Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'English language Australia Phonetics'
To see the other types of publications on this topic, follow the link: English language Australia Phonetics.
Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles
Consult the top 50 dissertations / theses for your research on the topic 'English language Australia Phonetics.'
Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.
You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.
Browse dissertations / theses on a wide variety of disciplines and organise your bibliography correctly.
1
Krebs-Lazendic, Lidija. "Early vs. late Serbian-English bilinguals' responses to two Australian English vowel contrasts." View thesis, 2008. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/36713.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (Ph.D) -- University of Western Sydney, 2008.A thesis submitted to the University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, MARCS Auditory Laboratories, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Includes bibliographical references.
2
Kim, Soohee. "Sub-phonemic duration difference in English/s/ and few-to-many borrowing from English to Korean /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/8423.
Full text
3
Yeung, Ho-yan. "Vowels of Hong Kong English from an acoustic perspective /." Click to view the E-thesis via HKU Scholars Hub, 2007. http://lookup.lib.hku.hk/lookup/bib/B42006235.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 2007."A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), The University of Hong Kong, June 30, 2007." Includes bibliographical references (p. 29-30). Also available in print.
4
Low, Ee Ling. "Prosodic prominence in Singapore English." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1998. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/251470.
Full text
5
Muñoz, Sánchez Alicia. "The effect of phonological status on the acquisition of new contrasts : evidence from Spanish and Japanese L2 learners of English /." Diss., Connect to a 24 p. preview or request complete full text in PDF format. Access restricted to UC campuses, 2003. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/ucsd/fullcit?p3099916.
Full text
6
Kandil, Samar A. "the difficulties saudi speakers of arabic have when producing the alveolar lateral approximant /l/ when speaking English as a second language." OpenSIUC, 2013. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/theses/1279.
Full textAbstract:
ABSTRACT Language teachers are often asked, `Will I ever be able to sound like a native?'. Through research, experience, and long-term teaching, the answer is almost always, `If you did not learn the language as a child, then it is almost impossible to sound like a native.' Many studies have contributed to the idea that achieving the native accent as an adult is almost impossible no matter how long one has been exposed to the target language. In an attempt to find the effects of overcoming the foreign accent through exposure to the target language, the present study compares two groups of adult speakers of Arabic from Saudi Arabia learning English as a second language. The study focuses on difficulties associated with producing the Alveolar lateral approximant /l/ and it two allophones, the light [l] and the dark [l], in three different positions: initial, intervocalic and final. The English /l/ is very similar to the Arabic /l/; however, their distributions within the two languages are different. These differences cause problems among speakers of Arabic in producing the correct sound when speaking English. The two groups were chosen based on their length of exposure to the target language; the first group had little exposure to it while the second group had three or more years of exposure. After analyzing the data and comparing the results of the two groups, it can be seen that although there was no significance in the overall results, the production of the dark [l] in final position was close to significance. This suggests that the participants, who have been exposed to the target language for some time, have begun to realize the difference between both /l/s and are thus beginning to apply the English /l/ to their pronunciation when speaking English. In addition, when comparing the errors in both groups, the results suggest that most of the learners who had little exposure to the language were transferring the /l/ from their first language; while those who had three years or more exposure, were resulting to other factors related to interlanguage such as: hypercorrection, attitudes and high levels of motivation to acquire the native speakers' accent. As for the comparison of both the dark and the light /l/ in all three positions, the analysis presented here suggests that Arabic speakers learning English as a second language, regardless of their length of exposure, have more difficulty in producing the dark [l] in its correct positions than the light [l]. Similarly, Arabic speakers prefer to produce the light [l] in the intervocalic position. The results of this study are beneficial to both teachers and learners in ESL settings. If teachers and learners familiarize themselves with the production of the dark [l] in the English language, the possibilities of overcoming this barrier to accented speech may still be regarded as an achievable goal.
7
Ahn, Hyunkee. "Post-release phonatory processes in English and Korean : acoustic correlates and implications for Korean phonology /." Digital version accessible at:, 1999. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/utexas/main.
Full text
8
Dooey, Patricia. "Issues of English language proficiency for international students." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2005. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/628.
Full textAbstract:
In the last 20 years or so, there has been a phenomenal increase in the number of international full-fee paying students applying to study in Australian universities, The revenue provided in this way has helped to address the problems faced by cash-starved universities facing recurring funding cuts over the same period. Furthermore, the presence of such students on any university campus provides immeasurable enrichment to the student body in terms of cultural diversity and research potential, and indeed it is very tempting in an ever,-increasing global market, to be as flexible as possible with prospective international students. However, the process of admission also demands careful consideration on the part of the various stakeholders involved. Although several factors need to be taken into account, the most obvious and certainly of primary importance would be the need to prove proficiency in the English language, Given that English is the dominant means of communication in the university, all students are required to draw from a complex web of linguistic resources to construct meaning and to complete the range of tasks required of them during their tertiary studies, This volume deals :with the overarching theme of issues of English language proficiency for overseas students studying in an Australian university. This focus can be viewed from many angles, and there are certainly many key facets involved, a selection of which is explored in the papers of the portfolio. These include the following broad areas: recruitment and admissions, language testing and technology, curriculum and inclusivity, English language support, academic conduct and finally the specific needs of international students, as viewed from their own perspective.
9
Foreman, Annik 1973. "Pretending to be someone you're not : a study of second dialect acquisition in Australia." Monash University, School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, 2003. http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/5859.
Full text
10
Walker, Abby. "Phonetic Detail and Grammaticality Judgements." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/2179.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis investigates predictions of an exemplar account of syntax, by
testing whether manipulating socially salient phonetic detail can alter the
grammaticality judgements given to morpho-syntactic constructions in New
Zealand English (NZE).
Three experiments are were conducted as part of this thesis. The first tested
the social saliency of different phonetic variables in NZE, and found phrase final /t/, which can be realised with or without a release, to be strongest. In the second experiment, phrase final /t/ was tested further, and manipulating the release significantly altered both the age and class ratings given to speakers. The way in which it did this reflected the patterns documented in production.
In the third experiment, participants were asked to rate the grammaticality
of the same sentences. When the results of the previous experiment were
included in the statistical model, an effect of the variant came out as significant. The more participants had rated a speaker as older with the released variant in the previous experiment, the less they rated the sentence as grammatical with the released variant. That is, only the most socially salient realisations were able to alter perceived grammaticality.
Overall, the results of this thesis suggest that speaker information and pho-
netic detail can affect grammaticality judgements. This supports an exemplar
model of syntax. Regardless of the theoretical implications of the findings
however, the methodological ones are clear. If speakers and realisations of
certain phonetic variables can alter grammaticality judgements, then they
must be controlled for in the presentation of stimuli to participants.
11
Picard, Marc. "On teaching the pronunciation of allophones : the case of flapping in North American English." Thesis, McGill University, 2001. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=32937.
Full textAbstract:
This study is primarily concerned with the issue of determining whether it is worthwhile to try to teach the correct pronunciation of subphonemic segments in ESL courses. It focuses specifically on the allophones [J, J] produced by the Flapping (or Tapping) of medial and final alveolar stops in North American English. Through an exhaustive examination of the ESL and TESL pronunciation manuals that have been published in the last thirty years or so, an assessment is first made of the manner and extent to which this widespread phonological process has been dealt with by the authors of such books. These findings are then compared with the opinions expressed by researchers in the field of second language education in order to determine what sort of consensus currently exists on this issue. The general conclusion is that since flaps are demonstrably the most salient of all NAE allophones and occur as phonemes in the first language of many ESL learners, these segments should be given due consideration in any pronunciation curriculum.
