The Influence of Using Discourse Analysis Techniques on the Filtered Speech of Authentic Audio Text to Improve Pronunciation
Year: 2004
Type: article
Abstract: This study reports quantitative and qualitative approaches to 1) explore the influence of authentic audio literature, presented in filtered and intact speech, on evaluators' rating of participants' pronunciation and fluency within oral reading and conversational samples; 2) investigate the influence of participant exposure to and analysis of authentic audio literature, presented in filtered and intact speech, on the ratio of unstressed to stressed vowel length of participants' speech within oral reading samples; 3) determine whether physical measurements correlate with subjective ratings; and 4) explore participants' views of how this training influenced their pronunciation and fluency.Eight nonnative English speaking graduate students met with the researcher in groups of one to three for twelve 75 minutes sessions over an eight week period.Participants were given audio CDs containing authentic poetry, radio plays and interviews.Prosodic units were cut onto separate tracks, presented first with phonemic information removed via speech filtering, followed by intact aural text.Participants engaged in home listening for analysis of suprasegmental features as part of assigned audiojournals, and performed selections in class.Subjective ratings of the pronunciation and fluency of nonnative oral reading before and after treatment, and of native oral reading, suggest a positive influence.Nativeness ratings showed a non-significant increase, possibly due to the simplicity of determining native or nonnative status.Subjective ratings of conversational samples failed to suggest a positive influence; however, there was a wide disparity in scores.iii Combining each participant's conversational and oral reading ratings revealed a significant increase, suggesting a positive influence.Physical measure of vowel length of oral reading served as triangulation with subjective ratings.A significant decrease in the ratio of unstressed to stressed vowels in post-versus pre-test conditions suggests a positive influence, particularly regarding stress.A lack of significant difference between nonnative post-test ratios and native ratios suggests that nonnative speakers were approaching nativeness, supporting possible effectiveness of treatment.Interview data regarding impressions of improvement concurred, overall, with a portion of the quantitative data.These findings point to the importance of developing instructional techniques that help learners identify and internalize features of pronunciation to enhance communicative success.
Author: Carolyn Rachel Aufderhaar
Institution: University of Cincinnati
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2597353855