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Infants' preference for vowelharmony (VH, a phonotactic constraint that requires vowels in a word to be featurally similar) is thought to be language-specific: Monolingual infants learning VH languages show a listening preference for VH patterns by 6 months of age, while those learning non-VH languages do not (Gonzalez-Gomez et al., 2019; Van Kampen et al., 2008). We investigated sensitivity to advanced tongue root (ATR) harmony in Akan (Kwa, Niger-Congo) in 40 six-month-old multilingual infants (21 girls) in Ghana, West Africa (an understudied population), all learning Akan, Ghanaian English, and most of them several other understudied African languages (e.g., Ga, Ewe). We hypothesized that infants learning both ATR harmony and nonharmony languages would demonstrate sensitivity to ATR harmony. Using the central fixation procedure, infants were presented with disyllabic nonwords that were either harmonic (e.g., puti) or nonharmonic (e.g., pet[open-mid back rounded vowel]) based on their ATR features. Infants demonstrated sensitivity to ATR harmony with a familiarity preference, listening longer to harmonic syllable sequences than nonharmonic ones. The relative amount of exposure to (an) ATR harmony language(s) did not modulate the preference. These results shed light on our understanding of early multilingualism: they suggest that early sensitivity to VH in multilinguals may be similar to monolingual infants learning other types of VH, irrespective of simultaneous experience with non-VH languages. We conclude with reflections on studying infant language acquisition in multilingual Africa.

Purpose: This study aims at investigating the phonological development of the six guttural consonants of Jordanian Arabic, /[chi]/, /[voiced uvular fricative]/, /[voiceless pharyngeal fricative]/, /[voiced pharyngeal fricative]/, /[glottal stop]/, and /h/. Method: An articulation test is designed to involve two tasks: picture naming and repetition. The test includes 54 words for picture naming and 18 words for repetition, representing all possible positions of the targeted guttural sounds. Samples are collected from 40 typically developing Ammani-Jordanian Arabic-speaking monolingual children, living in Amman, Jordan. Respondents are equally divided into eight age-related trajectories: 2-2;6, 2;6-3, 3-3;6, 3;6-4, 4-4;6, 4;6-5, 5-5;6, and 5;6-6 (years;months). No child with a history of hearing, speech, or vision disorders is included. The data are analyzed using "production accuracy," where the three developmental trajectories of production (customary, acquisition, and mastery) are determined for each guttural, and "error analysis," addressed based on perceptual judgments, providing details of every mispronounced or deleted guttural. Results: The results show that /[chi]/, /[voiceless pharyngeal fricative]/, /[voiced pharyngeal fricative]/, and /[glottal stop]/ are acquired before the age of 6 years, while /[voiced uvular fricative]/ and /h/ are still not acquired by this age. Respondents use relatively variant alternatives for the mispronounced cognates, including guttural, nonguttural sounds, and vowel substitution. The /[voiced uvular fricative]/ is the guttural with the highest number of alternatives, while /[glottal stop]/ gets the least. The analysis also reveals patterns of guttural deletion, with variations across different guttural sounds and positions. Despite errors/deviations made, respondents score accuracy percentages that gradually increase in correlation with age. The guttural /[voiced uvular fricative]/ starts with the lowest accuracy percentages, while /[glottal stop]/ and /[voiceless pharyngeal fricative]/ start with the highest. Conclusions: These findings illuminate on the developmental trajectory of guttural acquisition and enrich our understanding of children's evolving perception and production abilities. They offer valuable insights into the patterns of guttural sound production in Jordanian Arabic-speaking children, laying the groundwork for further research and the development of targeted assessment and intervention strategies to support phonological development in this population.

