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2.3 Markedness Differential Hypothesis (MDH)
• Eckman (1981) proposed the Markedness Difference Hypotheses (MDH), which groups the phonemes into marked or unmarked ones.
- Unmarked sounds exist in most languages
around the world, like /p/, /d/, /a/,and /i/.
- Marked sounds do not exist in most languages
such as the voice contrast stop coda, /ʒ /,/θ/, and /ð/.• For L2 learners, it is generally effortless to acquire
unmarked sounds, while the more marked a phoneme is, the more difficult it is to pronounce it without an accent.
2.5 The predictions of each SLA theory• If CAH is supported, /θ/, /ð/, and /ʒ / should be more
difficult to acquire than /tʃ /,/dʒ / and /ʃ /.
- According to CAH, new sounds are difficult to acquire.
• If SLM is supported, /tʃ /, /dʒ / and /ʃ / should be more difficult to master than /ʒ /,/θ/,/ð/.
- According to SLM, new phonemes are difficult to acquire but easy to master. In contrast, similar phonemes are easy to acquire but difficult to master.
• If MDH is supported, the difficulty level of the following phonemes should be /ʒ /> {/θ/ and /ð/}>{/tʃ /, /dʒ / and /ʃ /}.
- According to MDH, this order is consistent with the markedness level.
2.5 SLA theory: Three main theories about second language pronunciation acquisition.
SLA theory
Identical phonemes:
Similar phonemes:
New sounds:
The relative degree of difficulty should not only focus on L1 and L2, but also on the universal languages.
Marked sounds: 2. SLM 3.MDH3.MDH
1. CAH
Similar phonemes:
New sounds:
The comparison of L1 and L2 is not sufficient
Unmarked sounds:
more difficult to masterEX. /ʒ /
easier to acquire
2.5 The predictions of each SLA theory
/ʒ /
/θ/
/ð/
/tʃ /
/dʒ /
/ʃ /CAH
SLM
MDH
TaiwaneseSLA
learners?
Chapter 3 Methodology
3.5
Research
question
and
hypotheses
3.1 Participants
3.2 Material
3.3 Measurement
3.4 Research
design
.
Chapter 3 Methodology
• If a linguist wants to know whether L2 learners produce fricatives like L2 native speakers, he or she will inspect the peak of fricative frequency and the CV transient.
• This thesis aims to figure out the authentic SLA situation pronunciation acquisition in Taiwan, and few researchers have undertaken the acoustic analysis of fricatives and affricates.
• More specifically, the peak of fricative frequency and the CV transient of the six phonemes, /ʒ /,/θ/,/ð/,/tʃ /, /dʒ / and /ʃ /, are evaluated to better understand the Taiwanese SLA.
Group1
3.1 Participants
36 male
6 English native
speakers(age 21)
The thirty-six participants are divided into four groups based on their age and mother tongues.
Group2
10 Junior high school
students (age 13)
Group3
10 Senior high school
students (age 17)
Group4
10 University
students (age21)
3.1 Participants• Flege (1992) examined the perception and production
of a novel second language, and found that an additional four years of English learning experience did not lead to any significant difference.
- One of the hypotheses in this study is that an additional four years of English learning experience in a non-English spoken country does not improve the speaker’s English pronunciation.
3.1 Participants• Few researchers have investigated the efficacy of
having an extra eight years of L2 learning in a non-L2 country.
- The second hypothesis of this paper is that an additional eight years of English learning experience in a non-L2 spoken country can improve L2 learners’ pronunciation.
3.2 Material• The focus of this paper is to examine how the four
groups pronounce the following six phonemes, /ʒ /,/θ/,/ð/,/tʃ /, /dʒ /, and /ʃ /.
• These six sounds are useful for comparing the contrastive analysis hypotheses (CAH), the speech learning model(SLM), and the markedness differential hypothesis (MDH).
• The six phonemes are distributed in different positions in eighty-eight selected English words.
