English Vowels: A World English Perspective

In spite of having a fixed standard of pronunciation, English is being used in various ways in parts of the world, particularly in its way of utterance. English vowel is playing one of the significant roles in making different varieties of English language. This essay tries to see into detail how some phonetic features (formant movement, frequency, pitch) of English vowels vary in relation to Bengali, Catalan, Italian, Spanish and Swedish speakers. It has been found that all these speakers vary a lot from each other in the utterance of English vowels.

Acoustic Variability in the Production of English Vowels by Native and Non-Native Speakers

The features of non-native speech which distinguish it from native speech are often difficult to pin down. It is possible to be a native speaker of any of a vast number of varieties of English. These varieties each have their phonetic characteristics which allow them to be identified by speakers of the varieties in question and by others. The phonetic differences between the accents represented by these varieties are very great. It is impossible to indicate any particular configuration of vowels in the acoustic vowel space or set of consonant articulations which all native-speaker varieties of English have in common and which non-native speakers do not share. This study considers the vowel quality in a single word by native and non-native speakers.

Performing "Up The Shore": a stylistic analysis of Newfoundland Irish English vowels in the Ferryland dinner theatre

This study is a variationist sociolinguistic analysis of two speech styles, performance and interview, of a dinner theatre troupe in Ferryland on the Southern Shore of Newfoundland. Five actors and ten of their characters are analyzed to test if their vowels change across styles. The study adopts a variationist framework with a Community of Practice model, drawing on Bell’s audience and referee design to argue that the performers’ stage conventions and identity construction are influenced by a third person referee: the Idealized Authentic Newfoundlander (IAN). Under this view the goal of the performer is to both communicate with and entertain the audience, which requires different tactics when speaking. These tactics manifest phonetically and are discussed in a quantitative, statistical analysis of the acoustic measurements of the vowel tokens [variables FACE, KIT, LOT/PALM and GOAT lexical sets with Newfoundland Irish English (NIE) variants] and a qualitative discussion.

The role of musical aptitude in the pronunciation of English vowels among Polish learners of English

It has long been held that people who have musical training or talent acquire L2 pronunciation more successfully than those that do not. Indeed, there have been empirical studies to support this hypothesis (Pastuszek-Lipińska 2003, Fonseca-Mora et al. 2011, Zatorre and Baum 2012). However, in many of such studies, musical abilities in subjects were mostly verified through questionnaires rather than tested in a reliable, empirical manner. Therefore, we run three different musical hearing tests, i.e. pitch perception test, musical memory test, and rhythm perception test (Mandell 2009) to measure the actual musical aptitude in our subjects. The main research question is whether a better musical ear correlates with a higher rate of acquisition of English vowels in Polish EFL learners. Our group consists of 40 Polish university students studying English as their major who learn the British pronunciation model during an intense pronunciation course. 10 male and 30 female subjects with mean age of 20.1 were recorded in a recording studio. The procedure comprised spontaneous conversations, reading passages and reading words in isolation. Vowel measurements were conducted in Praat in all three speech styles and several consonantal contexts. The assumption was that participants who performed better in musical tests would produce vowels that are closer to the Southern British English model. We plotted them onto vowel charts and calculated the Euclidean distances. Preliminary results show that there is potential correlation between specific aspects of musical hearing and different elements of pronunciation. The study is a longitudinal project and will encompass two more years, during which we will repeat the recording procedure twice to measure the participants’ progress in mastering the English pronunciation and comparing it with their musical aptitude.

Functional genomics of BAHD acyltransferases in different varieties of the wine grape, Vilis vinifera

The characteristic "foxy" aroma of Vilis labrusca Concord grapes is due in large part to methyl anthranilate, a volatile ester formed by the enzyme anthraniloyl- CoA:methanol anthraniloyltransferase (VIAMAT) of the superfamily of BARD acyltransferases. The publication of the genome ofthe closely related wine grape Vilis vinifera, which does not accumulate methyl anthranilate, permitted the searching for any putative VlAU4T-like genes, with the result of 5 highly homologous candidates being found, with one candidate sharing 95% identity to VlAU4T. Probing the gene expression of 18 different cultivars of V. vinifora ripe berries by RT -PCR showed that many varieties do indeed express VlAU4T-like genes. Subsequent cloning of the full-length open reading frame of one of these genes from eDNA prepared from the cultivar Sauvignon Blanc permitted preliminary biochemical characterization of the enzyme after heterologous expression in E. coli. It was determined that this alcohol acyltransferase (named VvsbAATl) catalyzes the formation of cis-3-hexenyl acetate, a "green-leaf' volatile. Although the cloned gene from Sauvignon Blanc had 95% identity at the amino acid level to VIAMAT, it displayed an altered substrate specificity and expression pattern. These results highlight the difficulty in predicting substrate specificity and function of enzymes through the basis of sequence homology, which is a common finding in the study of BARD acyltransferases. Also, the determination of function of VvsbAATl and other BARD acyltransferases in V. vinifera could be used as a genetic marker for certain aroma characteristics in grape breeding programs.

