Analysis of Non-native Speech. Using the aspects of phonology that we are using in class, analyze the pronunciation of a non-native speaker of English communicating with an interviewer. (Note: If you are a non-native speaker of English, you must analyze a speaker whose first language differs from yours.) Your analysis should explore in detail three aspects of phonology (for example, individual sounds, suprasegmentals, word stress). Your final paper (approximately 6-7 pages) should be a standard observation report that has five parts: a brief introduction (including details about the participant and the location of the observation), observation, analysis, recommendations (for improving oral intelligiblity) and conclusion. The paper should follow the APA standards for a formal report.
Recommended Source of Non-native Speech:
Go https://www.dialectsarchive.com
Look for a speaker of English from a non-native English-speaking country.
Look for a speaker whose recording is at least 5 minutes.
Make sure it is a speaker from a language background different from your L1 (if you have a different L1 than English).
Focus on the unscripted speech. This will be more natural speech than the scripted speech at the beginning.
There may be more to analyze if you select 2 or 3 speakers from the same language background (for example, three Kuwaiti speakers).
Purpose
It is important to anticipate the kind of language interference and difficulties students from various languages will have in developing their oral intelligibility in English in order to provide appropriate instruction and feedback. Select one (1) of the following languages (Arabic, Korean, Chinese, Farsi, Hindi/Punjabi, Italian, or Japanese) and (1) identify the kind of OI issues speakers of that language will likely have, (2) explain which issues you would prioritize for addressing, and (3) describe what activities or techniques you would use to address the errors. Please do not select a language that is your L1.
What can you analyze?
– Consonants: what consonants are difficult to produce for the speaker?
– Vowels: what vowels are difficult to produce for the speaker ?
– Intonation: Is American pitch evident or does the speaker rely on his/her native pitch?
– Stress & rhythm: Is the speaker’s first language syllabic or stress timed? How does this reflect in the L2?
– English sounds in context: Does the speaker use flapping? Are grammatical endings distinct, based on phonological rules?
– The shape of English words: What consonant clusters are difficult in English for this speaker? How does he/she adapt?
– Word stress and vowel reduction: In unstressed syllables, is the vowel replaced by a schwa?
– Connected speech: Are sounds modified in connected speech?
What types of instruction could you discuss to address any pronunciation challenges you noticed? You could imagine that you are the teacher or pronunciation tutor of the speaker you analyze.
- Develop at least two learning activities which you could develop to specifically address pronunciation challenges.
These could include:
- minimal pair work
- rhythm exercises to help with linking and pausing
- physical movement exercises to emphasize stress patterns
- listening exercises
- drama techniques
- specific targeted pronunciation practice for certain segmental features,
- techniques for repairing miscommunication, etc.
Avery and Ehrlich has many ideas for teaching pronunciation in Part 3 of the book that you can use to develop ideas for addressing the pronunciation challenges you notice.
On the next page is the rubric that will be used for grading. The project is due on the last week of class.
Use of Writing Rubric for ENG 5130 Weighted to a Scale of 100 points
| Criteria | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Total | Weight | Score |
| Genre/Audience | X 4 | ||||||||
| Focus | X 4 | ||||||||
| Development | X 6 | ||||||||
| Organization | X 3 | ||||||||
| Grammar/Mechanics | X 3 | ||||||||
| Rubric Score | Grade |
Genre/Audience: The writing demonstrates an understanding of the conventions of the genres they are writing as well as for academic writing in general. Terms related to this criterion: conventions, community of readers, discourse community, genre, style, tone
ENG 5130: Does the paper have the appropriate format, style and tone of the discipline? Is the discourse (vocabulary) and language of the discipline used accordingly and correctly?
Weight (X 4) Maximum = 20 points
Focus: The writing presents a unified, clear stance with respect to the characteristics of the assignment. In a given essay, each paragraph relates to that stance. Terms related to this criterion: main idea, purpose, stance, thesis statement
ENG 5130: Is the thesis precise and supported by the observation and known linguistic principles? Weight ( X 4 ) Maximum = 20 points
Development: The main ideas in the writing are supported with specific, relevant information.
Terms related to this criterion: details, evidence, examples, facts, observations, statistics, testimony
ENG 5130: Is the corpus of examples sufficient to support the thesis? Is the summary and analysis appropriate? Weight (X 6) Maximum = 30 points
Organization: The writing uses an overall and paragraph structures appropriate to the assignment(s). Terms related to this criterion: coherence, cohesion, mode, patterns of development, structure, transitionsENG 5130: Is the paper organized in a recognizable pattern for the field? Are the relationships between paragraphs evident? Weight (X 2) Maximum = 10 points
ENG 5130: Is the paper coherent? Is the APA style used correctly? Are academic standards for grammar and mechanics used? Weight ( X 2 ) Maximum = 10 points
