Kit A.

Nadado Phonology Pronunciation Doctor Paper

INTRODUCTION
The English language has truly come a long way in bridging countries all over the world. The globalization of English has directed countries into learning this language. The adaptation of spoken English in these countries is a fascinating subject to discover. World English does not necessarily aim for a perfect imitation of accent and intonation that native English speakers have; rather, it focuses on improving the speakers intelligibility regardless of accent. The analysis of these World English varieties is the main purpose of this paper. This paper is meant to provide analyses on the various aspects of speech. This paper is also meant to identify pronunciation points that need improvement and provide solutions to solve these problems. We have selected five participants for analysis and four will be represented in this paper. These participants have varying ethnicity as to present the differences of speech quality in their respective countries. Each participant provided speech samples based on the readings and activities given to them. Analyses and ratings will be given in the following pronunciation aspects: Segmentals (Vowels and Consonants) and Suprasegmentals (stress-timing and word stress). The speakers intelligibility will then be discussed and rated. A suggested teaching pedagogy to resolve the issues presented will then be discussed.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The materials used in obtaining samples consist of the following: a series of pictures for an open speech interpretation activity, a Prator passage, and an Accent Analysis Sentences passage. The first material allows the participant to create a story out of the interrelated pictures. This passage tests the participants ability to create sentences that are related to each other. The second material, the Prator passage, is a paragraph titled My Exercise Program. This passage aims to test the various segmental and suprasegmental qualities of the participants speech. This passage also aims to point out areas for improvement in the participants speech. The third material is a set of sentences called Accent Analysis Sentences. These sentences focus on testing the differences between vowel sounds. Each participant was given ample time to practice each material. In the first phase, each participant was instructed to create a story using the first material, which is a series of

pictures, as clues while being recorded. In the second phase, the participants were given the Prator Passage to read while being recorded. The third phase includes the same process as the second phase. Our team then brought these samples together for group analysis and ratings based on segmental, suprasegmentals, and intelligibility.

PARTICIPANTS

Participant 1
Participant 1 is a 20 year old young man from South Korea. He has been taking EIL classes for a year now and will be taking English 101 next semester. I assume that he is in the highest level of the EIL program and has acquired ample proficiency to be enrolled in English 101. Participant 1 works as a tour guide at the Polynesian Cultural Center. He has expressed that his job helped him in improving his English speaking skills. We give him the following ratings: Segmentals 7, Suprasegmentals 8, Intelligibility 7.5.

Segmentals
Vowels Participant 1 has the tendency to switch the vowels /i/ and /I/. I believe that he is aware of this and makes conscious effort to pronounce the words containing these sounds correctly. He admits that he has a problem saying these two vowels distinctly. He expresses that when hes conscious, he normally would pronounce the vowels differently. He tends to lapse when he forgets about it. In the first item in the Accent Analysis Sentences, Participant 1 was able to pronounce the /i/ sound distinctly. At the beginning of sentence 2, Participant 1 lapses and pronounces the words Tims, sister, swims, little, and bit as /tims/, /sist/, /swims/, /lil/, and /bit/. Interestingly, Participant 1 seems to recognize this lapse and towards the middle of the sentence and pronounced the last three words fit, slim, and trim as /fIt/, /slIm/, and /tIm/ correctly. These tendencies of vowel switching were exhibited in several points throughout the exercise. Again, the participant tends to vowel switch /i/ and /I/ when he lacks focus or is part conscious about his pronunciation. Another issue that we discovered is Participant 1s difficulty in pronouncing the // sound. He would pronounce this sound as //. He pronounces the word bird, which is supposed to be /bd/, as /bd/ almost sounding like the word board. Aside from

these vowel concerns, Participant 1 exhibits a satisfactory ability in pronouncing the differences between other vowels. The vowels discussed above are the vowels that interfere with Participant 1s intelligibility the most. Consonants Participant 1 has the tendency to omit consonants located in the middle of words. We have observed that the consonant /t/ tends to be dropped and replaced by /s/. Words like work out, sweet peas, and parrot are pronounced as /wk as/, /swis pis/, and /pas/ respectively. This tendency to switch /t/ with /s/ causes problems with his intelligibility as the word sweet peas sounds like Swiss peas, creating an entirely different meaning. Another consonant problem that we noticed is Participant 1s tendency to switch between the /f/ sound and the /p/ sound/. For example, the words Jupiter, Pluto, and Republican are pronounced as /dufit/, /flut/, and /fblikn/. This tendency to switch the /f/ and the /p/ sound is but a minor flaw that does not necessarily affect intelligibility.