Production of certain English phonemes relies heavily on effort from the abdominal region, and under-utilization of this region by second language English speakers can create difficulties pronouncing these sounds. In particular, production of long vowel/diphthong sounds requires sustained abdominal contraction to maintain the length of these phonemes, and production of voiced fricative consonants requires a sharp burst of abdominal effort to expel air from the lungs to adequately voice the consonant. Both Cantonese and Mandarin speakers have particular problems producing these phonemes, and this study compared how instruction in the abdominal techniques effected production of these sounds by these two learner groups. The study focused on the vowel and diphthong sounds, /i?/, /u?/ and /[a diphthong]/, and the voiced fricative consonants, /z/,/[voiced dental fricative]/, /v/ and /[voiced postalveolar fricative]/. A previous study by the author had found the abdominal techniques improved Chinese learners' production of these phonemes. The learners in that study were evenly divided between Mandarin and Cantonese speakers, and this study reanalysed the data to examine which speaker group benefited more from these abdominal techniques. Results showed that the Mandarin speakers were the major beneficiaries of the techniques. Importantly, the study also explored, in depth, likely reasons for this.

Background: Young children clearly know quite a bit about the conventions of written language; for instance, 5-year-old children are sensitive to the fact that words tend to include both consonants and vowels, rather than just one or the other. The core theoretical debate lies in whether this understanding of sub-lexical orthographic regularities predicts children's reading development. To provide empirical data on this question, we examined whether individual differences in sub-lexical orthographic knowledge were related to gains in word reading over a year. Methods: We measured sub-lexical orthographic knowledge in Grade 1 by asking children to choose which of two letter-strings looked most word-like--one containing vowels and consonants and one containing all consonants or all vowels (e.g., "vack" vs "vgck" or "uaie," respectively). Children completed control measures of phonological awareness, vocabulary and nonverbal ability in Grade 1. Word reading was measured in both Grades 1 and 2. Results: Linear regression analyses identified a small but significant and unique contribution of sub-lexical orthographic knowledge in Grade 1 to word reading in Grade 2, after controls for the above measures as well as age, parental education and the auto-regressor of Grade 1 word reading. Conclusions: This finding suggests a role for knowledge of sub-lexical orthographic regularities in children's gains in word reading.

Purpose: The present study investigates the perception of vowel nasality in French-speaking children with cochlear implants (CIs; CI group) and children with typical hearing (TH; TH group) aged 4-12 years. By investigating the vocalic nasality feature in French, the study aims to document more broadly the effects of the acoustic limitations of CI in processing segments characterized by acoustic cues that require optimal spectral resolution. The impact of various factors related to children's characteristics, such as chronological/auditory age, age of implantation, and exposure to cued speech, has been studied on performance, and the acoustic characteristics of the stimuli in perceptual tasks have also been investigated. Method: Identification and discrimination tasks involving French nasal and oral vowels were administered to two groups of children: 13 children with CIs (CI group) and 25 children with TH (TH group) divided into three age groups (4-6 years, 7-9 years, and 10-12 years). French nasal vowels were paired with their oral phonological counterpart (phonological pairing) as well as to the closest oral vowel in terms of phonetic proximity (phonetic pairing). Post hoc acoustic analyses of the stimuli were linked to the performance in perception. Results: The results indicate an effect of the auditory status on the performance in the two tasks, with the CI group performing at a lower level than the TH group. However, the scores of the children in the CI group are well above chance level, exceeding 80%. The most common errors in identification were substitutions between nasal vowels and phonetically close oral vowels as well as confusions between the phoneme /u/ and other oral vowels. Phonetic pairs showed lower discrimination performance in the CI group with great variability in the results. Age effects were observed only in TH children for nasal vowel identification, whereas in children with CIs, a positive impact of cued speech practice and early implantation was found. Differential links between performance and acoustic characteristics were found within our groups, suggesting that in children with CIs, selective use of certain acoustic features, presumed to be better transmitted by the implant, leads to better perceptual performance. Conclusions: The study's results reveal specific challenges in children with CIs when processing segments characterized by fine spectral resolution cues. However, the CI children in our study appear to effectively compensate for these difficulties by utilizing various acoustic cues assumed to be well transmitted by the implant, such as cues related to the temporal resolution of stimuli.