Chercher pour or chercher après: arguing the case for contact-induced linguistic innovation in different varieties of French

This paper provides evidence for the claim made in Baetens Beardsmore (1971) that the grammatical collocation "chercher après" «to look for», which is very frequent in Brussels French, is the result of transfer from the contact language, Brussels Dutch. A detailed quantitative analysis of this construction in different varieties of French which have more or less contact with a Germanic language was made to investigate the likelihood of influence from the Germanic substrate. The differences between the meaning of "chercher" and "chercher après" are also analysed in some depth, to find out whether or not the particle is redundant. According to Trudgill (2004) redundant constructions are more often found in contact situations involving long-term, stable contact and child bilingualism. The particle "après" was found to add a particular shade of meaning to "chercher", and is thus not redundant. Therefore no evidence could be obtained from the current data for Trudgill’s (2004) claim.

Physical and chemical characterization of the pulp of different varieties of avocado targeting oil extraction potential

The aim of this study was to evaluate the physicochemical properties of avocado pulp of four different varieties (Avocado, Guatemala, Dickinson, and Butter pear) and to identify which has the greatest potential for oil extraction. Fresh avocado pulp was characterized by moisture, protein, fat, ash, carbohydrates and energy contents were determined. The carotenoids and chlorophyll contents were determined by the organic solvent extraction method. The results showed significant differences in the composition of the fruit when varieties are compared. However, the striking feature in all varieties is high lipid content; Avocado and Dickinson are the most suitable varieties for oil extraction, taking into account moisture content and the levels of lipids in the pulp. Moreover, it could be said that the variety Dickinson is the most affected by the parameters evaluated in terms of overall quality. Chlorophyll and carotenoids, fat-soluble pigments, showed a negative correlation with respect to lipids since it could be related to its function in the fruit. The varieties Avocado and Dickinson are an alternative to oil extraction having great commercial potential to be exploited thus avoiding waste and increasing farmers income.

Cooking quality and compositional factors of potatoes of different varieties from several commercial locations /

Caption title.

Articulation diagrams of English vowels and English consonants (especially for teachers of English as a foreign language)

Mode of access: Internet.

Training Finnish and English Speakers to Produce Non-native Vowels

The subject of this thesis was the acquisition of difficult non-native vowels by speakers of two different languages. In order to study the subject, a group of Finnish speakers and another group of American English speakers were recruited and they underwent a short listen-and-repeat training that included as stimuli the semisynthetically created pseudowords /ty:ti/ and /tʉ:ti/. The aim was to study the effect of the training method on the subjects as well as the possible influence of the speakers’ native language on the process of acquisition. The selection of the target vowels /y/ and /ʉ/ was made according to the Speech Learning Model and Perceptual Assimilation Model, both of which predict that second language speech sounds that share similar features with sounds of a person’s native language are most difficult for the person to learn. The vowel /ʉ/ is similar to Finnish vowels as well as to vowels of English, whereas /y/ exists in Finnish but not in English, although it is similar to other English vowels. Therefore, it can be hypothesized that /ʉ/ is a difficult vowel for both groups to learn and /y/ is difficult for English speakers. The effect of training was tested with a pretest-training-posttest protocol in which the stimuli were played alternately and the subjects’ task was to repeat the heard stimuli. The training method was thought to improve the production of non-native sounds by engaging different feedback mechanisms, such as auditory and somatosensory. These, according to Template Theory, modify the production of speech by altering the motor commands from the internal speech system or the feedforward signal which translates the motoric commands into articulatory movements. The subjects’ productions during the test phases were recorded and an acoustic analysis was performed in which the formant values of the target vowels were extracted. Statistical analyses showed a statistically significant difference between groups in the first formant, signaling a possible effect of native motor commands. Furthermore, a statistically significant difference between groups was observed in the standard deviation of the formants in the production of /y/, showing the uniformity of native production. The training had no observable effect, possibly due to the short nature of the training protocol.

