one and the same class. Moreover, there are few easy-to-use tools enabling teachers to assess reading ability. According to the Simple View of Reading (Hoover and Gough in "Reading and Writing", 2(2), 127-160, 1990), efficient…

Around the world, English language educators are increasingly turning to localized and culturally-oriented learning materials to adapt to the needs of their learners. Along with this trend, a small but growing number of studies support the notion that culturally familiar contexts in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning have positive…

Psychological and spiritual effects of music on people have been revealed by various studies and still continue to be investigated. The sound which has existed since the first formation of the universe; and music and music therapy which are as old as the history of mankind have constituted one of the treatment methods widely investigated at…

The present study was aimed at conducting parental evaluations of the auditory-verbal therapy approach (AVT) and to assess the relevance of this approach for children with hearing loss and their families in Denmark. The children's social well-being was also investigated. Questionnaires were developed to evaluate parental perceptions of AVT. A…

To assess the effects and learner perceptions of context-aware ubiquitous language learning (CAULL), a green-building English-learning application (GBELA) employing sensing technology was created to develop participants' English listening and reading skills using smartphones and QR codes. This study investigated the effects of 40 participants'…

The purpose of the study was to explore the cognitive profiles associated with inadequate responsiveness to fractions intervention on 3 fractions outcomes (calculations, ordering, and word problems). At the start of 3rd grade, 2 cohorts of students (N = 124) identified at the start of intervention as at-risk for mathematics difficulties were…

This paper investigates the perception of phonotactics by Saudi English majors, beginners and advanced. Due to the significance of pronunciation of consonant clusters, which are almost absent from Arabic, this work attempts to find the extent to which beginner and advanced English majors accept or reject permissible and impermissible sounds…

Supra-segmental features refer to various forms of intonation and how words and sentences are uttered. Such features challenge meaning and comprehension, too. Despite the importance of these features and their reported association with phonological awareness and linguistic comprehension, their effects on reading comprehension have not been…

Placing young learners at the center of the teaching attention and learning process is considered to be of high importance in the teachers' attempt to help them be motivated to participate in the learning activities (Holderness, 1991, p.19). Towards that goal, young learners' characteristics such as imagination, creativity, curiosity and love for…

The present study aims to explore perceptions of young learners and EFL teachers towards benefits and barriers of digital literacy. Eight young learners and five EFL teachers took part in this qualitative study. In-depth semi-structured interviews were employed to collect qualitative data. The results depict that there are benefits and barriers of…

The present study examined the interaction effects between teachers' choice of language in lexical explanation and second language (L2) learners' proficiency level on the learning of phrasal verbs and listening comprehension in a meaning-focused listening activity. Undergraduate L2 learners with two different levels of proficiency (intermediate…