Rhythm metrics can detect second language development of target-like speech rhythm but interpretation of the results from metrics in learners' speech is problematic because the mapping of metrics to underpinning phonological features is indirect. We investigate speech rhythm in first language (L1) Arabic / second language (L2) English, which differ in key properties contributing to the percept of rhythm: unstressed vowel reduction and syllable structure. Our production data are interpreted using additional measures, of stressed and unstressed vowels and of consonant cluster realization, alongside standard rhythm metrics; this combination facilitates disambiguation of competing interpretations of the metric results. The findings confirm the importance of using multiple rhythm metrics to study L2 speech rhythm and demonstrate how simple additional measures can guide interpretation of their results. In this study the metrics results showed that the speech produced by the L2 speakers, regardless of their length of residence in the UK, exhibited lower vocalic durational variability than the speech produced by the native Arabic and English speakers. However, closer inspection of the degree of vowel reduction by the native and nonnative groups confirms that no single metric captures the complex nature of the observed L2 rhythm patterns. Future L2 studies are advised not to draw firm conclusions about the degree of vowel reduction and consonant cluster realization in L2 speech based solely on the results of the rhythm metrics.

Korean learners of English are known to repair consonant clusters, which are not allowed in their native language, with an epenthetic vowel [close central unrounded vowel]. The purpose of the present study is to examine whether the perception-production link of such an illusory vowel in a second language (L2) is only within and not across processing levels, as proposed in a previous study regarding L2 segments. We assessed the perception and production of English onset clusters by Korean learners and native English speakers at the prelexical (AX discrimination and pseudoword read-aloud tasks) and lexical (lexical decision and picture-naming tasks) levels, using the same participants and stimuli across the tasks. Results showed that accuracy in not producing an epenthetic vowel between the two consonants of onset cluster was not significantly associated with accurate perception of the cluster either within or across processing levels. The results suggest that production and perception accuracy in L2 phonotactics are independent to a certain extent.

Purpose: In this study, we examined the utility of vowel intelligibility testing for assessing the impact of dysarthria on speech characteristics in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We tested the sensitivity and specificity of overall vowel identification, as well as that of vowel-specific identification, to dysarthria presence and severity. We additionally examined the relationship between vowel intelligibility and sentence intelligibility. Method: Twenty-three people with ALS and 22 age- and sex-matched control speakers produced sentences from the Speech Intelligibility Test (SIT), as well as 10 American English monophthongs in /h/--vowel--/d/ words for the vowel intelligibility test (VIT). Data for SIT and VIT scores came from 135 listeners. Diagnostic accuracy of VIT measures was evaluated using the area under the curve of receiver operator characteristics. We then examined differences between control speakers, speakers with mild dysarthria, and speakers with severe dysarthria in their relationship between SIT and VIT scores. Results: The results suggest that the overall vowel intelligibility score showed high sensitivity and specificity in differentiating between speakers with and without dysarthria, even those with milder symptoms. In addition, single-vowel identification scores showed at least acceptable group differentiation between the mild and severe dysarthria groups, though fewer single vowels were acceptable discriminators between the control group and the group with mild dysarthria. Identification accuracy of /I/ in particular showed excellent discrimination across all groups. Examination of the relationship between SIT and VIT scores suggests a severity-specific relationship. Speakers with SIT scores above 70% generally had higher SIT than VIT scores, whereas speakers with SIT below 70% generally had higher VIT than SIT scores. Discussion: Vowel intelligibility testing can detect speech impairments in speakers with mild dysarthria and residual articulatory function in speakers with severe dysarthria. Vowel intelligibility testing may, therefore, be a useful addition to intelligibility testing for individuals with dysarthria.

This study presents a reanalysis of existing data to investigate whether a relationship between perception and production abilities regarding a challenging second-language (L2) phonological contrast is observable (a) when both modalities must rely on accessing stored lexical representations and (b) when there is an asymmetry in task focus between perception and production. In the original studies, German learners of English were tested on their mastery of the English /[open-mid front unrounded vowel]/-/ae/ contrast in an auditory lexical decision task with phonological substitutions, a word-reading task, and a segmentally focused imitation task. Results showed that accurate nonword rejection in the lexical decision task was predicted by the Euclidean distance between the two vowels in word reading but not in imitation. These results extend previous findings to lexical perception and production, highlight the influence of task focus on the degree of coupling between the two modalities, and may have important implications for pronunciation training methods.

