ACCENTEDNESS AND INTELLIGIBILITYEMMA HUTCHINSON REGINA IP MAUVAN KHORSHIDIAN KRISTIN SANVIDO

LING 290: Group 4 Presentation

What are the differences between accentedness and

intelligibility?

Question for You

Definitions

ACCENTEDNESSHow different a pattern of speech sounds compared to the local variety

INTELLIGIBILITYThe degree of a listener’s actual comprehension of an utterance

COMPREHENSIBILITY The listener’s perception of how easy or difficult it is to understand a given speech sample

(Derwing & Munro, 2009)

Can people distinguish English words pronounced in different

accents? Why or why not?

Study Question

• Must be 17+ years old

• Have spoken the native language for 10+ years

• Native English participants must be monolingual

Participants’ Requirements

Methodology

1 monolingual English

2 native Mandarin

2 native Gujarati

2 monolingual English

2 native Mandarin

2 native Gujarati

SPEAKERS LISTENERS

Speakers’ Tasks

Every two sentences contain one minimal pair

Pronounce the sentences on the paper in a clear voice

Example:

The vine is red.

The wine is red.

Listeners’ Tasks

English

Gujarati Mandarin

Gujarati

Gujarati Native English

Mandarin

Mandarin Native English

Listen to the recordings and circle the word that they heard

Example:

The vine/wine is red.

The vine/wine is red.

Reasons for Choosing these Sounds

[s] and [θ]

Mandarin Ss commonly replace /θ/ with a dentalized /s/ - [s̪ ] (Armstrong,

2016)

[v] and [w]

[v] and [w] can be used interchangeably in Gujarati – [ʋ]

Minimal pairs

sink think

sums thumbs

sigh thigh

saw thaw

sought thought

symbol thimble

vest west

vine wine

viper wiper

visor wiser

veil whale

veal wheel

MANDARIN [s] and [θ] GUJARATI [v] and [w]

Materials

Consent forms

Worksheets prepared by us

Recorder (iPhone)

Headphones

1. Mandarin and Gujarati listeners (L’s) are unable to discriminate their own accented English speech.

2. Mandarin and Gujarati L’s are able to discriminate native English speech.

3. Monolingual English L’s are able to discriminate the accented speech (both Mandarin and Gujarati).

Hypothesis

1. Mandarin L’s to Mandarin-accented English (M-M)

2. Gujarati L’s to Gujarati-accented English (G-G)

3. Mandarin and Gujarati L’s to native English (MG-E)

4. Native English L’s to Gujarati-accented English (E-G)

5. Native English L’s to Mandarin-accented English (E-M)

Categories of Results

Results (M-M)

100%

50%

PARTICIPANT 1 PARTICIPANT 2

MANDARIN L'S → MANDARIN ACCENTED ENGLISH

Results (M-M)

Neither prove or disprove the hypothesis

Unable to obtain any results, due to the inconsistency

HYPOTHESIS 1a

Mandarin listeners are unable to discriminate

their own accented English speech.

Extra Findings (M-M)

He saw a thimble.

He saw a symbol.

Thumbs up.

Sums up.

Results (G-G)

100% 100%

PARTICIPANT 1 PARTICIPANT 2

GUJARATI L'S → GUJARATI ACCENTED ENGLISH

Results (G-G)

Disprove our hypothesis

Gujarati speakers have enough exposure to Gujarati accented English

Proves greater exposure leads to increased intelligibility (Derwing & Munro,

2009)

HYPOTHESIS 1b

Gujarati listeners are unable to discriminate their

own accented English speech.

Results (MG-E)

100% 100%

92%

100%

MANDARIN L'S GUJARATI L'S

MANDARIN & GUJARATI L'S → NATIVE ENGLISH

Participant 1 Participant 2

Results (MG-E)

Proves the hypothesis

Enough exposure to native English increases their intelligibility

HYPOTHESIS 2

Mandarin and Gujarati listeners are able to

discriminate native English speech.

Results (MG-E)

42%

100%

100%

100%

PARTICIPANT 1 PARTICIPANT 2

ENGLISH L'S → MANDARIN & GUJARATI ACCENTED ENGLISH

Mandarin-accented Gujarati-accented

Results (E-M)

Neither prove or disprove the hypothesis

Unable to obtain any results, due to the inconsistency

HYPOTHESIS 3a

Monolingual English listeners are able to

discriminate Mandarin-accented English speech.

Results (E-G)

Proves the hypothesis

Further proves the degree of exposure impact intelligibility

HYPOTHESIS 3b

Monolingual English listeners are able to

discriminate Gujarati-accented English speech.

• A close relationship between exposure to language and

intelligibility

• Proves that accentedness and intelligibility are partially

independent variables (Derwing & Munro, 2009)

Conclusion

Limitations

Thickness of speakers’ accent

No fixed speaking rate and intervals between sentences

Not enough participant to apply a universal conclusion

For the future studies,

Use a computer prompter

Increase the number of participants’ group

Discussions

Having an accent is not a bad thing!

Accent that can reduce intelligibility is worth studying

If one’s want to improve L2 fluency, pronounce all the letters in the

word.

QUESTIONS

References

Armstrong, E. (2016, January 6). Mandarin-English Features. Retrieved from http://www.yorku.ca/earmstro/chimerica/Mandarin- Features.pdf

Derwing, T. M., & Munro, M. J. (2009;2008;). Putting accent in its place: Rethinking obstacles to communication. Language Teaching, 42(4), 476-490. doi:10.1017/S026144480800551X

Deterding, D. (2006). The pronunciation of English by speakers from China. English World-Wide, 27(2), 175-198

LiquiSearch (2016). Hindi-Urdu Phonology - Consonants - Allophony of ‘v’ and ‘w’ in Hindustani. Retrieved from http://www.liquisearch.com/hindi-urdu_phonology/consonants/allophony_of_v_and_w_in_hindustani