12
Spencer, Llinos Haf. "The role of phonological awareness in the beginning reading of Welsh and English speaking children." Thesis, University of Liverpool, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.367234.
Full text
13
Langstrof, Christian. "Vowel Change in New Zealand English - Patterns and Implications." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Linguistics, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/930.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis investigates change in a number of phonological variables in New Zealand English (NZE) during a formative period of its development. The variables under analysis are the short front vowels /ɪ/, /ɛ/, /æ/, the front centring diphthongs /ɪə/ and /ɛə/, and the so-called 'broad A' vowel. The sample includes 30 NZE speakers born between the 1890s and the 1930s (the 'Intermediate period'). Acoustic analysis reveals that the short front vowel system develops into one with two front vowels and one central vowel over the intermediate period via a push chain shift. There is evidence for complex allophonisation in the speech of early intermediate speakers. I argue that duration plays an important role in resolving overlap between vowel distributions during this time. With regard to the front centring diphthongs there is approximation of the nuclei of the two vowels in F1/F2 space over the intermediate period as well as incipient merger in the speech of late intermediate speakers. Although the merger is mainly one of gradual approximation, it is argued that patterns of expansion of the vowel space available to both vowels are also found. The analysis carried out on the 'broad A' vowel reveals that whereas flat A was still present in the speech of the earlier speakers from the sample, broad A had become categorical toward the end of the intermediate period. It is shown that, by and large, the process involves discrete transfer of words across etymological categories. The final chapters discuss a number of theoretical implications. Processes such as the NZE front vowel shift suggest that a number of previously recognised concepts, such as 'tracks' and 'subsystems', may either have to be relaxed or abandoned altogether. It is argued that chain shifts of this type come about by rather simple mechanisms that have a strong resemblance to functional principles found in the evolution of organisms. A case for 'fitness' of variants of a given vowel will be made. Phonological optimisation, on the other hand, is not a driving force in this type of sound change.
14
Sirsa, Hema. "First Language and Sociolinguistic Influences on the Sound Patterns of Indian English." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/18715.
Full textAbstract:
The current dissertation is a systematic study of variation in the English spoken in multilingual and multicultural India. Three experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of two native languages (Hindi and Telugu) on English, which is spoken by almost all Indians as a second language. The first experiment indicated that Indian English (IE) is accented by the first language of its speakers, but high English proficiency and the degree of divergence between the sound patterns of the speaker's native language and his or her IE suggested that other factors might influence the preservation of a native language accent in IE. The second experiment controlled for language investigated the effect of region on IE, finding that listeners were able to distinguish speakers based on region even when they spoke the same native language. The regional variation in IE was more noticeable for native Telugu speakers than for native Hindi speakers. This difference was attributed to differences in the social and political power associated with these native languages: Hindi being the national language and the language of the capital city of India; Telugu, a regional language of Andhra Pradesh and spoken by many fewer people than Hindi. The third experiment was motivated by the idea that persistent effects of the speaker's native language might also be used to reflect a speaker's personal identity. Accordingly, the experiment investigated the effect of speaking about personal versus neutral topics on IE pronunciation. The results were that speakers' IE pronunciation was more like their native language when speakers discussed personal topics then when they discussed neutral topics. Overall, the results suggest that the pronunciation of IE is conditioned by social factors, meaning that it has entered the differentiation phase of Schneider's dynamic model of English evolution.
This dissertation includes previously published co-authored material.
15
Yan, Kam-sum Tom. "Dyspraxia of speech in a British family an acoustic study of diphthong production /." Click to view the E-thesis via HKU Scholars Hub, 2003. http://lookup.lib.hku.hk/lookup/bib/B38890999.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (B.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2003."A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), The University of Hong Kong, April 30, 2003." Includes bibliographical references (p. 29-31) Also available in print.
16
Chan, Siu-wing, and 陳兆榮. "When the Cantonese "b" is the English /p: stop-consonant voicing strategies across languages." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2009. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B42841458.
Full text
17
Barto, Karen Anne. "Mandarin Speakers' Intonation in their L2 English." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/347161.
Full textAbstract:
In the field of second language acquisition, a great deal of work has been done on first (L1) to second language (L2) transfer of linguistic patterns from various levels of language, ranging from syntactic (i.e., Clahsen & Felser, 2006; Dussias, 2003; Nicol et al., 2001) and lexical (i.e. Jiang, 2004; Kroll & Tokowicz, 2001) to sound patterns at the segmental level (i.e. Flege, 1987; Flege & McKay, 2004; see work of Flege and colleagues). However, an area that has previously received less attention is that of L2 intonation, especially that of native speakers of a non-intonation language (some exceptions: Chen, 2007; McGory, 1997; Nguyen et al., 2008). The present study seeks to fill that gap, considering the L2 English intonation patterns of native speakers of Mandarin, a tone language. This work was approached from an experimental phonetic perspective, though it draws from theoretical work on intonation of both phonological and phonetic nature (intonational phonology of Ladd, 2008; see work of Ladd and colleagues, and PENTA of Xu & Xu, 2005; see work of Xu and colleagues). A series of production experiments was undertaken with native English speakers as a control group, and Mandarin speakers of higher proficiency (university students in America). Experiments treated stress patterns at the lexical level through production of target items in narrow focus, as well as treating the changes seen in such target items at different intonational points in sentences, elicited in a broad focus production experiment. In addition, the intonational patterns of questions vs. statements and contrastive focus were investigated. Because Mandarin is a lexical tone language, its speakers may tend to produce lexical items similarly regardless of their intonational situation, implementing a sort of lexical tonal transfer strategy. Even lexical tone languages have complementary intonation patterns, however, and these may also be transferred to English (Chen, 2007; Gussenhoven, 2004; Liu, 2009; McGory, 1997; Xu & Xu, 2005). In fact, results do indicate evidence of transfer at the tonal level, where it appears that a rising tone 2 is mapped onto English stressed syllables, and a falling tone 4 is mapped onto post-stressed syllables. Results also indicate intonational transfer, with a lack of sentence-final lowering in broad focus statements, as well as pitch patterns that can lead to an overall higher register in yes/no questions and post-focal lowering in contrastive focus questions.
18
Arthur, Jillian Mary, and n/a. "A lexical cartography of twentieth century Australia." University of Canberra. Resource, Environmental & Heritage Sciences, 1999. http://erl.canberra.edu.au./public/adt-AUC20060602.125646.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis looks at the relation between the English language and the Australian place. I have
studied the vocabulary used by English speakers in Australia in the twentieth century of this
geographical place and its environment, and how this vocabulary both constructs multiple
and sometimes contesting 'Australias' and positions the settler in particular relations to this
place. Although English has occupied Australia for over a century by the time this study
begins, the analysis exposes the tensions, the gaps and the unease present in the use of a
European language in the Australian place.
19
Godson, Linda Isaacson. "Phonetics of language attrition : vowel production and articulatory setting in the speech of Western Armenian heritage speakers /." Diss., Connect to a 24 p. preview or request complete full text in PDF format. Access restricted to UC campuses, 2003. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/ucsd/fullcit?p3089469.