Traditional Mongolian Language evolved through the history taking in its purview the Buddha's teaching of the Dharma through the route of the Tibetan language. This research study examined the chronology of the evolution of the Mongolian language and literature, the influence of Tibetan on its grammar and on the written Mongolian. The focus of the study was however on the creation of a written Mongolian language based on the translations of the ten sutras of knowledge of the Tripitaka and the words of foreign origin borrowed from Sanskrit and Tibetan into Mongolian. The findings revealed that the Mongolian grammar, often compared with the content of Sumju, was influenced by the primary grammar of Tibetan and Ogtorgui Maani, the main grammar of written Mongolian. The study also revealed that "Sumdag" which comprised two sutras, Sumju and Dagjug, assisted in the translations of the Buddhist scriptures into Tibetan and Mongolian languages. The "Sumdag" also enriched the Mongolian vocabulary by classification of vowels and consonants; and revived the grammar of ancient texts by developing new grammatical terminology and definitions. This study would provide useful insights to linguists, teachers and students about the influence of "Sumdag" on Traditional Mongolian Language and Dharma Literature.

Speaker's good pronunciation makes his/her listener comfortable, and confident to participate in the conversation and his/her mispronunciations bring implications to the listener's awareness and involvement with the message spoken. The research was aimed at detecting the mispronunciations produced by 70 nonnative (L2) post-graduate students who were enrolled in the English department. They were given English texts to read, recorded, and a semi-structured interview was applied. Error analysis was employed to check mispronunciations. The results showed that 43 students (61%) made mispronunciations and 27 (39%) had good pronunciations. Mispronunciation was found on vowels by 4 students (5.71%), on consonants by 5 (7.14%), on diphthongs by 3 (4.28%), and on consonant clusters by 14 (20%). Most of the students did intralingual and global errors which can influence their pronunciation quality and their bad quality bring bad impacts to their school children.

Because vocabulary knowledge is considered the building block of language learning, any difficulties concerned with vocabulary can harm the overall vocabulary acquisition process. Literature suggests that native Arabic speakers struggle to notice vowels while reading English texts. This can result from the differences between L1 and L2 linguistic systems or the negative transfer of L1 processing routines to the L2 in their attempt to process the L2 forms. This study investigates this problem and whether gender affects this phenomenon or not. It used a test on twenty-eight participants to examine the effect of gender on vowel blindness, which type of vowels (short or long vowels) are more problematic, and the kinds of vowel spelling errors that are easily noticed when processing vowels. The results showed that gender does not affect vowel blindness in a significant way. In other words, the overall results showed that the role of gender cannot be considered to have a significant effect. Thus, male and female students both struggled to deal with short vowels equally. However, males also showed difficulties regarding the long vowels. The research also revealed that missing vowel spelling errors are salient and more likely to be noticed while processing vowels for both genders.

This paper explored and analyzed features of English pronunciation that could cause intelligibility problems for Nepali English learners (ELs), who use English as a foreign language (EFL) or English as a second language (ESL). We examined the Nepali ELs' pronunciation issues by juxtaposing them with comparable segmental and suprasegmental features of the Nepali language. We found that Nepali has far less sound inventory and voiceless consonants than English, yet it has a lot of contrastive consonants. Similarly, the Nepali language has fewer vowels, minimal diphthongs, and no triphthongs. While both English and Nepali share limited suprasegmental characteristics, they do not complement each other. Given the distinctiveness in pronunciation of the two languages, Nepali ELs are likely to face several intelligibility challenges as they encounter other non-Nepali English users. Thus, they need knowledge and appropriate training to enhance intelligibility for effective communication in workplaces and academic spaces that promote English.

