Interlanguage Production of English Stop Consonants: A VOT Analysis Author: Liao Shu-jong Presenter: Shu-ling Hung (Sherry) Advisor: Raung-fu Chung Date: April 19, 2012

Outline  Terms  Background and Motivation  Research Questions  Significance of the Study  Methodology  Data Analysis  Conclusion  Comment  Q & A

Terms (1) Selinker (1972): interlanguage L1 interlanguage the target language

Terms (2) Voice onset time (V T) J.C. Catford (2002)

Background and Motivation  Different phonetic implementations of stop consonants have contributed to detectable foreign accent. So, interlanguage production of stop consonants has been a hot issue for researchers who are concerned with phonological interaction.  No prior study has evaluated the interlanguage production of stops by EFL students in Taiwan, nor gathered VOT data of Mandarin and Southern Min from high school students.

Research Questions 1.What are the VOT values of stop consonants in Mandarin? 2. What are the VOT values of stop consonants in Southern Min? 3. What are the mean VOT values of stop consonants produced by native speakers of American English?

Research Questions 4. What are the mean VOT values for interlanguage production of English stop consonants by EFL students in Taiwan? 5. What patterns or generalizations can be obtained by comparing English stop production by EFL students and native speakers of American English? 6. Does proficiency in the target language play a role in the interlanguage production of stop consonants?

Significance of the Study The study contributes to complete VOT data for Mandarin and Southern Min and pioneers the foreign accent with regard to stops, which provides the basis for further study of speech perception.

Methodology-Subjects Group26 Students A(NSE)native speakers of American English → 3 females and 3 males (aged from 19 to 24) * three came from Utah, two Ohio, and the other Washington D.C. * staying in Taiwan for about 9.4 months * missionaries B(HEFL)high proficiency group → 5 girls and 5 boys (aged from 13 to 16) * 9 students passed the Basic Level of GEPT; 1 student passed a test held by Cave * 6 were the same junior high school; 1 was in Yunlin County; 3 were in Kaohsiung * at home : Mandarin and Southern Min * at school: 1 spoke Mandarin and Southern Min; 8 spoke Mandarin; 1 spoke English C(LEFL)low proficiency group → 5 girls and 5 boys (aged from 15 to 16) * None of them passed proficiency tests * 9 were in same high school in Yunlin County; 1 was from a vocational senior high school also in Yunlin County * at home : 3 spoke Southern Min; 7 spoke Mandarin and Southern Min * at school: 3 spoke Mandarin and Southern Min; 7 spoke Mandarin

Methodology- Speech Materials The Mandarin stimuli were constructed by combining six stops / ph, th, kh, p, t, k/ with three vowels /i, u, a/. A set of 16 words were tested.

Methodology- Speech Materials As for the English stimuli, a protocol of 27 basic speech syllables by combining the nine stop segments (/ph, th, kh, p, t, k, b, d, g/) with the three extreme vowels /i, u, a/ was developed.

Methodology- Speech Materials The Min stimuli included 24 words, with the combination of eight stops /ph, th, kh, p, t, k, b, g/ and three vowels /i, u, a/.

Methodology- Procedures Choose 26 Subjects Design and Modify the Questionnaire and Test Stimuli Administer the Questionnaire Take a record: EFL → 3 parts NSE → 1 part (record directly into the computer by PRAAT) Collect, Compute, and Analyze Data Discuss Findings A flowchart of the procedures

Data Analysis-NSE  NSE3 (a female, aged 24) has produced /b, d, g/ partially voiced, a situation in which VOT cannot be defined. So, all the voiced tokens by NSE3 were ignored in the statistical analyses. similar longer

Data Analysis-NSE  The analysis reveals that productions for /b, d, g/ and /p, t, k/ do not differ significantly from each other.

Data Analysis-NSE  [velars] ﹥ [alveolars] ﹥ [labials]  Stops that combine with the high vowels /i/ or /u/ are produced with significantly higher VOT values than those combined with the low vowel /a/.

Data Analysis-EFL (Mandarin) shortlong

Data Analysis-EFL (Mandarin)

 [k] ﹥ [p], [t] (non-significant effect is obtained for the latter two categories) 

Data Analysis-EFL (Mandarin)  S ubjects in HEFL appear to contrast VOT to a greater degree than do those in LEFL.

Data Analysis-EFL (Mandarin)  The figure depicts that HEFL group produce Mandarin /p, t, k/ with shorter VOT values than LEFL group.

Data Analysis-EFL (Southern Min)  [k] ﹥ [p], [t]   Fast speaking rate may lead to lower VOT value.

Data Analysis-EFL (Southern Min) negative  Among the 120 tokens, 12 tokens have been ignored in the calculation for mean values because voiced tokens are either mispronounced or deleted.

Data Analysis-EFL (interlanguage production) long lag valuesshort lag values  {vl. asp} ﹥ {vl. unasp}, {voiced}  [velars] ﹥ [alveolars] ﹥ [labials]

Data Analysis-EFL (interlanguage production)

 HEFL approximating somewhat to NSE values, and with LEFL closer to Mandarin values.  HEFL students adjust their VOT values when producing the target language. (/g/)

Data Analysis-EFL (interlanguage production) the longest lag the shortest lag  HEFL students’ production approximates more to the NSE group, and LEFL students’ production is closer to their L1 than their L2.

Conclusion VOT values that were obtained in this study fall within the normal range. The study has shown a significant effect of place of articulation for VOT values (velar stops > alveolar stops> labial stops), but shorter VOT values for /th/ than for /ph/ in Southern Min. Despite the close phonetic difference between /b, d, g/ in English and /p, t, k/ in Mandarin, EFL students do not use /p, t, k/ in Mandarin directly in place of voiced stops /b, d, g/ in English.

Conclusion When speaking English /ph, th, kh/,EFL students adjust their VOT values to the range of the target phonetic norm rather than adopting the same VOT values in their L1 for their L2. None of EFL students produced English /b, d, g/ with vocal fold vibration during the closure as the phonological label [+voice] suggested. The higher proficiency EFL students possess, the more native-like they will be.

Comment  The speakers of Southern Min may not be affected deeply.  The study is confined to be speech production only.  The subjects of monolinguals cannot be found.

Q & A

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