Full text
20
Li, Yuting. "Early Cantonese transliterations as a phonological basis for modern Hong Kong English." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2019. https://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_oa/710.
Full textAbstract:
The research question of this dissertation is whether the early Cantonese-English contact provides a phonological basis to the development of Hong Kong English (HKE henceforth). The dissertation provides an affirmative answer by studying four Cantonese-English bilingual dictionaries in the mid 19th and early 20th centuries. The empirical evidence from the four bilingual dictionaries reveals three types of phenomena: inheritance, stabilization, and deviation. The phenomenon of inheritance refers to the phonological features discovered in the early Cantonese-English contact that have persisted in modern HKE. The phenomenon of stabilization includes the phonological features of the early Cantonese-English contact that are fortified and regularized in modern HKE. The phenomenon of deviation indicates certain phonological features of the early Cantonese-English contact differ from those of modern HKE. The findings of the dissertation fill two research gaps in the literature of HKE. One research gap is the omission of the English acquisition patterns for average Hongkongers before mass English-language education was implemented in the 1970s. For the Hongkongers who had no access to formal schools, the Cantonese-English bilingual dictionaries were used as the learning materials in self-study or private schools. The other research gap is the lack of a historical perspective into the variations of modern HKE phonology. Most of the studies on HKE are synchronic in nature and fail to realize that the variations may be derived from the two different English acquisition patterns in history. This dissertation reveals that the phonology of the functional bilinguals in HKE (the HKE speakers who could use English for various formal and informal needs) might be influenced by the phonological features of inheritance and stabilization discovered in the early Cantonese-English contact. The findings establish the historical connections behind modern HKE phonology, enhancing the recognition of HKE as an autonomous New English Variety. This enables HKE to be the symbol of solidarity for Hongkongers. This dissertation investigates the historical data from the Cantonese-English bilingual dictionaries that remain largely unstudied for a long time. Transformed into a retrievable dataset, the historical data can be used for linguistic theorizing.
21
Faine, Miriam. "At home in Australia: identity, nation and the teaching of English as a second language to adult immigrants in Australia." Monash University. Faculty of Education, 2009. http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/68741.
Full textAbstract:
This is an autoethnographic study (e.g. Brodkey, 1994) based on ‘stories’ from my own personal and professional journey as an adult ESL teacher which I use to narrate some aspects of adult ESL teaching. With migration one of the most dramatically contested spheres of modern political life world wide (Hall, 1998), adult English as a Second Language (ESL) teaching is increasingly a matter of social concern and political policy, as we see in the current political debates in Australia concerning immigration, citizenship and language. In Australia as an imagined community (Anderson, 1991), the song goes ‘we are, you are Australian and in one voice we sing’. In this study I argue that this voice of normative ‘Australianess’ is discursively aligned with White Australians as native speakers (an essential, biological formulation). Stretching Pennycook’s (1994a) argument that ELT (English Language Teaching) as a discourse aligns with colonialism, I suggest that the field of adult ESL produces, classifies and measures the conditions of sameness and difference to this normative ‘Australian’. The second language speaker is discursively constructed as always a deficient communicator compared with the native speaker. The binary between an imagined homogeneous Australia and the ‘migrant’ as essentially other, works against the inclusion of the learner into the dominant groups represented by their teachers, so that the intentions of adult ESL pedagogy and provision are mitigated by this imagining, problematizing and containing of the learners as other. The role of ESL teachers is to supervise (Hage, 1998) the incorporation of this other. Important policy interventions (e.g. Department of Immigration and Citizenship, 2006; ALLP, 1991a) are based on understanding the English language as a universalist framework of language competences inherent in the native speaker; on understanding language as consisting of fixed structures which are external to the learner and their social contexts; and on a perception that language as generic, transferable cognitive skills can be taught universally with suitable curricula and sufficient funding. Conversely in this study I recognise language as linguistic systems that define groups and regulate social relations, forming ‘a will to community’ (Pennycook, op. cit.) or ‘communities of practice’ (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Language as complex local and communal practices emerges from specific contexts. Language is embedded in acts of identity (e.g. Bakhtin, 1981) developing through dialogue, involving the emotions as well as the intellect, so that ‘voice’ is internal to desires and thoughts and hence part of identity. Following Norton (2000) who links the practices of adult ESL learners as users of English within the social relations of their every day lives, with their identities as “migrants”, I suggest that the stabilisation of language by language learners known as interlanguage reflects diaspora as a hybrid life world. More effective ESL policies, programs and pedagogies that assist immigrant learners feel ‘at home’ within Australia as a community of practice (Wenger, 1998) rest on understanding immigrant life worlds as diasporic (Gilroy, 1997). The research recommends an adult ESL pedagogy that responds to the understanding of language as socially constituted practices that are situated in social, local, everyday workplace and community events and spaces. Practices of identity and their representation through language can be re-negotiated through engagement in collective activities in ESL classes that form third spaces (Soja, 1999). The possibilities for language development that emerge are in accord with the learners’ affective investment in the new language community, but occur as improvements in making effective meanings, rather than conformity to the formal linguistic system (Pavlenko & Lantolf, 2000).
22
Refatto, Antonella 1967. "Contact phenomena between Veneto, Italian and English in the third generation in Australia." Monash University, Dept. of Linguistics, 2002. http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/7734.
Full text
23
Morris, Jonathan. "Sociolinguistic variation and regional minority language bilingualism : an investigation of Welsh-English bilinguals in North Wales." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2013. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/sociolinguistic-variation-and-regional-minority-language-bilingualism-an-investigation-of-welshenglish-bilinguals-in-north-wales(c666cc2a-c131-4dcf-8d74-1c86c9315099).html.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis investigates phonetic and phonological variation in the bilingual repertoire of adolescent Welsh-English bilinguals living in North Wales. It contributes to linguistic research by, firstly, providing an account of language variation in an under-studied area (N. Wales) and context (regional minority language bilingualism) and, secondly, by examining cross-linguistic variation, and the constraints on this variation, in bilingual speech. The two variables under discussion differ in how they are realised in the two languages: /l/ is thought to be heavily velarised in both languages as a result of long-term contact and phonological convergence. Variation in the production of /r/ and realisation of coda /r/ has hitherto been reported as language-specific, though frequent transfer is said to occur from Welsh to English in predominantly Welsh-speaking areas (e.g. Penhallurick 2004: 110; Wells 1982: 390).The first aim of the study is therefore to quantify claims of phonological convergence and transfer in the speech of Welsh-English bilinguals by using a variationist sociolinguistics methodology (e.g. Labov 1966), which also considers the influence of linguistic and extra-linguistic factors on variation. Particular attention is paid to differences between a majority Welsh-speaking town and a town where English is the main language. A further distinction is made between those from Welsh-speaking homes and those from English-speaking homes who have acquired Welsh through immersion education. The second aim is to make empirically-informed theoretical claims about the nature of phonological convergence and transfer, and conceptualise cross-linguistic interaction in the speech of Welsh-English bilinguals in light of existing frameworks. Data (sociolinguistic interviews and wordlists) were collected in Welsh and English from 32 Welsh-English bilinguals aged 16-18. The sample was equally stratified in terms of speaker sex, home language, and area. The two towns compared in the study are Caernarfon (N.W. Wales, where c.88% of the population speak Welsh) and Mold (N.E. Wales, where c. 20% Welsh of the population speak Welsh). The results indicate that English [ɫ] tends to be lighter than Welsh [ɫ] in word-initial onset position for females, and in word-medial intervocalic position for both males and females. The data also show linguistic influences on the realisation of [ɫ] in both languages, and differences between males and females. The realisation of coda /r/ and production of [r] and [ɾ] in English are confined to the speech of those from Welsh-speaking homes in Caernarfon. In Welsh, use of [ɹ] is widespread and is constrained by a more complex interaction between area, home language, and sex. On the basis of these findings, I conclude that features which have undergone phonological convergence due to long-term language contact may be subject to language-specific constraints when implemented phonetically. In terms of transfer, I argue for a ternary distinction between interference, transfer, and transfer which is constrained by linguistic and/or extra-linguistic factors (cf. Grosjean 2012). Finally, I suggest that Mufwene’s (2001) notion of the ‘feature pool’ is the most succinct way of conceptualising Welsh-English transfer and differentiate between more focussed accents of English and a less-focussed variety of North Wales Welsh.