Suprasegmentals
Stress Timing I believe that Participant 1 exhibits satisfactory skill in stress timing. He has successfully read the Prator passage and the Accent Analysis Sentences with correct stress timing: Please believe that sweet peas and beans are good to eat. There is almost a rhythm when he read these sentences. The only instance where Participant 1 has stressed a function word is when he is unsure how to say the succeeding word. For example, in the Prator Passage, he reads: I jog at least fifteen minutes on a (pause) treadmill. Apparently, he does not know what a treadmill is and how to say it. We paused for a bit and practiced saying the word treadmill. He successfully corrected the stress needed in the sentence the second time he read. Word Stress Word stress is satisfactory as well. The only issue that we have in this aspect is his knowledge in putting stress to the correct syllable of words that can be used as both a noun and a verb. In the Prator Passage, Participant 1 read: I decided to keep a record of my workouts and to record my progress in a notebook. Notice that the words record and record are used incorrectly in the context. The first one, which is supposed to be a noun, is stressed in the second syllable (record), making it a verb. The reverse is done in the second part of the sentence with the noun record instead of the verb record. This switching of stress in these words can be problematic to intelligibility. We

attributed this issue to Participant 1s confusion and lack of knowledge of the difference between these two words.

Intelligibility
Participant 1 is intelligible enough upfront. Among his strengths is good word stress and stress timing. I believe that Participant 1 is rather skillful in stressing content words in his speech. I believe that the a few minor vowel and consonant mispronunciations are the only impediment from being perfectly intelligible. Otherwise, Participant 1 has clear pronunciation enough to be understood. We give him a 7.5 for intelligibility. Suggested Pedagogy For Participant 1s issue about /i/ and /I/. I recommend the use of /i/ and /I/ Flashcards for drills. These flash cards contain sentences that use words with /i/ and /I/ sounds that the student can compare with. The pictures in the flashcards can be used as a clue to find out what is being said. The Flashcards technique is also applicable to Participant 1s //, /t/, and /p/ problems. I would introduce the lip, jaw, and tongue qualities before discussing any of these segmental. I would then say the words and have the participant repeat the word written on the flashcards after me for a few examples. The rest would then be examined and read by the participant. The purpose of this activity is to help the participant recognize the difference of individual sounds, be familiar with these sounds, and be able to produce these sounds.

Participant 2
Participant 2 is a young woman from Japan. Participant 2 is currently taking EIL classes. Her major is Music. BYUH is her first chance to come to the U.S. She has never studied in abroad before. We gave Participant 2 the following ratings: Segmentals 7, Suprasegmentals 8, Intelligibility 7.5.

Segmentals
Vowels Participant 2 exhibits sufficient mastery for vowel pronunciation. She recognizes the difference between /i/ and /I/ and is able to distinctly pronounce them separately. She reads the Accent Analysis Sentences that focus on these two vowels well. The only lapse that we have found in her pronunciation of these two

vowels is when she pronounced the word treadmill. Instead of saying the word as /tdml/, she pronounced it as /tidml/. This lapse may be small but we decided to dig deeper. When asked if she knows what a treadmill was, she shook her head and said no. We assume that this lapse occurred because she was unfamiliar with the word. She thought that the word treadmill looked like the word read, pronounced as /id/, and so she pronounced it as /tidml/. This lapse then was not caused by her inability to recognize the difference between the two vowels; rather, it was caused by her unfamiliarity of the word. Participant 2 also exhibited mastery over the other vowels. She knows the difference between // and // as demonstrated by her distinct vowel pronunciation of the words shop, coffee, and on. She successfully pronounced the words as /f/, /kfi/, and /n/ respectively. The /f/ sound in at the end of the word shop will be discussed shortly in the consonants section. Aside from these observations, we have found nothing wrong with her pronunciation of vowels. Consonants Participant 2 exhibited several problems in this aspect of speech. The tendency to pronounce // as /l/, which is common in Japanese speakers, was found in the sample speech. Participant 2 pronounced the words program and aerobics as /plgrm/ and /lbks/, instead of /pgrm/ and /bks/. This behavior was seen several times throughout the samples. Participant 2 was also prone to the /f/ and /p/. We discovered this in Participant 2s reading of the story interpretation. She pronounced the words coffee shop as /kfi p/ and / kfi f/ interchangeably. We believe that Participant 2 switches these two consonants when she is unconscious about it. This problem is similar to Participant 1. We believe that Participant 2 knows the vowel difference but is not used to the sounds yet.

Suprasegmentals
Stress-timing Participant 2 is between the stress-timed and syllable timed continuum, leaning closer to stress-timing. This means that Participant 2 exhibits a degree of inconsistency with her stress-timed rhythm. For example, in the Prator Passage, Participant 2 read a sentence as follows: yesterday, I ate a cheeseburger, a large green salad, some sliced cucumbers, two bags of potato chips, a milk shake. . . Notice that some function words are stressed in her reading and some are not. This inconsistency is exhibited throughout the reading process.