Pronunciation plays a crucial role in oral communication within a second language. Recently, the interest in English language learning among elderly adults has led to increased participation of older learners in lifelong education programs in Korea. However, there is a paucity of empirical studies on this specific learner group. This article investigates the pronunciation problems frequently encountered by elderly Korean learners of English in their language classrooms. Thirteen participants, aged 60 years or older, took part in this study. To identify their pronunciation difficulties with specific segmental features, each participant was administered a modified diagnostic test adapted from a test developed by Baker (1982). Overall, the results show that elderly learners face greater challenges with consonants than with vowels. Among the consonants, they struggle more with pronouncing /z/, /[voiced, alveo-palatal, fricative consonant]/, /[voiceless, dental, fricative consonant]/, and /[voiced postalveolar affricate]/ compared to other segments. Additionally, Pronunciation difficulty varies significantly depending on age and the duration of time spent abroad, while no significant difference is found based on gender. This article discusses possible pedagogical implications for pronunciation instruction targeting elderly learners and presents the limitations of the study.

This study examined how Korean EFL learners in different proficiency levels attest contrasts of L2 phonology. To this end, twenty Korean EFL learners in high and low levels of English proficiency produced words with word-final contrasts of /[esh]/ vs. /[esh]i/, /t[esh]/ vs. /t[esh]i/, and /d[ezh]/ vs. /d[ezh]i/. Acoustic analyses of lexical vs. epenthetic vowels and lexically vs. derivationally final sibilants were conducted. The results of the acoustic analyses revealed that Korean learners differentiated them at the acoustic level by employing different vowel ratios or F1 for the produced forms with a final lexical or epenthetic vowel which did not differ at the segmental level. On the other hand, the low group did not acoustically differentiate the two types of vowels after /d[ezh]/ at all. With the production of a final sibilant either lexical or derivational, Korean learners also made distinctions in terms of different frication ratios. The results of the study found L2 learners distinguish segmental contrasts acoustically, which is different from L1 speakers, and the proficiency level partially mediates this. The results implicate the existence of interlanguage phonology with its independent system.

This study examined the effects of working memory (WM), structure, and salience on the processing of English relative clauses (RCs) and participial reduced relative clauses (PRRCs) by L1 Thai learners. Salience in this research is the phonological alterations required for irregular verbs to inflect into the past participial form. The study included two types of irregulars with different salience levels. Seventy advanced L1 Thai learners took a reading span task and a self-paced reading task to assess their WM level and processing of past participial forms. The hypotheses proposed that WM, structure, and salience would influence online processing (reading times) and offline processing (comprehension accuracy). However, the findings showed differences between the higher and lower WM groups in only their online processing. The asymmetrical WM effects may be due to different levels of resource demands of the two processing tasks. Effects of structure and salience were observed on the learners' processing. The learners read the PRRCs faster than the RCs due to greater processing resources required for considering grammatical issues in the latter. Additionally, the participants processed the less salient irregulars faster because of greater phonological similarities between their past tense and past participial forms. Future research could explore either different classes of past participles in the salience hierarchy or how WM and salience affect the PRRC processing among learners with diverse L1 backgrounds.

Many users of social media from different countries and speaking different languages that use non-Latin orthography such as Arabic choose to transliterate their first name and surname in Romanized script, vis English. Due to the differences between the user's native language and English in vowels and consonants and how they are pronounced, some people make vowel and consonant errors in the English spelling of their names due to the user's proficiency level in English and their awareness level of the grapheme-phoneme correspondences in their native as well as English language. This study aims to investigate vowel omissions in the English spelling of Arabic personal names, what kind of vowels are omitted, location of the missing vowels, why educated Arabs omit vowels in the English spelling of their names, whether vowel omissions are attributed to transfer from the native language (Arabic) or lack of competence in English spelling. Analysis of a sample of Arabic personal names with missing vowels in their English spelling showed that in the vast majority of misspelled names, one short vowel is missing. In most cases, the missing short vowel is fatha /a/ in the first syllable of the name. It seems that educated Arabs transfer the Arabic vowel system to English. The Arabic orthographic system has 3 long vowels represented by written letters [foreign characters] /a:, i:, u:/ and 3 short vowels that are represented by diacritics which are pronounced but not shown in the written form of Arabic words. In addition, omission of short vowels in the English spelling of Arabic names may be attributed to how the name is pronounced in the dialect of the Arabic speaker, not how it is pronounced in Standard Arabic, especially when the vowel is in the initial syllable of some surnames. Vowel deletion may also be due to insufficient proficiency in English and lack of contrastive knowledge of the Arabic and English vowel and spelling systems. Examples of transliterated personal names with missing vowels, explanations, causes, and recommendations for more accurate spelling in English are given.