24
Taylor, Colleen Jane. ""Variations of the rainbow" : mysticism, history and aboriginal Australia in Patrick White." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22467.
Full textAbstract:
Bibliography: pages 206-212.This study examines Patrick White's Voss, Riders in the Chariot and A Fringe of Leaves. These works, which span White's creative career, demonstrate certain abiding preoccupations, while also showing a marked shift in treatment and philosophy. In Chapter One Voss is discussed as an essentially modernist work. The study shows how White takes an historical episode, the Leichhardt expedition, and reworks it into a meditation on the psychological and philosophical impulses behind nineteenth century exploration. The aggressive energy required for the project is identified with the myth of the Romantic male. I further argue that White, influenced by modernist conceptions of androgyny, uses the cyclical structure of hermetic philosophy to undermine the linear project identified with the male quest. Alchemical teaching provides much of the novel's metaphoric density, as well as a map for the narrative resolution. Voss is the first of the novels to examine Aboriginal culture. This culture is made available through the visionary artist, a European figure who, as seer, has access to the Aboriginal deities. European and Aboriginal philosophies are blended at the level of symbol, making possible the creative interaction between Europe and Australia. The second chapter considers how, in Riders in the Chariot, White modifies premises central to Voss. A holocaust survivor is one of the protagonists, and much of the novel, I argue, revolves around the question of the material nature of evil. Kabbalism, a mystical strain of Judaism, provides much of the esoteric material, am White uses it to foreground the conflict between metaphysical abstraction and political reality. In Riders, there is again an artist-figure: part Aboriginal, part European, he is literally a blend of Europe and Australia and his art expresses his dual identity. This novel, too, is influenced by modernist models. However, here the depiction of Fascism as both an historical crisis and as a contemporary moral bankruptcy locates the metaphysical questions in a powerfully realised material dimension. Chapter Three looks at A Fringe of Leaves, which is largely a post-modernist novel. One purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate how it responds to its literary precursors and there is thus a fairly extensive discussion of the shipwreck narrative as a genre. The protagonist of the novel, a shipwreck survivor, cannot apprehend the symbolic life of the Aboriginals: she can only observe the material aspects of the culture. Symbolic acts are thus interpreted in their material manifestation. The depiction of Aboriginal life is less romanticised than that given in Voss, as White examines the very real nature of the physical hardships of desert life. The philosophic tone of A Fringe of Leaves is most evident, I argue, in the figure of the failed artist. A frustrated writer, his models are infertile, and he offers no vision of resolution. There is a promise, however, offered by these novels themselves, for in them White has given a voice to women, Aboriginals and convicts, groups normally excluded from the dominating discursive practice of European patriarchy.
25
Liando, Nihta V. F. "Foreign language learning in primary schools with special reference to Indonesia, Thailand and Australia /." Title page, contents and abstract only, 1999. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09ARM/09arml693.pdf.
Full text
26
Evans, Simone Kirsten School of Modern Languages UNSW. "How can teachers best enable adult English language learners to interact verbally?" Awarded by:University of New South Wales. School of Modern Languages, 2004. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/20512.
Full textAbstract:
The study revolves around the delivery of an ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) program on conflict management in the workplace to a small group of adult learners studying in a private educational institution in Sydney, Australia. The program was of four days???? duration, and was delivered over a four-week period. It involved both in-class and out-of-class tasks, and required learners to analyse their own discourse practices, those of other learners, and those of the speech community in which they were living. The program had two principle objectives. Firstly, it asked whether learners are able to modify their discourse practices at will in order to achieve successful negotiation outcomes. Secondly, it explored the effect of deliberately altered discourse styles on perceptions of learners held by speech community members. The methodology employed to achieve these objectives was ethnographic in nature and involved the following processes: 1. Learners were video-taped negotiating with other learners before and after the program. 2. Learners undertook the program aimed at increasing their ability to negotiate in business environments using culturally appropriate spoken language in conjunction with compatible prosodic and paralinguistic features as well as conversation management strategies. Learners kept diaries of their experiences and self-evaluation, and were interviewed following the course. 3. A group of nine native speakers of English viewed the 'before' and 'after' video-tapes and completed a survey aimed at collecting and quantitatively measuring (change in) their perceptions of the learners. This change was statistically analysed using a repeated-measures t test. The effect proved statistically significant overall; t(80) = 1.990, p>.01, two-tailed. 4. The 'before' and 'after' negotiations were then analysed by the researcher using ethnomethodological Conversation Analysis, modified to include some aspects of facial expression. The implications of the findings for teaching 'Business English', 'Global English' and 'Speaking' more generally are then discussed.
27
Rida, A. "Non English speaking background migrant Muslim women and migrant English language provision." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1996. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/945.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of this study is to define and delineate the factors which influence the decision by non-English speaking background migrant Muslim women to access or not access their eligibility for English language tuition, as set out by current policies governing the eligibility of migrants to participate in Adult Migrant Education programs. As such, the study is of particular interest to both key informants: teachers, community workers, coordinators, and to the target population themselves-Migrant Muslim women. It is also of benefit to those who are concerned with implementing language programs as it will provide them with an understanding of the issues facing Muslim women that may prevent them from accessing such classes. It is also of particular interest because it delves into and explores an• area where much speculation has taken place, but where little research of significance has been directed. The target population is defined as adult (over age 16) Muslim women from a non-English speaking background who are currently residing in the Perth metropolitan area. Two groups within this target population have been included in the study, the first being those women who have accessed migrant language tuition in a formal class setting (excluding those who have accessed the home tutor scheme). The second being those women who have not, with the objective of drawing a typology of the kind of Muslim women accessing classes-age, country of birth, family, socio-economic status, perceived need to learn English, level of education and aspirations and other relevant variables that were brought to light through the research process. Data was collected using both quantitative and qualitative research methods which involved the analysis of figures pertaining to the numbers of women from Muslim countries of birth who have accessed English language classes through the Adult Migrant Education Program in order to arrive at conclusions about the relative absence of Muslim women in these programs. Qualitative data was collected using a structured interview with twenty three women from the target population as well as interviews with three key informants. The purpose of the key informant interviews was to gain an understanding of the external factors accessibility, availability of information and practical considerations such as child care transport and provision of special arrangements that may affect the decision or the ability of Muslim women to attend classes.