Word Stress Participant 2s word stress is very satisfactory. She does not exhibit any problem with word stress that may affect her intelligibility. A minor error similar to Participant 1 is the only issue we can point out. She pronounces the words record (noun) and record(verb) as both record. She cannot seem to distinguish any difference between the two words.

Intelligibility
Participant 2 exhibits intelligible speech with good stress-timed rhythm and word stress. A few vowel and consonant issues are the only impediments in her speech. We give her a 7.5 for intelligibility.

Suggested Pedagogy
For Participant 2s /p/ and /f/ switching problem, I would first use the Listen and Repeat Activity from the book English Pronunciation Made Simple by Dale and Poms. The listen and repeat activity allows the student to hear both sounds produced separately and produce the sounds right after hearing them. This activity is also meant to expose and familiarize the participant to the difference between the /p/ and the /f/ sounds. I will then use the Conversation Activity as a follow up on the first activity. The Conversation Activity contains a series of sentences made specifically to practice the /f/ and /p/ in a sentence context. I will then use the /p/ tongue twister, Peter Piper, and the /f/ tongue twister, Fancy Fox. This method will also be done to assist Participant 2 in producing the /l/ and // sounds differently. I believe that a lot of exposure and production opportunities will help Participant 2 in familiarizing herself with the different sounds.

Participant 3
Participant 3 is a young woman from Hongkong. She took and completed her EIL courses for two semesters. She is a TESOL major. She works as a new English and Chinese tour guide at the Polynesian Cultural Center. She told us that her job enables her to practice her English speaking skills effectively. We gave her the following ratings: Segmentals 6, Suprasegmentals 8, Intelligibility 7.

Segmentals
Vowels Participant 3 exhibits a mastery over most vowels. She can distinctly pronounce the difference between // and //, as well as the differences between /u/ and //. This ability is manifested in her successful reading of numbers 5 to 8 in the Accent Analysis Sentences passage. The only noticeable vowel problem that we have observed is her inability to produce the /I/ sound. The first and second items in Accent Analysis Sentence tests the students ability to distinctly produce the /i/ and /I/ sound. The words Tim, sister, swim, little, and bit are supposed to be pronounced as /tIms/, /sIst/, /swIms/, /lIl/, and /bIt/. Participant 3 pronounced these words as /tims/, /sist/, /swims/, /lil/, and /bit/. She never pronounced the /I/ sound at all in these sentences as well as the other reading materials. Other than this vowel problem, Participant 3s vowel is distinct and intelligible. Consonants We believe that Participant 3 needs work on her consonants more than anything else in her speech. She tends to omit the consonants /d/ and /t/ from random words. She pronounces the words: parrots, wallets, budgets, kinds, and cards as /ps/,/wls/, /bds/, /kajnz/, and /kz/ respectively. Also, she omits the // sound in most words. She pronounces the words order, forget, grocery, drinks, and cards as /d/, /fgt/, /gosi/, /dks/, and /kz/. These deletions are present in her other samples and are also present in her regular speech. These consonant deletions, although minor, can be an impediment to her intelligibility. We hardly understood her the first time we listened to her sample. This may explain our minor difficulty understanding her regular speech when we talked to her.

Suprasegmentals
Stress- timing Participant 3s stress timing is similar to that of Participant 2. She uses satisfactory stress-timed rhythm in speech. In the continuum between stress timing and syllable time, Participant 3s speech leans closest to stress-timing with some instances of syllable timing. At times, she lapses and places stress on some random words such as with. I believe that her placing a stress of the word with is because of her effort in trying to pronounce the / / sound correctly at the end of the word as shown: She likes to play with her sister. This is more of a pause than a stress. This may sound like a stress because it sounds longer, stronger, and higher when you

listen to it. Other function words that are commonly stressed in Participant 3s speech are on, and , and some pronouns like it. Word Stress No major problem for word stress was observed from Participant 3. Aside from the context confusion between record and the record that she exhibited, she displays good skill in word stress. I believe that her confusion for the words record and record is due to her lack of knowledge of the difference of meaning between these two words.

Intelligibility
Participant 3 is fairly intelligible upfront. I believe that her vowel and consonant problem, although minor, clouds up her speech and makes her speech distracting. However, her speech rhythm is good and her word stressing is satisfactory. We give her a 7 for Intelligibility.

