scholarly journals Mispronunciation and Substitution of Mid-high Front and Back Hausa Vowels by Yorùbá Native Speakers

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Sale Maikanti ◽  
Yap Ngee Thai ◽  
Jurgen Martin Burkhardt ◽  
Yong Mei Fung ◽  
Salina Binti Husain ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
Speech Learning Model ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Level 3 ◽  
Level 1 ◽  
Speech Learning

The mid short vowels: /e/ and /o/ are among the vowels shared between Hausa and Yorùbá but differ in Hausa mid-high long, front and back vowels: /e:/ and /o:/. The phonemic differences in the two languages have caused learning difficulties among the Yorùbá native speakers to achieve their second language learning desire and competence. Yorùbá-Hausa learners mispronounce certain disyllabic Hausa words due to the substitution of vowels in the first and second syllables. Thus, both lexical and grammatical meanings of the Hausa words are affected. This study examined the production of the 12 Hausa vowels by level 1 and level 3 students who were learning Hausa as a second language to determine if there was a significant difference in how level 1 and level 3 students pronounced the short and long mid-high, front and back Hausa vowels. 88 Yorùbá native speakers were recruited using purposive sampling. Twenty-four different wordlists extracted from Bargery's (1934) Hausa-English dictionary and prepared in carrier phrases were audio-recorded. It was a mixed-method, and the results were discussed within the theoretical framework of Flege and Bohn's (2020) Revised Speech Learning Model and Corder's (1967) 'Error Analysis Model'. The results of the Mann-Whitney U test revealed that participants in level 1 generally performed lower than level 3 participants in the pronunciation of mid-Hausa vowels due to substitutions. Such errors have pedagogical implication in learning Hausa as a second language, and if not addressed accordingly, the standard of Hausa will continue to fall at an undesirable and alarming rate.

scholarly journals Applying Measurement of Situational Self-Determination Theory to Use of a Self-Access Centre at a Japanese University

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Graham G. Robson ◽  
Darrell J. Hardy
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Learner Motivation ◽  
Japanese University ◽  
Self Study

One way to promote autonomy in the second language can be through the use of Self-access Centres (SACs). These are spaces for students to engage in activities such as self-study or communication with other learners, or native-speakers of the target language. However, merely having these spaces available does not guarantee that students will use the facility effectively, or even attend at all, so a degree of learner motivation linked with visiting the SAC would be necessary. Deci and Ryan’s (1985) Self-Determination Theory (SDT) has been used as the base for numerous studies in second language learning, including those in Japan. Proponents claim SDT is both universal and can be measured on different levels, which are global, situational and state. The authors sought to validate a measure of four subscales of SDT (Intrinsic Motivation, Identified Regulation, Introjected Regulation and External Regulation) written for this study at the situational level among undergraduates using an SAC at a Japanese University (n = 83). The rationale for items at this level comes from the field of psychology (Vallerand & Ratelle, 2002) and a study of second language constructs (Robson, 2016). A factor analysis confirmed four reliable factors, as hypothesized. Further, simplex correlations between the subconstructs somewhat confirms the underlying continuum posited by SDT researchers. These results may lead to a body of work that validates SDT theory in second language learning.

The effects of age of second language learning on the production of English vowels

1996 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murray J. Munro ◽  
James Emil Flege ◽  
Ian R. A. Mackay
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Correct Identification ◽  
Percent Correct ◽  
English Vowels

ABSTRACTThis study examined the English vowel productions of 240 native speakers of Italian who had arrived in Canada at ages ranging from 2 to 23 years and 24 native English speakers from the same community. The productions of 11 vowels were rated for degree of foreign accent by 10 listeners. An increase in perceived accentedness as a function of increasing age of arrival was observed on every vowel. Not one of the vowels was observed to be produced in a consistently native-like manner by the latest-arriving learners, even though they had been living in Canada for an average of 32 years. However, high intelligibility (percent correct identification) scores were obtained for the same set of productions. This was true even for English vowels that have no counterpart in Italian.