28
Díaz, Granado Miriam. "L2 and L3 Acquisition of the Portuguese Stressed Vowel Inventory by Native Speakers of English." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/225892.
Full textAbstract:
This dissertation explores the potential differences in the acquisition of the sound system of a second language (L2) versus a third language (L3), building on recent research on adult L2 speech learning and testing the hypothesis that new category acquisition is available across the lifespan. On the one hand, recent influential theories of L2 speech learning predict that new sound categories will be difficult to acquire due to complex interactions among the phonetic categories residing in one same perceptual space. On the other, there exists the common assumption that the more sound categories one’s native language contains, the less difficult it will be to acquire new ones in a native-like fashion. My work provides additional evidence to this discussion, while providing speech data from the following five different speaker groups: (1) native speakers of American English; (2) native speakers of Mexican Spanish; (3) native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese; (4) native speakers of English learning Portuguese as their L2, and (5) native speakers of English learning Portuguese as their L3, who speak Spanish as their L2.The dissertation consists of three content chapters. The first of the content chapters describes the vowel systems of Mexican Spanish, American English and Brazilian Portuguese as informed by production data of the three native speaker groups above (1, 2 and 3). The second and third chapters describe and contrast the vowel system(s) of the two learner groups (4 and 5) as informed by their production and perception of Portuguese vowels respectively. The results from the analysis of the data from the various production and perception experiments performed as part of this dissertation provide evidence for (a) phonetic category assimilation and dissimilation processes in post-L1 speech learning and phonetic category interactions in general; (b) the relevance of quality and quantity of input in language learning; (c) the discussion on the relation between perception and production in post-L1 speech learning; and (d) the need for an extension of current models of L2 speech learning and cross-linguistic speech perception in order for these to address post-L2 speech learning processes, among other topics.
29
Ehrhardt, Brooke. "Mary/merry and horse/hoarse: Mergers in Southern American English." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2004. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4523/.
Full textAbstract:
Phonetic mergers in American English have been studied throughout the last half century. Previous research has contributed social and phonetic explanations to the understanding of front and back vowel mergers before /l/, front vowel mergers before nasals and phonetically unconditioned back vowel mergers. Using data from the Linguistic Atlas of the Gulf States (LAGS) and the Linguistic Atlas of the Middle and South Atlantic States (LAMSAS), this thesis examines the spread of the front vowel mergers in Mary and merry and the back vowel mergers in horse and hoarse. The two complementary sources of data allow for a social and phonetic approach to the examination of the merger.
30
Chur-Hansen, Anna. "An investigation of the English language proficiency and academic and clinical performance of University of Adelaide Medical School undergraduates /." Title page, contents and abstract only, 1998. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phc5595.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Psychiatry, 1998.Author's revision to her thesis is in envelope on back page. Copies of author's previously published works inserted. Bibliography: leaves 472-502.
31
Pritchard, Sonia. "A Cross-language Study of the Production and Perception of Palatalized Consonants." Thèse, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/22882.
Full textAbstract:
The goal of this dissertation was to investigate experimentally the phonetic qualities of the palatalized consonants of Standard Bulgarian. The term ‘palatalized’ refers to consonants (e.g., [tʲ, dʲ]) which are articulated with a secondary palatal gesture superimposed on the primary gesture associated with their plain counterparts (e.g., [t, d]). An acoustic study investigated the claim (Horálek, 1950; Choi, 1998; Ignateva-Tsoneva, 2008) that the palatalized consonants of Standard Bulgarian have undergone depalatalization, which was defined as the decomposition of a secondary palatal [ ʲ ] gesture into a palatal glide [j]. A cross-language comparison was performed. Russian (e.g., [tʲulʲ], ‘silk net’) and British English (e.g., [tju:lip], ‘tulip’) data served as a baseline against which the Bulgarian data (e.g., [tʲul], ‘silk net’) was evaluated. Subjects’ productions of words were recorded for acoustic analyses. The F1, F2 and F3 frequencies of the critical segments were analyzed with a Smoothing Spline ANOVA (Gu, 2002). The analyses indicated that Bulgarian palatalized consonants were identical to those of the Russian palatalized consonants, but different from the consonant-palatal glide sequences of British English. It was concluded that Bulgarian palatalized consonants have not undergone depalatalization. A perception study employed two variations of the gating task (Grosjean, 1980): audio-only and audio-visual. The results of the audio-only experiment indicated that Bulgarian and Russian listeners needed only the information associated with the palatalization portion of the consonant to identify it as palatalized. Bulgarian subjects did not need the transitions with the following vowel (Tilkov, 1983) to identify a consonant as palatalized. The Russian subjects of Richey’s (2000) experiment did not need the formant transitions either to identify the secondary palatal gesture. These findings provide further evidence that the palatalized consonants of the Standard Bulgarian have not undergone depalatalization. The purpose of the audio-visual experiment was to investigate if Bulgarian and Russian listeners use visual information to identify palatalized consonants. The results from this experiment were not as clear cut as those from the audio-only experiment. Factors such as insufficient visual information at earlier gates, as well as attentional load are being considered as possible confounds. In addition, an improved methodology for an audio-visual perception study is outlined. Experimental evidence from the acoustic and perception studies points to similarities in the phonetic shape of the palatalized consonants of Bulgarian and Russian. However, the phonological distribution of these segments is very different in the respective languages. I argue against a one-to-one mapping between the phonetic and phonological representations of the Bulgarian palatalized consonants. Based on distributional evidence, I propose that at the level of phonology they consist of a sequence of /CjV/.
32
Ekelund, Martin. "Turkish-Swedish Bilingual Third Language English High-Front Vowel Category Formation." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Engelska institutionen, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-141768.
Full textAbstract:
This study explores the possibilities of phonetic category formation in early bilingual Turkish-Swedish learners of English. Specifically, the high-front unrounded vowels across the three languages Turkish, Swedish and English are investigated. The bilinguals are compared to L2 learners of English with Turkish and Swedish as their first language, respectively, to aim to see if the English vowel categories /i/ and /ɪ/ would be harder to establish, since the bilinguals already have three similar categories across two languages. It is hypothesized that if the bilinguals have managed to keep the Turkish and Swedish categories separate, it will have made it more difficult to establish new categories for English, since having a larger phonological inventory is thought to increase the likelihood of equivalence classification in subsequent learning. The results reveal that all three groups of speakers produced English /ɪ/ similarly to one another, but the L1 Swedish speakers made the most consistent distinction of English /ɪ/ compared to the other vowels. Furthermore, the bilinguals produced the Swedish long allophone [iː] markedly differently than the monolingual Swedish speakers. The bilinguals’ categories for Turkish /i/, English /i/ and Swedish [ɪ] had merged except in one speaker, who produced Turkish /i/ slightly further back than the Swedish short allophone. This speaker had not established a new category for English /ɪ/, but since several of the bilinguals who had merged categories had not established a new category for English /ɪ/ either, the hypothesis is not directly supported. In other words, since L2 Swedish [ɪ] had merged with L1 Turkish /i/ for almost all bilinguals, this study does not provide evidence that bilinguals’ increased number of phonetic categories across two languages makes it easier or more difficult to establish new categories for an L3.