Suggested Pedagogy
For Participant 3s /i/ and /I/ problem, I will employ the same method used with Participant 1. I believe that the Flash Cards activity can be of great help in distinguishing the difference between the /i/ and the /I/ sound. I will also use additional activities for Participant 3s case such as the /i/ and /I/ sound Word Maze taken from English Pronunciation Made Simple by Dale and Poms textbook. For Participant 3s omission of the /t/ and //, I will employ the Limerick activity found in the same book. I would first practice saying the /t/ and the // sound and discuss their lip, jaw, and tongue features. We will read the words in the limerick containing these sounds. We will have a separate limerick for each sound. I will then ask Participant 3 to pay special attention to his ts and rs as she reads the limericks. I believe that conscious attention for these sounds will help Participant 3 in

Participant 4
Participant 4 is a 30 year-old man from China. He is currently an EIL student in the advanced level. He started the EIL program as an Intermediate student. He speaks in a strong Chinese accent. His goal is to be able to speak English clearly despite of his accent. We give Participant 4 the following ratings: Segmentals 6, Suprasegmentals 6, Intelligibility 6.

Segmentals
Vowels Participant 4 exhibits problems in distinctly pronouncing the /i/ and the /I/ sound. He is able to pronounce the /i/ sound in sentence 1 of the Accent Analysis Sentences successfully. However, in sentence 2, he exhibits no distinction between the two vowel sounds. He pronounced the words Tim, sister, swim, and little as tims/, /sist/, /swims/, and/lil/. The only word where the /I/ sound was barely heard is the word bit, which sounds like a hybrid between/bIt/ and /bit/. We concluded that Participant 4s inability to pronounce the difference between /i/ and /I/ is an impediment to his intelligibility. Another problem that has been observed is Participant 4s inability to pronounce the // sound. He pronounces the // sound in the following words: animals, Africa, camels, giraffe, and parrots, as /nmlz/, /fk/, /kmlz/, /dlf/, and / plts/ instead of /nmlz/, /fk/, /kmlz/, /df/, and /pts/. The // sound that Participant 4 makes, takes on a rounder sound close to // and //. The last problem that we have observed is Partipant 4s tendency to add the extra schwa // after random words. The words least, and, and times are pronounced as /lIst/, /tjmz/, and /nd/. I believe that this tendency to add the schwa is attributed to Participant 4s strong Chinese accent. Consonants Participant 4 has difficulty in pronouncing the // sound. He tends to pronounce the // sound as /l/ or simply delete that sound in the word. For example, words like are, sister, her, and giraffes, Participant 4 pronounces these words as /l/, /sstl/, /hl/, and /dlfs/, with the /l/ sound a hybrid between /l/ and //. In some words like Africa, heart, and for, the // sound is omitted completely as shown: /fk/, /ht/, and /f/. In turn, Participant 4 sometimes switch the /l/ sound to a / / sound. The words dormitory, friend, and learns are sometimes pronounced as /dlmti/, /flnd/, and /l l nz/. The /l/ and the / / switch is what I believed to be of most concern with Participant 4s pronunciation.

Suprasegmentals
Stress-timing Participant 4s speech rhythm leans heavily towards the syllable timed speech. He exhibits a degree of stress timing but most of his speech is towards the

syllable timing. He puts stress in mostly all the words. This makes his speech very slow and monotonous. For example, in the Prator Passage, Participant 4 reads: When a student from another country comes to study in the United States, he has to find the answers to many questions . . . Notice in his reading of the passage that he stresses almost every word except for some occasional words. Participant 4s speech sounds rather painful because of this poor speech rhythm. Word stress I have had a major difficulty analyzing Participant 4s word stress. He reads each word so slowly and carefully that hearing the stress in those words became a challenge. I assume that this has to do with his low reading proficiency. For example, the first time he read the word Africa, he pronounced it as Africa (slowly, all syllables stressed). The word was in all bold because he stressed all the syllables in the word. The second time he read the word, he pronounced it as Africa (stressed on the first syllable). I am not entirely sure of what to conclude with this issue but I believe that his tendency to stress every syllable in most words comes from him carefully reading the passage as to avoid mistakes.

Intelligibility
Participant 4s intelligibility needs work in many aspects. We can barely understand his speech by just listening to it. We actually need the copy of the reading in order to follow along while he speaks. Both segmental and suprasegmentals need plenty of improvement. We give him a 6 for Intelligibility.

Suggested Pedagogy
For Participant4s /i/ and /I/ problem, I will employ the Flash Cards activity used by Participant 1 and 3. I believe that the activity will help him be familiar to the differences between these two vowels. The Flash Cards activity will also be used for his issue in pronouncing // and //. Before using the flash cards, I will first describe the jaw, lip, and tongue qualities of the different vowel sounds. Once these characteristics are made clear, I will proceed with the Flash Cards Activity. For his / / and /l/ switching, we will do some tongue twisters and limericks that will target these sounds. I will instruct Participant 4 to distinctly and exaggeratedly pronounce these sounds when he sees them. For Participant 1s syllable-timing problem, I will use the Partner Practice: What am I activity found in the textbook Targeting Pronunciation by Miller. This activity practices the different stress position in words with varying numbers of syllables. I believe that we can start in the word level before going to the sentence level.