Learning English in an English speaking world : examining opportunities for intercultural understandings and connectedness through representations of identities in English language textbooks

With the recognition that language both reflects and constructs culture and English now widely acknowledged as an international language, the cul-tural content of language teaching materials is now being problematised. Through a quantitative analysis, this chapter focuses on opportunities for intercultural understanding and connectedness through representations of the identities that appear in two leading English language textbooks. The analyses reveal that the textbooks orientate towards British and western identities with representations of people from non-European/non-Western backgrounds being notable for their absence, while others are hidden from view. Indeed there would appear to be a neocolonialist orientation in oper-ation in the textbooks, one that aligns English with the West. The chapter proposes arguments for the consideration of cultural diversity in English language teaching (ELT) textbook design, and promoting intercultural awareness and acknowledging the contexts in which English is now being used. It also offers ways that teachers can critically reflect on existing ELT materials and proposes arguments for including different varieties of Eng-lish in order to ensure a level of intercultural understanding and connect-edness.

A variationist approach to the examination of insertion and deletion of /h/ in Kosraean English

I report on language variation in the unresearched variety of English emerging on Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia. English is spoken as the inter-island lingua franca throughout Micronesia and has been the official language of FSM since gaining its independence in 1986, though still retaining close ties with the US through and economic “compact” agreement. I present here an analysis of a corpus of over 90 Kosraean English speakers, compiled during a three month fieldwork trip to the island in the Western Pacific. The 45 minute sociolinguistically sensitive recordings are drawn from a corpus of old and young, with varying levels of education and occupations, and off-island experiences. In the paper I analyse two variables. The first variable is the realisation of /h/, often subject to deletion in both L1 and L2 varieties of English. Such occurrences are commonly associated with Cockney English, but also found in Caribbean English and the postcolonial English of Australia. For example:  Male, 31: yeah I build their house their local huts and they pay me /h/ deletion is frequent in Kosraean English, but, perhaps expectedly, occurs slightly less among people with higher contact with American English, through having spent longer periods off island. The second feature under scrutiny is the variable epenthesis of [h] to provide a consonantal onset to vowel-initial syllables.  Male, 31: that guy is really hold now This practice is also found beyond Kosraean English. Previous studies find h-epenthesis arising in L1 varieties including Newfoundland and Tristan de Cunha English, while similar manifestations are identified in Francophone L2 learners of English. My variationist statistical analysis has shown [h] insertion:  to disproportionately occur intervocalically;  to be constrained by both speaker gender and age: older males are much more likely to epenthesis [h] in their speech;  to be more likely in the onset of stressed as opposed to unstressed syllables. In light of the findings of my analysis, I consider the relationship between h-deletion and h-epenthesis, the plausibility of hypercorrection as a motivation for the variation, and the potential influence of the substrate language, alongside sociolinguistic factors such as attitudes towards the US based on mobility. The analysis sheds light on the extent to which different varieties share this characteristic and the comparability of them in terms of linguistic constraints and attributes. Clarke, S. (2010). Newfoundland and Labrador English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Hackert, S. (2004). Urban Bahamian Creole: System and Variation. Varieties of English Around the World G32. Amsterdam: Benjamins Milroy, J. (1983). On the Sociolinguistic History of H-dropping in English in Current topics in English historical linguistics: Odense UP

Some reflections on the impact of globalization in the teaching and learning of English in socalled “expanding circle” countries

This article deals with the ongoing debate on the complex role of English as an International Language, be it understood as a homogeneous entity (one language with an international role [EIL]) or a heterogeneous one (different varieties (WE or ELF) grouped under one label, «English») as well as on the implications of this «globalising» status for its teaching in non-native settings. Given the complexity of this phenomenon, whose study is still in its infancy, we attempt neither to provide definitive answers nor adopt a prescriptive attitude, but simply contribute to the discussion and clarification of this, to some extent, emergent, controversial situation.

English syllable confusion and imitation in Korean bilingual and monolingual children and adults