33
Glew, Paul J. "Learning and teaching in ESL perspectives on educating international students in Australia /." View Vol. 1 (Vol. 2 restricted access), 2008. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/41785.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2008.A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney, Centre for Educational Research, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education. Includes bibliographies.
34
Tang, Shuk-yee, and 鄧淑儀. "The phonics approach and reading English." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2003. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B26813932.
Full text
35
Winters, Stephen James. "Empirical investigations into the perceptual and articulatory origins of cross-linguistic asymmetries in place assimilation." Connect to this title online, 2003. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=osu1054756426.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2003.Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xx, 351 p.; also includes graphics Includes bibliographical references (leaves 344-351). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center
36
Rule, Ann. "Keeping the money under the soap : constructions of the English and English migrants in Australian nationalist texts." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2004. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/836.
Full textAbstract:
Where does an Englishman hide his money?' 'I don't know. Where does an Englishman hide his money?' 'Under the soap'. This thesis interrogates representations of ‘Englishness’and by extension, English migrants, in a variety of Australian cultural texts, including film, television, newspapers and academic publications. Underlying this investigation are two major research questions: What are the factors informing the ambivalent place accorded 'Englishness' in Australian cultural texts? and What can this form of investigation tell us about Australian culture and associated national myths? I have attempted to reinterpret these national myths through the texts/ narratives of Englishness and class. One of my aims was to force the violence of politics and ideology back into the seemingly natural binary opposition of Australia / England (otherwise known as the Aussies and the poms), exploring the ramifications upon Australian nationalist myths. Due to my emphasis here on discourse itself, how it constructs and shapes national identities for example, I have elected to incorporate textual devices designed to disrupt and interrupt the text. These interruptions include passages from English migrant interviews and song lyrics for example. It is anticipated that these disruptions constantly remind, to paraphrase Fredric Jameson, that history is always perforated: 'History with holes' (1990, 130). I argue that it is through these cracks in the screen that the conservative underbelly of Australian nationalist narratives becomes increasingly visible. I have endeavoured to reveal to what extent 'Englishness' continues to function as an empty signifier, where often opposing stereotypes flourish. For example, while Englishness in Australian cultural forms was at times linked with servility, deference and a rigid class system, it was also linked with militancy and political activism in the form of the troublesome pommie shop steward. In chapter one I suggest where these un-deconstructed ‘types’ emanated from, contextualising my theory through the languages of class, going on to suggest why and how these stereotypes have remained so cogent. The cogency of these representations is revealed through the chapters on film, television, newspapers and academic publications. Finally, I argue for a complete reassessment of how the signifier ‘Englishness’ is functioning, both ideologically and politically, in Australian nationalist narratives.
37
Reidy, Patrick F. "The spectral dynamics of voiceless sibilant fricatives in English and Japanese." The Ohio State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1430766545.
Full text
38
Banov, Ivan K. "The Production of Voice Onset Time in Voiceless Stops by Spanish-English Natural Bilinguals." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2014. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4340.
Full textAbstract:
This study analyzes the production of Voice Onset Time (VOT) of natural Spanish-English bilinguals. VOT is a linguistic characteristic that measures the amount of aspiration occurring after the release of a stop consonant. In terms of VOT, English stop consonants differ substantially from their Spanish equivalents. This study analyzes whether or not natural bilinguals produce VOTs that approximate VOTs of monolingual speakers of each language. Participants completed two surveys to quantify their linguistic dominance in English and Spanish. They were then recorded performing similar speaking tasks in both languages. The conclusions show that natural bilinguals do not produce their English or Spanish VOTs within the monolingual norms defined in previous studies. If conclusions were to be drawn solely from this data, then the participants would theoretically have no monolingual-like language production of VOT. There is also no correlation between language dominance scores and production of VOT. These results support the conclusion that a natural bilingual is not the equivalent of two natural monolingual speakers. Significant correlations exist between VOT production and gender, age of learning English, and amount of time spent watching TV in each language. Another interesting conclusion is that many of the participants score more Spanish-dominant when a survey is given in Spanish and more English-dominant when the very same survey is given in English. This shows that even the language of a survey may skew responses slightly.
39
Sigurjónsson, Pétur Már. "Pre-aspiration and Plosives in Icelandic English." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Engelska institutionen, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-126015.
Full textAbstract:
For this study, two groups of native Icelandic speakers were compared in terms of the acoustic properties of their English pronunciation of two phonetic phenomena, plosives and pre-aspiration. In English, plosives with the same manner and place of articulation are distinguished by means of a voicing contrast, whereas in Icelandic, plosives are distinguished by means of an aspiration contrast. This study examines whether participants exhibit interlanguage features in their plosive contrasts in English, substituting unaspirated voiceless plosives for voiced counterparts. Furthermore, this study looks at pre-aspiration, a phonetic feature of Icelandic, characterized by glottal friction following a short vowel preceding a fortis plosive (VhC). Pre-aspiration is not a feature of standard English varieties such as general American (GA) or received pronunciation (RP), and as such this study examines whether participants retain pre-aspiration in their English pronunciation or not. Participants numbered 16 in total, and were all L1 speakers of Icelandic, with eight in each group, four male and four female. The groups were divided by means of age differences, with the first group consisting of participants aged 20-26, and the second group of participants aged 44-50. Participants were asked to partake in a short informal interview, to read a short written passage, and to read a word list. The interview and readings were recorded and analysed using spectrograms and waveforms, and subsequently compared with English and Icelandic reference values for voice onset time (VOT), which vary between the two languages, and pre-aspiration duration in Icelandic. The two groups were also compared to determine whether there were any lingering differences between them. The conclusions drawn are that VOT in English and Icelandic may be more similar than assumed, and that participants shorten pre-aspiration duration or neutralize pre-aspiration when speaking English. However, the English production of the features are more similar to Icelandic than English. Furthermore, the results do not indicate any differences between the two age groups in terms of English pronunciation.
