This article maintains that the generative analysis of English phonology can fill a long-empty and little-recognized gap in ESL (English as a second language) pronunciation instruction. One must understand where generative phonology fits into the teaching of pronunciation and how generative insights can be translated into a pedagogically useful…

Discusses the questions of which pronunciation model should be used in German courses and how closely students should be expected to duplicate it. After a short history of efforts to standardize German, it is suggested that the new "Aussprache Duden" is a good basis for teaching pronunciation. (Text is in German.) (TL)

This book is designed to give beginning students immediate help with English pronunciation. The book concentrates on topics, such as rhythm, intonation, and sounds as grammar cues, that will make the biggest difference in students' ability to understand and communicate with others. With its graphics-based approach, the book makes it possible to…

Two language teachers offer guidance to help other English-as-a-Second-/Foreign-Language educators incorporate pronunciation activities into oral communication courses as well as other instructional settings. (Author/VWL)

This dissertation provides an automated scoring method of speech fluency for second language learners of English (L2 learners) based that uses speech recognition technology. Non-standard pronunciation, frequent disfluencies, faulty grammar, and inappropriate lexical choices are crucial characteristics of L2 learners' speech. Due to the ease of…

Learners who begin to acquire a second language (L2) in a naturalistic environment after puberty are thought to be constrained by biological age factors and to have greater difficulty obtaining native-like L2. However, the extant literature suggests that L2 acquisition may be positively affected by post-maturational factors, such as acculturation.…

This paper describes the cultural semantics of internet courses in American accent. Such courses are offered by corporate providers to specific groups of customers: people in search of success in the globalized business environment. The core of such courses is an order of indexicality which stresses uniformity and homogeneity, producing an…

Issues regarding English language learning such as pronunciation, motivation and learning strategies are raised. Li Yang, an example of successful learner is cited for learners who are less successful in China. Fundamental issues that need to be dealt with include pronunciation. Phonetics is an area where there has been little emphasis in foreign…

Childhood experience with a language seems to help adult learners speak it with a more native-like accent. Can analogous benefits be found beyond phonology? This study focused on adult learners of Spanish who had spoken Spanish as their native language before age 7 and only minimally, if at all, thereafter until they began to re-learn Spanish…

The purpose of this research was to investigate the nature of listeners' attitudes toward foreign-accented speech and the manner in which those attitudes are formed. This study measured 165 participants' implicit and explicit attitudes toward US- and foreign-accented audio stimuli. Implicit attitudes were measured with an audio Implicit…

The importance of phonological syllables in recognition and pronunciation of visual words has been demonstrated in languages with a high degree of spelling-sound correspondence. In Spanish, multisyllabic words with frequent first syllables are named more quickly than those with less frequent first syllables, but receive slower lexical decisions.…

Six methodological principles are discussed for the teaching of pronunciation in English as a second language; ten points of approach located between methodology and technique are listed. (CHK)

This paper examines some of the social and pedagogical problems caused by the conflicting forms of English pronunciation found in Cameroon. American, Nigerian, and local variations compete with British Received Pronunciation. The problems can be minimized through a more adequate training of broadcasters and teachers. (21 references) (MDM)

Previous research has established that old or given information is often deaccented. The assumption is that unimportant information ought to be weakened and attenuated in speech. Consequently, given information is often deaccented and new information is usually accented in most varieties of English. However, some nonnative varieties, such as…