ELT materials tend to use prestige variety speakers as models, an underlying assumption being that this is needed in order to acquire the phonology necessary to parse English speech (Rose & Galloway, 2019). Global Englishes Language Teaching (GELT) (Galloway & Rose, 2018) provides the potential for movement away from such 'native speaker' ideologies, but lacks empirical evidence. In this study, the use of GELT input in comparison with prestige varieties of English was investigated. Sixteen first-year L1 Japanese university students in an English Medium Instruction programme participated in a self-paced listening study via a learning management system (LMS). All participants were tested on their perception of the English vowels /ae/, /[open-mid back unrounded vowel]/, /[open-mid central unrounded vowel]/ and/ /[open-mid back rounded vowel]/. After this pretest, they were separated into two groups: using edited TED talks, the experimental group (G) (N=8) watched videos of Global English varieties, and the control group (P) (N=8) watched videos of prestige English varieties. Both groups acquired losses, i.e., immediate posttest scores were mainly lower than pretest scores on vowel identification. Scores were predicted by the variation in interval between lessons and posttest, but not by the varieties of English used. This provides support for the view that GELT is as valid a language teaching approach as using prestige varieties.

This study explored the production of 11 English vowels by Acehnese Indonesian EFL students. Ten undergraduates (five males and five females) from the Pidie District, Aceh, participated, with Acehnese and Bahasa Indonesia as their first languages, and English learned formally at school since the 7th grade. Using PRAAT, recordings of vowel elicitations were measured and analyzed, revealing distinctions in vowel pairs. Statistical tests were employed to compare vowel productions between the males and females. The results showed that the females produced many of the vowel pairs similarly: /i:/-/[near-close near-front unrounded vowel]/, /[open-mid front unrounded vowel]/-/[near-open front unrounded vowel]/, /u:/-/[near-close back rounded vowel]/, /[open-mid back unrounded vowel]/-/[open back unrounded vowel]?/, and /[open back unrounded vowel]?/-/[open back rounded vowel]/. The pairs they differentiated were /[open-mid central unrounded vowel]:/-/[open-mid back unrounded vowel]/ and /[open-mid back rounded vowel]:/-/[open back rounded vowel]/. However, the female students could not discriminate between the long and short vowel pairs. Meanwhile, the male students could distinguish the following pairs: /i:/-/[near-close near-front unrounded vowel]/, /[open-mid central unrounded vowel]:/-/[open-mid back unrounded vowel]/, /[open-mid back unrounded vowel]/-/[open back unrounded vowel]?/, and /[open-mid back rounded vowel]:/-/[open back rounded vowel]/. The others, /[open-mid front unrounded vowel]/-/[near-open front unrounded vowel]/, /u:/-/[near-close back rounded vowel],/ and /[open back unrounded vowel]?/-/[open back rounded vowel]/, were produced similarly. Additionally, they could distinguish the long and short vowels in the /[open-mid central unrounded vowel]:/-/[open-mid back unrounded vowel]/, /u:/-/[near-close back rounded vowel]/, /[open-mid back unrounded vowel]/-/[open back unrounded vowel]?/, and /[open back unrounded vowel]?/-/[open back rounded vowel]/ pairs, but not /i:/-/[near-close near-front unrounded vowel]/, /[open-mid front unrounded vowel]/-/[near-open front unrounded vowel]/ and /[open-mid back rounded vowel]:/-/[open back rounded vowel]/. This study has shown complex distinctions in the production of English vowels by Acehnese Indonesian EFL students. These findings underscore the importance of considering gender-specific phonetic patterns in English language acquisition, providing valuable insights for language educators and researchers.