40
Turton, Danielle. "Variation in English /l/ : synchronic reflections of the life cycle of phonological processes." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2014. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/variation-in-english-l-synchronic-reflections-of-the-life-cycle-of-phonological-processes(dfa11693-a112-45e2-99f6-2a08cf5f117b).html.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis is an articulatory investigation into phonological variation and change in English /l/-darkening. Although syllable-based accounts of /l/-darkening state that light [l] occurs in onsets (e.g. `leap') and a dark variant in codas (e.g. `peel'), numerous works linking phonology with other subfields of linguistics have shown that this simplified distinction cannot fully account for the variation found. Firstly, /l/-darkening is sensitive to morphosyntactic structure, as shown through overapplication of the process in certain morphosyntactically defined positions: e.g. word-finally in phrases such as `heal it', or stem-finally before a suffix in words such as `healing'. In addition, analyses of /l/-darkening from several phonetic studies have led to some arguing against an allophonic distinction altogether, stating that the difference between light and dark variants is merely two extremes of one continuum. Not only does this interpretation challenge the traditional categorisation of /l/-darkening but, given the clear sensitivity to morphosyntactic boundaries that /l/-darkening displays, it also raises questions for a modular architecture of the grammar if phonetics can be morphologically conditioned. This dissertation is an empirical analysis of /l/-darkening, presenting data from nine varieties of English. Given the difficulty in measuring liquid consonants reliably, ultrasound tongue imaging is used to provide a thorough account of the prime articulatory correlations of darkening processes. The present study provides hitherto absent instrumental evidence confirming the varying degrees of morphosyntactic sensitivity across different dialects. I demonstrate that, rather than being contradictory or chaotic, variation to morphosyntactic boundaries cross-dialectally makes complete sense under an analysis that pays due consideration to the diachronic evolution of phonological processes. Moreover, my data show that the majority of speakers display both categorical allophony of light and dark variants, and gradient phonetic effects coexisting in the same grammar. Therefore, an adequate account of English /l/-darkening presupposes both a theory of the morphosyntax-phonology interface, and the phonetics-phonology interface. I interpret these results by assuming the modular architecture of the life cycle of phonological processes, whereby a phonological rule starts its life as a phonetically driven gradient process, over time stabilising into a phonological process at the phrase level, and advancing through the grammar. Not only does the life cycle make predictions about application at different levels of the grammar, it also predicts that stabilised phonological rules do not replace the phonetic processes from which they emerged, but typically coexist with them. Moreover, the obvious intimate link between /l/-darkening and /l/-vocalisation can be explained in terms of the life cycle, in the way of lenition trajectories. The results here show that, as predicted, the more recent stage of the lenition trajectory is harsher in terms of its phonetic effect, as well as less advanced in the grammar, applying at a lower level than darkening when the two co-occur in the same variety. I conclude by arguing that the proposed analysis demonstrates that a full understanding of /l/-darkening in English requires an approach that considers variation under phonetic, phonological and morphosyntactic terms. The wide range of dialectal diversity, for which this thesis provides only a small subset, shows a great deal of orderliness when paying due consideration to the diachronic evolution of variable phonological processes.
41
Mackie, Lisa Lilly. "Fragments of Piscataway : a preliminary description." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2006. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:50f99887-6377-49cb-8b83-2ef46fd97283.
Full textAbstract:
The goal of the present project is to provide a preliminary descriptive analysis of the language found in a short manuscript in the Special Collections of the Georgetown University Library. The manuscript is a five-page Catholic catechism written in an Eastern Algonquian language. It is the only extant record of the language which is presumed to be Piscataway (also called Conoy). The identification of the language is based on the attribution of authorship to Father Andrew White, a seventeenth-century English Jesuit missionary. By providing as much of a description as possible through morphological and phonological analysis of the data, I hope to recover some knowledge about this extinct language and add to the sparse data on Eastern Algonquian languages. Because the goal of the project is to uncover the data in the manuscript, no theoretical viewpoint has been adopted regarding morphological entities or processes.
42
Haig, Yvonne G. "Teacher perceptions of student speech." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2001. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1030.
Full textAbstract:
Although language variation is widespread and natural,it is subject to judgement. Where a standard language has developed, other varieties tend to be judged against its "standards". While a number of overseas studies have found that this type of linguistic bias occurs in education and negatively impacts on dialect speakers, there has been little research in Australia. The research reported in this thesis investigates how teachers perceive the speech of school-aged students and whether the socio-economic status or level of schooling of the students influence these perceptions. Further, it examines the relationships between the teachers' background, the way they define Standard Australian English, their attitude to language variation and the way they perceive student speech. The research was undertaken as three separate but related studies. Thirty six teachers from twelve different schools were involved - three teachers from four different schools (n=l2) participating in each of the three studies. In Study One, the teachers kept observational notes on the problems they identified in their students' speech for a period of a week. In Study Two, the teachers participated in school-based focus groups to discuss those features they deemed to be problematic in their students' speech. In Study Three, the teachers ranked tape-recorded samples of speech from students who were not known to them. All the teachers provided background information, wrote their own definition of Standard Australian English and completed a questionnaire about their attitude to language variation in general and to the use of particular variants of English. The teachers in the three studies identified aspects of pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and language use as problematic in student speech. The teachers' judgement of what was problematic and their perception of what caused these problems differed according to the socio-economic status of the students. Many of the features teachers identified as problematic were variants of Australian English. The teachers of low SES students tended to see this variation as evidence of their students' language deficiency and to be the result of their "restricted" backgrounds. The teachers of high SES students identified fewer problems in their students' speech and tended to view variation as developmental, inappropriately informal use of language or the result of deterioration in "standards". The teachers' perceptions of speech also varied according to the year level they were teaching. These perceptions reflected the teachers' own backgrounds, their personal definitions of Standard Australian English, their own "idealised" speech and their view of the relative status of Australian accents. The written form of the language also greatly influenced the teachers' perceptions of student speech. The results of this research have important implications for pedagogy, particularly in relation to equity and social justice. In an education system which increasingly relies on teacher judgements to assess the progress of students, the often negative influence of factors related to a student's background should be of serious concern. A failure to recognise the impact of non-standard features in speech on the educational opportunities and achievements of students would compromise their basic rights and limit the social and economic contributions they would otherwise be able to make.
43
Almalki, Hussain. "Acoustic Investigation of Production of Clusters by Saudi Second Language Learners of English." FIU Digital Commons, 2014. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1235.
Full textAbstract:
Production errors made by second language (L2) learners of English have been attributed to markedness, L1 transfer or input frequency (cf. Major, 2001; Edwards & Zampini, 2008; Baptista, Rauber, & Watkins, 2009). This thesis examines the production of 17 English initial consonant clusters (e.g., /pr/ in “pray”) in a markedness relationship, whereby clusters with greater sonority distance between the first and second consonants are unmarked and clusters with smaller sonority distance between the first and second consonants are marked, by two groups of Saudi Arabian L2 English learners. It also explores the effect of input frequency and L1 transfer. Participants were asked to read 60 sentences and their reading was recorded for acoustic analysis. Analysis showed that “prothesis” was always used to simplify the clusters, and that, the duration of the prothetic vowel tended to get longer when clusters become more marked. Intermediate participants had greater degree of difficulty in producing the clusters and tended to insert a longer prothetic vowel in general. Markedness explained the performance on #sC clusters; however, performance on non #sC clusters was best explained by L1 transfer. Results further indicated that input frequency was irrelevant to this study.
44
Chim, Kin-wai, and 詹建慧. "The effects of phonics teaching on Hong Kong children's English reading development." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2007. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B38670410.
Full text
45
Osborne, Denise Maria, and Denise Maria Osborne. "The Acquisition of Fine Phonetic Detail in a Foreign Language: Perception and Production of Stops in L2 English and L1 Portuguese." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/620956.
