This drillbook concentrates on making the student aware of the nature of the differences between his English habits of speech and the Spanish habits he is trying to acquire. The extensive exercises are structured selectively in order of specific difficulties of pronunciation. In the major sections on intonation, vowels, and consonants, the authors…

Reviews common pronunciation problems experienced by learners of English as a second language who are native speakers of Vietnamese, Cantonese, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Polish, Greek, and Punjabi. (CB)

A discussion of second language (L2) pronunciation looks at the ways in which native-like pronunciation can be defined. It addresses, through review of relevant literature and more detailed examination of a study by the author, these issues: how to identify native-like pronunciation; how to measure pronunciation in comparison with native speakers'…

The English-to-Haitian Creole (HC) dictionary defines about 10,000 English words in common usage, and was intended to help improve communication between HC native speakers and the English-speaking community. An introduction, in both English and HC, details the origins and sources for the dictionary. Two additional preliminary sections provide…

Speech perception research is reviewed and organized around issues relevant to second language acquisition. Issues discussed include the concept of a critical period for speech perception as well as the effects of linguistic training and/or linguistic experience on speech perception. Speech perception in bilinguals, the relationship between speech…

This dictionary of the Omaha Indian language, written by an Omaha Indian and an assistant, contains an introduction, lists of terms for good and bad traits found among the Omaha, a guide to Omaha pronunciation and phonology, an alphabetized vocabulary of approximately 4,000 words, and a guide to kinship terms. Vocabulary is transcribed into the…

This glossary is part of a set of materials that have been developed to teach oral and written Afghan Pashto to English speakers. In addition to the glossary, the set consists of a beginning textbook, an intermediate textbook, a reader, a conversation manual and a set of taped lessons that correlate with the textbooks. The materials are designed…

A study explored the relationship between the second language (L2) production of the Spanish stop consonants /p/ and /b/. Subjects were native English-speaking students enrolled in an undergraduate Spanish phonetics course. Data were collected on their production of Spanish /p,b/ in sentence context, and on their perceptual boundary between the…

Key elements that affect pronunciation are outlined in this supplement to an adult literacy newsletter. Emphasis is on what students need to know about sounds, stress, intonation, and fluency in order to improve their spoken English. Suggestions are offered for identifying students' needs. Exercises are also provided for practicing sounds, word…

Three computer-based systems for phonetic/graphemic transcription of language are described, compared, and contrasted. The text is entirely in French, with examples given from the French language. The three approaches to transcription are: (1) text entered in standard typography and exiting in phonetic transcription with markers for rhythmic…

Raised, nasalized variants of /ae/ in such words as hat and back in the speech of many Illinoisans are found to correlate with the size of the community in which the speaker was raised. Generally, the higher the variants, the more urban the speaker was raised. (Author/RM)

The present study was conducted to explore directly the effects of pronunciation on the frequency-meaningfulness relationship. (Author)

This article discusses the way in which the orthography may or may not reflect changes in the pronunciation of Castilian Spanish. Examples substantiate the discussion. (Text is in Spanish.) (CLK)

Evidence supports the hypothesis that visual word recognition may involve recoding into phonemic form. Less pronounceable nonsense words are recognized as nonsense faster than those more pronounceable. Differences in pronounceability may produce their effects during sequencing of neural instructions of each phoneme. (CHK)

Isolates and analyzes the errors in the English speech of a Punjabi-speaking Indian. (CK)