There is a long-standing debate in the literature about the benefits that acoustic components of Infant Directed Speech (IDS) might have for infants' language acquisition. One of the highly contested features is vowel space expansion, which refers to the enlargement of the acoustic space between the corner vowels /i, u, a/ in IDS compared to Adult Directed Speech (ADS). Some evidence indicates that vowel space expansion in IDS facilitates infants' speech perception, thus promoting language development, whereas other studies have questioned these benefits and have proposed that any processing benefits of IDS are due to its other prosodic features such as exaggerated and variable pitch. This study aimed to tease apart the effects of vowel space expansion and prosodic exaggeration in IDS on 18-month-old infants' speech processing. Using a looking-while-listening paradigm, two between-subjects conditions were compared: Exaggerated Pitch (with exaggerated pitch height and range, but without vowel space expansion) and Expanded Vowel Space (with vowel space expansion, but no exaggeration in pitch height and range). Our results showed that infants recognized the meanings of the words more accurately in the Expanded Vowel Space compared to the Exaggerated Pitch condition. This suggests that vowel space expansion in IDS facilitates infants' lexical processing even when it does not cooccur with the prosodic exaggeration typical of IDS.

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to explore the ability of Hebrew-speaking children with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) to produce lexical stress. Method: A total of 36 children aged between 4 and 7 years, 18 children with CAS, and 18 typically developing (TD) children participated in the study. All children completed language and speech assessments. The children imitated 20 weak-strong and strong-weak target words within short sentences and in isolation. Acoustic analysis of the vowels in the stressed and unstressed syllables of the target words and perceptual judgment of the words by six speech-language pathologists were conducted. Results: The acoustic analysis showed significant differences in duration, fundamental frequency, and amplitude between stressed and unstressed vowels in weak-strong and strong-weak words and in both groups of children. The total duration for both the stressed and weak syllables was longer in children with CAS compared to TD children. Rated on a Likert scale of 1-5, where 5 indicates correct production, the productions of lexical stress in the CAS group were judged as above 4 on average but were significantly worse compared to the TD group. The target productions of children with CAS were judged as including excessive, equal, or misplaced stress in 10.8% of the productions, whereas 5.8% of the target productions of the TD children were judged as having inappropriate stress. Conclusions: The present findings suggest that Hebrew-speaking children with CAS produce the acoustic characteristics of lexical stress similarly to their peers, and their productions are perceived as having relatively good lexical stress (above 4), although not as good as TD children.

Purpose: This study examined how speakers adapt to fundamental frequency (f[subscript o]) errors that affect the use of prosody to convey linguistic meaning, whether f[subscript o] adaptation in that context relates to adaptation in linguistically neutral sustained vowels, and whether cue trading is reflected in responses in the prosodic cues of f[subscript o] and amplitude. Method: Twenty-four speakers said vowels and sentences while f[subscript o] was digitally altered to induce predictable errors. Shifts in f[subscript o] (±200 cents) were applied to the entire sustained vowel and one word (emphasized or unemphasized) in sentences. Two prosodic cues--f[subscript o] and amplitude--were extracted. The effects of f[subscript o] shifts, shift direction, and emphasis on f[subscript o] response magnitude were evaluated with repeated-measures analyses of variance. Relationships between adaptive f[subscript o] responses in sentences and vowels and between adaptive f[subscript o] and amplitude responses were evaluated with Spearman correlations. Results: Speakers adapted to f[subscript o] errors in both linguistically meaningful sentences and linguistically neutral vowels. Adaptive f[subscript o] responses of unemphasized words were smaller than those of emphasized words when f[subscript o] was shifted upward. There was no relationship between adaptive f[subscript o] responses in vowels and emphasized words, but adaptive f[subscript o] and amplitude responses were strongly, positively correlated. Conclusions: Sensorimotor adaptation occurs in response to f[subscript o] errors regardless of how disruptive the error is to linguistic meaning. Adaptation to f[subscript o] errors during sustained vowels may not involve the exact same mechanisms as sensorimotor adaptation as it occurs in meaningful speech. The relationship between adaptive responses in f[subscript o] and amplitude supports an integrated model of prosody.