Examples of the words analyzed in this study
3.3 Measurement Linguists use two ways to measure the correctness
of fricative pronunciation (Chung, 2009).
LPC
► Examine noisy turbulence
► Comparing the peak of
fricative frequency to obtain
the locations of the four
groups’ tips of the tongue in
the production of these six
sounds.
Assistance of spectrogram
► Observing the F2 of the CV
transient, since F2 is also
related to the front or rear
location of the tip of the
tongue.
CV transient
3.3.1 LPC
• Noisy turbulence is influenced by the distance between the tip of the tongue and the lips (Chung, 2009).
• The greater the peak of the fricative frequency (LPC), the more to the front the tip of the speaker’s, while the reverse is true the smaller the peak of the fricative frequency (LPC) is.
3.3.1 LPC• After recording the sounds, the PRAAT software is used to measure the location of tongue in the form of an LPC number.
• The SPSS the statistical software is then used to identify whether or not the three Taiwanese groups differ significantly from the English native speaker group.
• In this study, independent samples t-tests are applied to know whether or not these groups perform with significant differences.
Sample of LPC
3.3.2 CV transient(supplementary data)
• With CV transient, formants one and two are observed.
- Formant one (F1) shows the height of tongue. The smaller the number F1 is, the higher the tongue is.
- Formant two (F2) is related to a front or rear location of the tip of the tongue. The bigger F2 is, the more to the front the tongue is.
• This paper only needs the F2 data because both it and LPC are related to the front or back location of the tip of the tongue.
3.3.2 CV transient(supplementary data)
• Only vowels and sonorants have formants, and neighboring consonants can influence the formants of vowels.
• With the assistance of the CV transient, the locational relationship between the six sounds and vowels can also be known.
• The CV transient cannot be calculated using SPSS to know whether Taiwanese students differ significantly from English native speakers.
Sample of CV transient
3.4 Research design
3.5 Research question and hypotheses
H2
An additional eight more years
of English learning
experience in a non-English
spoken country are effective in
improving English learners’ pronunciation.
RQ1
The research question
examines which SLA theory can best explain the acquisition of
English pronunciation in
Taiwan.
H1
•
An additional four years of English
learning experience in a
non-English spoken country
does not improve English learners’ pronunciation.
Chapter Four: Results and Analysis
/ʒ /,/θ/,/ð/,
/tʃ /,/dʒ /,/ʃ /
as
4.1.1
Group 2 vs.
Group 1
4.1.2
Group 3 vs.
Group 1
4.1.3
Group 4 vs.
Group 1
4.1.4 The four
groups’ average
performances of
/ʃ/,/tʃ/,and /dʒ/
4.1.5 The effects
of an additional
four years of
English learning
experience
4.1.6 The ffects
of an additional
eight years of
English learning
experience
4.1 Coda garage teeth breathe teach bridge wish
4.2 Onset pleasure mother teacher teenager fisherman
before
/ɚ/
4.3 Onset thousand without chocolate John shop
before /a/
4.4 Onset thief these cheese jeans sheep
before /i/
RQ1 : The predictions of each SLA theory?
/ʒ /
/θ/
/ð/
/tʃ /
/dʒ /
/ʃ /CAH
SLM
MDH
Taiwanese?
4.1 /ʒ/,/θ/,/ð/,/tʃ/, /dʒ/, and /ʃ/ as the coda
4.1.1 Group 2 vs. Group 1
Group N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean p value
garage 1 6 2922.17 321.024 131.057 .122
2 10 3562.80 982.586 310.721
breathe 1 6 4998.67 1346.727 549.799 .426
2 8 5450.13 679.166 240.121
teeth 1 6 5532.50 641.748 261.992 .202
2 10 5601.40 1385.170 438.029
bridge 1 6 3202.67 268.030 109.423 .105
2 9 3579.67 966.515 322.172
teach 1 6 3234.33 336.093 137.209 .385
2 10 3486.70 824.576 260.754
wish 1 6 3089.67 276.743 112.980 .000
2 9 4050.33 1474.352 491.451 *When p value is smaller than .05, the groups perform significantly differently.