Learning english through musicals: a case study of social economically disadvantaged aboriginal students in Eastern Taiwan

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 204-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lih-Wei Lei ◽  
Cheng-Fang Huang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Economically Disadvantaged ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Aboriginal Students ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Learning English

This study explores the possibility of using musicals to teach English with instructional VCD for following practice, and investigates whether it helps social economically disadvantaged aboriginal students overcome their difficulties with English and enhance their learning motivation. A series of surveys and interviews were conducted to investigate the influence of this intervention. The results showed that about 90 per cent of responded students in the intervention group considered learning English through musical interesting and it helped them to be more confident in English. About 80 per cent of students indicated that they would actively practice English through ways such as imitating singers to sing an English song. About 60 per cent of students felt more comfortable speaking English loudly and were less afraid of talking to others in English. Further comparison show that there was a significant difference between students who participated (n=39) and who didn't participate (n=15) in the English musical programme. Only about 60 per cent of those in the control group would actively learn English. Being unaware of the English musical programme, only half of the students considered learning English through acting interesting. The results of this exploratory study show musicals can provide the opportunity for the students to use language meaningfully and appropriately. The use of drama activities in second language learning helps the learners to be more imaginative, creative and less frustrated as they become more confident in the process of learning English as a second language.

scholarly journals Teaching Pragmatic Competence: A Journey from Teaching Cultural Facts to Teaching Cultural Awareness

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iryna Lenchuk ◽  
Amer Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Cultural Awareness ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
Federally Funded ◽  
Esl Teachers ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Esl Learners

Pragmatic competence is one of the essential competences taught in the second language classroom. The Canadian Language Benchmarks (CCLB, 2012a), the standard document referred to in any federally funded program of ESL teach- ing in Canada, acknowledges the importance of this competence, yet at the same time notes the limited resources available to help ESL teachers address it in the classroom. Informed by the theoretical construct of communicative competence and its application to second language learning, the article offers an exemplar of the whats and hows of teaching pragmatics in the ESL classroom. The article stresses the importance of making explicit to the learners the sociolinguistic and sociocultural variables that underlie native speakers’ linguistic choices. It is hoped that ESL learners will thus develop a better understanding of the reasons that make native speakers choose one linguistic expression rather than others when performing a certain linguistic act. The speech act of complimenting is used here as an exemplar.

How subtle differences in orthography influence conceptual interpretation

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arina Banga ◽  
Esther Hanssen ◽  
Robert Schreuder ◽  
Anneke Neijt
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Linguistic Relativity ◽  
Noun Compounds ◽  
Linking Element

The present study investigates linguistic relativity. The units of writing investigated are e and en, which are used to represent units of language in Dutch, Frisian, and Afrikaans. Dutch has homographic forms in the plural suffix -en and the linking element of noun-noun compounds en. Frisian does not have homography of this kind, while Afrikaans has a different homography. This raises the question whether second language learners of Dutch consistently interpret the linking en in Dutch noun-noun compounds as plural in the way that native speakers do. Plurality ratings for Dutch modifiers obtained from native Dutch speakers are compared with ratings from Frisian-Dutch bilinguals and Afrikaaners learning Dutch as L2. Significant differences relating to orthography are observed. We therefore argue that differing orthographic conventions in one’s native language (L1) can lead to different interpretations for the same everyday words written in Dutch (L2). Orthography thus provides an example of linguistic relativity. Keywords: linguistic relativity; second language learning; morphology; compounding; linking element; plurality; homography; Dutch; Frisian; Afrikaans

scholarly journals Learning a Second Language in Adulthood Changes Subcortical Neural Encoding

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Dongxin Liu ◽  
Shuo Wang ◽  
Qi Gao ◽  
Ruijuan Dong ◽  
Xinxing Fu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Neural Encoding ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Frequency Following Response ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
L2 Learning ◽  
The Central Nervous System

Second language learning has been shown to impact and reshape the central nervous system, anatomically and functionally. Most of the studies on second language learning and neuroplasticity have been focused on cortical areas, whereas the subcortical neural encoding mechanism and its relationship with L2 learning have not been examined extensively. The purpose of this study was to utilize frequency-following response (FFR) to examine if and how learning a tonal language in adulthood changes the subcortical neural encoding in hearing adults. Three groups of subjects were recruited: native speakers of Mandarin Chinese (native speakers (NS)), learners of the language (L2 learners), and those with no experience (native speakers of foreign languages (NSFL)). It is hypothesized that differences would exist in FFRs obtained from the three language experience groups. Results revealed that FFRs obtained from L2 learners were found to be more robust than the NSFL group, yet not on a par with the NS group. Such results may suggest that in human adulthood, subcortical neural encoding ability may be trainable with the acquisition of a new language and that neuroplasticity at the brainstem level can indeed be influenced by L2 learning.

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