Full textAbstract:
This study investigated the perception and production of L2 English and L1 Portuguese stops in initial position by analyzing the acquisition of voice onset time (VOT) categories. 36 Brazilian Portuguese (BP) learners of English and 36 monolingual BP speakers, all of them living in Brazil, participated in this study. There were two language sessions, English and Portuguese (monolinguals took part in the Portuguese session only). In each language session, participants took part in a production and a perception task in the respective language (the tasks were mirror-images of each other). To elicit the production data, participants took part in a delayed repetition task. To elicit the perception data, participants took part in a two-alternative forced-choice identification test. The analysis of the data showed that improvement in L2 may entail improvement in L2 perception of stops. On the other hand, the lack of effects of proficiency in L2 production of stops may suggest occurrence of learning stabilization of L2 VOT categories. L1 phonetic drift was observed in the production of the Portuguese /b/, /k/, and /g/ (but not for /p/). However, no effects of L2 learning on L1 was observed for the perception of Portuguese /b/-/p/. L2 learners who had learned English in their L1 country and in formal settings demonstrated that they were able to form new phonetic categories for the production of /p/, /b/, and /g/. The higher-proficiency group (but not the lower-proficiency group) demonstrated that they developed language-specific phonetic strategies for /p/-/b/ since they were able to process the same set of sounds on a continuum from /b/ to /p/ as either L1 or L2 stops as a function of language mode. The perception study showed that language-specific phonetic strategies, which had been observed among highly fluent bilinguals, could also be possible for this population.
46
Jennings, Patricia Joan. "A comparison of the phonological skills of late talking and normal toddlers." PDXScholar, 1990. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/4082.
Full textAbstract:
In the present study, the speech of twenty-four normally speaking toddlers and twenty-eight late talking toddlers was analyzed with respect to the syllable structures produced during a speech sample. The groups were matched with regard to age, sex, and socio-economic status, all passed a hearing screening, and all scored at least 85 on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development.
47
Miller, Sherri Lynn. "Percentage of phonological process usage in expressive language delayed children." PDXScholar, 1991. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/4204.
Full textAbstract:
Language delay and phonological delay have been shown to coexist. Because they so often co-occur, it is possible that they may interact, sharing a relationship during the child's development. A group of children who were "late talkers" as toddlers, achieved normal development in their syntactic ability by the preschool period. Because their language abilities are known to have increased rapidly, data on their phonological development could provide information on the relationship between phonological and syntactic development.
The purpose of this study was to compare the percentage of phonological process usage of the eight most commonly used simplification processes in four-year-old expressive language delayed (ELD) children, children with a history of slow expressive language development (HX), and normally developing (ND) children. The questions this study sought to answer were: do ELD children exhibit a higher percentage of phonological process usage than ND children, and are HX children significantly different in their percentage of phonological process usage than ND and/or ELD children.
48
Pung, Ah-ang, and 馮世鴻. "The teaching of phonics and its relationship to proficiency inreading-related tasks in Hong Kong." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2001. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31945193.
Full text
49
Wells, Shannon L. "What is English now? The construction of subject English in contemporary textbooks for Australian secondary schools." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2017. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1963.
Full textAbstract:
Australian educators are currently engaged in widening debates about the performance of the nation’s schools, teachers and students. Perceived literacy deficits among secondary students have fuelled the debate, and this has precipitated reforms to English curricula at both National and State levels. The newly revised curricula attempt to improve student achievement through more systematic teaching about the English language and language skills. In response to the changes, major education publishers in Australia have released revised textbooks for English that purport to engage with the new curriculum.
This research study considered whether such new resources offer genuinely fresh and effective approaches to English, or whether they reproduce established conceptions and methods in new packaging. Guided by Michel Foucault’s concepts of social technology and discursive practice, and Ian Hunter’s detailed historical-theoretical analysis of English, this inquiry used a combination of content analysis and theorisation to identify the models of English embodied in textbooks. Five recent publications were studied to expose both the content and the underlying ideas and pedagogical assumptions about English contained within. Hunter’s historical matrix was applied to categorise the content and quantify the overall proportions of rhetorical, ethical and aesthetical instruction evident in the resources. The findings were interpreted according to Hunter’s genealogy of English and its prevailing discourses, in an effort to offer some clarification about the assumptions that shape school English, and its direction now and in the future.
The findings suggest that despite attempts to reconstruct English around the teaching of language skills, established conceptions of English have resurfaced, pulling the subject back toward the ethical domain and distorting the overall balance of content. While the data appears to reflect an apparent prominence of rhetorical skilling, analysis of the content demonstrates how this initiative is obscured by a superficial and mechanical treatment of language and a subsequent preoccupation with the ethical. The oscillation between rhetoric and ethics further reveals a visible circumvention of aesthetics, which is unvaryingly the most neglected category. The thesis concludes that change in English is likely being impeded by teaching materials, conceptual frameworks and assumptions that continue to frame English as a primarily ethical activity, in which linguistic skilling is subordinated to self-formation.
50
Santos, Cíntia Pereira dos. "Ensino de fonética da língua inglesa com uso de material digital." Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, 2016. http://repositorio.utfpr.edu.br/jspui/handle/1/2243.
Full textAbstract:
Acompanha: Ensino de fonética da língua inglesa com uso de material digitalO ensino da fonética da Língua Inglesa pode colaborar para uma melhora na oralidade do aluno através de uma comunicação condizente entre o falante e o interlocutor. Diante dessa perspectiva, um dos questionamentos da professora pesquisadora era sobre o equívoco dos alunos pronunciarem oralmente – fonema – palavras da Língua Inglesa da mesma forma que são escritas – grafema, sem perceberem que no Inglês a oralidade nem sempre é como se vê a palavra na forma escrita. Assim, o objetivo desta pesquisa é mostrar a efetividade do ensino de fonética para aprendizes de Língua Inglesa dos mais variados níveis, com foco neste trabalho para o Ensino Médio, onde o próprio aluno possa se apropriar de determinados aspectos fonéticos e produzir adequadamente o gênero textual oral limerick. O referencial teórico para este estudo conta com as contribuições de Cristófaro-Silva (2005), Celce-Murcia, Goodwin, Griner (2010), Brinton et al. (2010), que discutem o ensino da fonética da Língua Inglesa, e Marcuschi (2002), Cristovão (2005), que discorrem sobre o uso de gêneros textuais em sala de aula. Como metodologia científica são utilizados os tipos de pesquisa de campo, bibliográfica, descritiva, experimental e analítica. A descrição e análise das atividades aplicadas mostram que os alunos usaram aspectos fonéticos do inglês trabalhados para sua produção textual oral. Apesar das dificuldades encontradas durante a aplicação do material, como falta de estrutura e poucas aulas para execução, uma parcela significativa dos alunos participantes da pesquisa produziu oralmente o Limerick de forma satisfatória em relação aos parâmetros gerais desse gênero textual oral.
The teaching of phonetics from English Language can collaborate to an oral improvement from students through a suitable communication between speaker and listener. Facing this perspective, one of the researcher-teacher´s question was about the misunderstanding from students when saying orally – phoneme – words in English Language in the same way they are written – grapheme, without observing that in English the orality is not always as you see the words in their written form. Therefore, the objective of this research is to show the effectiveness from phonetic teaching to English Language learners from different levels of knowledge, with focus on this paper on High School, where the student can appropriate him/herself from determined phonetic aspects and produce the oral genre limerick. The theoretical referential for this study is based in the contrbutions from Cristófaro-Silva (2005), Celce-Murcia, Goodwin, Griner (2010), Brinton et al. (2010), whose discuss English Language phonetics teaching, and Marcuschi (2002), Cristovão (2005), who discuss about text genre in the classroom. As scientific methodology is used at this paper field research, bibliographical, descriptive, experimental and analytic. The entailment from this study shows that the students applied the English sound organization to its orally application. Despite of the difficulties faced through this material application such as a lack in the school structure and few classes to the application, the students, which participate on it, had condition to produce the limerick in a suitable form to this genre characteristic.