Table 4.1. Group statistics of LPC for Group Two and Group One (as the coda)
4.1 /ʒ/,/θ/,/ð/,/tʃ/, /dʒ/, and /ʃ/ as the coda
* The order of the tip of the tongue from front to rear of Group One is {/θ/ (5532), /ð/(4998)}> {/tʃ /(3234), /dʒ /(3203), /ʃ /(3090), /ʒ /(2922)}.
* The order of the tip of the tongue from front to rear of Group Two is {/θ/ (5601), /ð/(5450)}>/ʃ /(4050), >
{/dʒ /(3580), /ʒ/(3536)/tʃ /(3487)}.
- Only /ʃ/ is pronounced significantly differently, and the p value is .000.
- Only in the production of /ʃ/ do Taiwanese junior high school students differ from American native speakers.
4.1.1 Group 2 vs. Group 1(English Native Speaker)
4.1 /ʒ/,/θ/,/ð/,/tʃ/, /dʒ/, and /ʃ/ as the coda
4.1.2 Group 3 vs. Group 1 Table 4.2. Group statistics of LPC for Group Three and Group One (as the coda)
Group N
Mean
Std. Deviation
Std. Error Mean p value
garage 1 6 2922.17 321.024 131.057 .073
3 10 3657.90 1102.562 348.661
breathe 1 6 4998.67 1346.727 549.799 .661
3 10 5348.20 1574.735 497.975
teeth 1 6 5532.50 641.748 261.992 .435
3 10 5367.40 816.747 258.278
bridge 1 6 3202.67 268.030 109.423 .068
3 10 3826.30 1018.850 322.189
teach 1 6 3234.33 336.093 137.209 .006
3 10 4130.50 1189.397 376.120
wish 1 6 3089.67 276.743 112.980 .057
3 10 3805.50 1169.749 369.907
*When p value is smaller than .05, the groups perform significantly differently.
4.1 /ʒ/,/θ/,/ð/,/tʃ/, /dʒ/, and /ʃ/ as the coda
* The order of the tip of the tongue from front to rear of Group One is {/θ/ (5532), /ð/(4998)}> {/tʃ /(3234), /dʒ /(3203), /ʃ /(3090), /ʒ /(2922)}.
* The order of the tip of the tongue from front to rear of Group Three is {/θ/ (5367), /ð/(5348)} >
{/tʃ /(4130), /ʃ /(4050), /dʒ /(3826), /ʒ/(3658)}.
- Only /tʃ / ( is pronounced significantly differently, and the p value is .006.
- Senior high school participants produced /ʃ /, /tʃ / and /dʒ / with more difficulty than /θ/ and /ð/.
4.1.2 Group 3 vs. Group 1(English Native Speaker)
4.1 /ʒ/,/θ/,/ð/,/tʃ/, /dʒ/, and /ʃ/ as the coda
4.1.3 Group 4 vs. Group 1 Table 4.3. Group statistics of LPC for Group Four and Group One (as the coda)
Group N
Mean
Std. Deviation
Std. Error Mean p value
garage 1 6 2922.17 321.024 131.057 .062
4 10 3573.80 1063.714 336.376
breathe 1 6 4998.67 1346.727 549.799 .720
4 9 4759.00 1377.230 459.077
teeth 1 6 5532.50 641.748 261.992 .327
4 10 5126.10 1372.902 434.150
bridge 1 6 3202.67 268.030 109.423 .050
4 10 3590.00 1115.961 352.898
teach 1 6 3234.33 336.093 137.209 .078
4 10 3630.70 1016.352 321.399
wish 1 6 3089.67 276.743 112.980 .046
4 10 3549.40 1326.832 419.581 *When p value is smaller than .05, the groups perform significantly differently.