Acoustic, articulatory and perceptual analyses of English Rhythm and Intonation in order to teach Japanese learners of English

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Natural sounding prosody (rhythm and intonation) is extremely important for communication in a second language. Based on electromagnetic articulographic recordings (EMA) conducted at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST, Ishikawa Prefecture) for intermediate level Japanese speakers of English and American speakers of English, it was reported that the phonological metrical structure (rhythm/stress patterns) of an English utterance match the patterns of jaw movement, as well as the corresponding resonance frequency patterns of the vocal tract, specifically the first formant (F1) patterns; however, the Japanese speakers’ patterns of jaw opening/F1 did not always show consistent matches with the rhythm pattern of the utterance. The findings about articulation of rhythm are currently being applied towardimproving teaching of American English rhythm to Japanese learners of English.