Use of poetry is recommended as a means of making French phonetics instruction more interesting and rewarding, and some classroom activities and techniques are outlined. The role of phonetics in current language-teaching methodologies is examined, and special considerations for beginning-level language instruction are discussed. (MSE)

Examines syllable-timed languages (Catalan, Greek, Italian) and stress-timed languages (English, Polish) to show that, in regard to rhythm, both categories behave similarly in several crucial areas. In both language types, the ideal rhythmic pattern involves a separation of stresses and the elimination of clashes. (33 references) (JL)

Two studies on the rhythmical patterns of eye movements during reading, displayed by adolescents with reading disabilities and by undergraduates without reading disabilities, revealed that subjects with reading disabilities exhibited rhythm variability, unpredictability, and lethargic tempos; and subjects who were primed exhibited improved parsing…

Schwa epenthesis and schwa deletion are two types of phonological variation that occur frequently in Dutch. In this study, a series of picture-naming experiments investigated whether schwa epenthesis and schwa deletion are arbitrary processes or whether they are contextually driven and take place in speech-planning process. Findings are discussed…

This activity for K-3 students helps them learn to decode and spell words using rhyme, noting that hearing and creating rhyme helps children hear similarities among words. Books with the Dr. Seuss imprint are recommended because they appeal to children. A sample poem entitled March, by Solveig Paulson Russell, is included on a reproducible sheet.…

While the critical importance of phonological awareness (segmental phonology) to reading ability is well established, the potential role of prosody (suprasegmental phonology) in reading development has only recently been explored. This study examined the relationship between children's prosodic skills and reading ability. Hierarchical multiple…

The traditional phonetic classification of language rhythm as stress-timed or syllable-timed is attributed to Pike. Recently, two different proposals have been offered for describing the rhythmic structure of languages from acoustic-phonetic measurements. Ramus has suggested a metric based on the proportion of vocalic intervals and the variability…

A three-tiered statistical model for predicting the temporal structure of French, as produced by a single, highly fluent subject at a fast speech rate, is outlined. The first tier models segmental influences due to phoneme type and contextual interactions between phoneme types. The second tier models syllable-level influences of lexical versus…

The phonological rhythm of French is characterized by a tendency to syllabic isochrony within an utterance and a clear final lengthening, whereas the rhythm of English is stress-timed. A study of babbling at a turning period of the child's development has shown that the French child acquires adult phonological rhythm quite early in interactive…

An analysis of stress patterns in Old English poetry addresses conflicting theories of and lack of uniformity in scansion and proposes that this problem is due primarily to scansion of a given half-line by somewhat arbitrary assignment to one of five types, with no rule-governed word stress principles upon which to base its scansion. It is…

The acquisition of imitative responses without reinforcement was investigated with infants by eliminating contingent reinforcement through the use of videotaped models. Twenty-nine male and female infants were randomly assigned to one of two groups, a Rhythmic Vocalization Group or a Conversation Control Group. Infants in the first group were…

The temporal patterning of speech, primarily within the context of interpersonal exchanges, is traced in this cross-section of research exploring the major directions such studies have taken. Eighteen authors contributed selections to support the thesis that time as a dimension of speech reflects many of the important processes that occur during…

The factor of timing on intelligible speech among normally-hearing persons was studied to determine some ways in which it differs from the speech of the deaf. Additional data was gathered on the temporal aspects of the speech of deaf and hearing children and hearing adults. The data corroborated earlier studies indicating that (1) deaf speakers…

Topics of the three essays in this bulletin--which originally appeared in the February, 1963, issue of "College English" and the March and April, 1963, issues of the "English Journal"--are (1) how the materials of language and poetry and the perceptions of individual minds are employed in examining a poem; (2) procedures for reading and…

Structural linguistic techniques were utilized to categorize the grammatical elements employed by Robert Frost in 46 blank-verse poems. Nineteen main grammatical categories and 26 verb sub-categories based on distinctive selection criteria were devised to examine the range and distribution of Frost's grammatical patterns. Five control poems by E.…