In the present study, Korean-English bilingual (KEB) and Korean monolingual (KM) children, between the ages of 8 and 13 years, and KEB adults, ages 18 and older, were examined with one speech perception task, called the Nonsense Syllable Confusion Matrix (NSCM) task (Allen, 2005), and two production tasks, called the Nonsense Syllable Imitation Task (NSIT) and the Nonword Repetition Task (NRT; Dollaghan & Campbell, 1998). The present study examined (a) which English sounds on the NSCM task were identified less well, presumably due to interference from Korean phonology, in bilinguals learning English as a second language (L2) and in monolinguals learning English as a foreign language (FL); (b) which English phonemes on the NSIT were more challenging for bilinguals and monolinguals to produce; (c) whether perception on the NSCM task is related to production on the NSIT, or phonological awareness, as measured by the NRT; and (d) whether perception and production differ in three age-language status groups (i.e., KEB children, KEB adults, and KM children) and in three proficiency subgroups of KEB children (i.e., English-dominant, ED; balanced, BAL; and Korean-dominant, KD). In order to determine English proficiency in each group, language samples were extensively and rigorously analyzed, using software, called Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT). Length of samples in complete and intelligible utterances, number of different and total words (NDW and NTW, respectively), speech rate in words per minute (WPM), and number of grammatical errors, mazes, and abandoned utterances were measured and compared among the three initial groups and the three proficiency subgroups. Results of the language sample analysis (LSA) showed significant group differences only between the KEBs and the KM children, but not between the KEB children and adults. Nonetheless, compared to normative means (from a sample length- and age-matched database provided by SALT), the KEB adult group and the KD subgroup produced English at significantly slower speech rates than expected for monolingual, English-speaking counterparts. Two existing models of bilingual speech perception and production—the Speech Learning Model or SLM (Flege, 1987, 1992) and the Perceptual Assimilation Model or PAM (Best, McRoberts, & Sithole, 1988; Best, McRoberts, & Goodell, 2001)—were considered to see if they could account for the perceptual and production patterns evident in the present study. The selected English sounds for stimuli in the NSCM task and the NSIT were 10 consonants, /p, b, k, g, f, θ, s, z, ʧ, ʤ/, and 3 vowels /I, ɛ, æ/, which were used to create 30 nonsense syllables in a consonant-vowel structure. Based on phonetic or phonemic differences between the two languages, English sounds were categorized either as familiar sounds—namely, English sounds that are similar, but not identical, to L1 Korean, including /p, k, s, ʧ, ɛ/—or unfamiliar sounds—namely, English sounds that are new to L1, including /b, g, f, θ, z, ʤ, I, æ/. The results of the NSCM task showed that (a) consonants were perceived correctly more often than vowels, (b) familiar sounds were perceived correctly more often than unfamiliar ones, and (c) familiar consonants were perceived correctly more often than unfamiliar ones across the three age-language status groups and across the three proficiency subgroups; and (d) the KEB children perceived correctly more often than the KEB adults, the KEB children and adults perceived correctly more often than the KM children, and the ED and BAL subgroups perceived correctly more often than the KD subgroup. The results of the NSIT showed (a) consonants were produced more accurately than vowels, and (b) familiar sounds were produced more accurately than unfamiliar ones, across the three age-language status groups. Also, (c) familiar consonants were produced more accurately than unfamiliar ones in the KEB and KM child groups, and (d) unfamiliar vowels were produced more accurately than a familiar one in the KEB child group, but the reverse was true in the KEB adult and KM child groups. The KEB children produced sounds correctly significantly more often than the KM children and the KEB adults, though the percent correct differences were smaller than for perception. Production differences were not found among the three proficiency subgroups. Perception on the NSCM task was compared to production on the NSIT and NRT. Weak positive correlations were found between perception and production (NSIT) for unfamiliar consonants and sounds, whereas a weak negative correlation was found for unfamiliar vowels. Several correlations were significant for perceptual performance on the NSCM task and overall production performance on the NRT: for unfamiliar consonants, unfamiliar vowels, unfamiliar sounds, consonants, vowels, and overall performance on the NSCM task. Nonetheless, no significant correlation was found between production on the NSIT and NRT. Evidently these are two very different production tasks, where immediate imitation of single syllables on the NSIT results in high performance for all groups. Findings of the present study suggest that (a) perception and production of L2 consonants differ from those of vowels; (b) perception and production of L2 sounds involve an interaction of sound type and familiarity; (c) a weak relation exists between perception and production performance for unfamiliar sounds; and (d) L2 experience generally predicts perceptual and production performance. The present study yields several conclusions. The first is that familiarity of sounds is an important influence on L2 learning, as claimed by both SLM and PAM. In the present study, familiar sounds were perceived and produced correctly more often than unfamiliar ones in most cases, in keeping with PAM, though experienced L2 learners (i.e., the KEB children) produced unfamiliar vowels better than familiar ones, in keeping with SLM. Nonetheless, the second conclusion is that neither SLM nor PAM consistently and thoroughly explains the results of the present study. This is because both theories assume that the influence of L1 on the perception of L2 consonants and vowels works in the same way as for production of them. The third and fourth conclusions are two proposed arguments: that perception and production of consonants are different than for vowels, and that sound type interacts with familiarity and L2 experience. These two arguments can best explain the current findings. These findings may help us to develop educational curricula for bilingual individuals listening to and articulating English. Further, the extensive analysis of spontaneous speech in the present study should contribute to the specification of parameters for normal language development and function in Korean-English bilingual children and adults.