Purpose: Here, we examine the possibility that memory consolidation during a period of postpractice rest or nocturnal sleep can bolster speech motor learning in the absence of additional practice or effort. Method: Using web-administered experiments, 74 typical, American English talkers trained in a nonnative vowel contrast then had a 12-hr delay with (SLEEP) or without nocturnal sleep (REST) or proceeded immediately (IMMEDIATE) to a posttraining production assessment. For ecological validity, 51 native Danish talkers perceptually identified the American English talkers' productions. Results: We observed that practice resulted in productions that were more acoustically similar to the Danish target. In addition, we found that rest in the absence of further practice reduced the token-to-token variability of the productions. Last, for vowels produced immediately following training, listeners more accurately identified vowels in the trained context, whereas in the untrained context, listener accuracy improved only for vowels produced by talkers who slept. Conclusions: A single session of speech motor training promotes observable change to speech production behavior. Specifically, practice facilitates acoustic similarity to the target. Moreover, although a 12-hr postpractice period of rest appears to promote productions that are less variable, only the productions of those who slept are perceived as more accurate by listeners. This may point to sleep's role in contextualizing the acoustic goal of the production to the learner's own vocal tract and its role as a protective mechanism during learning. These results are unaccounted for under existing models and offer potential for future educational and clinical applications to maximize speech motor learning.

Although extensive research has focused on the perceptual abilities of second language (L2) learners, a significant gap persists in understanding how cognitive functions like phonological short-term memory (PSTM) and nonverbal intelligence (IQ) impact L2 speech perception. This study sets out to investigate the discrimination of L2 English monophthongal vowel contrasts and to assess the effect of PSTM and nonverbal IQ on L2 speech perception. The participants consisted of adult monolingually-raised Greek speakers, who completed an AX discrimination test, a digit span test, and a nonverbal intelligence test. A control group of English speakers also completed the AX test. Data were analyzed using Bayesian regression models. The results revealed that Greek speakers exhibited below chance discrimination for the majority of L2 vowel contrasts, consistently underperforming in comparison to the control group. Intriguingly, the study did not provide substantial evidence in favor of more accurate discrimination of L2 contrasts by Greek participants with high PSTM compared to those with low PSTM. However, the study yielded compelling evidence indicating that Greek participants with higher IQ demonstrated superior accuracy in discriminating most L2 contrasts compared to their lower IQ counterparts. The limited influence of PSTM on speech perception suggests the need for further exploration, considering the potential impact of test methodologies and the intricate interplay of other confounding factors. Furthermore, the study uncovers a noteworthy relationship between nonverbal IQ and L2 speech perception, likely linked with the association of high IQ with enhanced attentional capacities, information processing abilities, and learning skills--all of which are pivotal for accurate speech perception.

Purpose: Our goal is to understand how the different types of plural marking are understood and processed by children with cochlear implants (CIs): (a) how does salience affect the processing of plural marking, (b) how is this processing affected by the incomplete signal provided by the CIs, and (c) is it linked to individual factors such as chronological age, vocabulary development, and phonological working memory? Method: Sixteen children with CIs and 30 age-matched children with normal hearing (NH) participated in an eye-tracking study. Their task was to choose the corresponding picture to an auditorily presented singular or plural noun. Accuracy, reaction time, and gaze fixation were measured and analyzed with mixed-effect models. Results: Group differences were found in accuracy but not in reaction time or gaze fixation. Plural processing is qualitatively similar in children with CIs and children with NH, with more difficulties in processing plurals involving stem-vowel changes and less with those involving suffixes. Age effects indicate that processing abilities still evolve between 5 and 11 years, and processing is further linked to lexical development. Conclusions: Our results indicate that early implantation seems to be beneficial for the acquisition of plural as indicated by very small between-group differences in processing and comprehension. Processing is furthermore affected by the type of material (i.e., phonetic, phonological, or morphological) used to mark plural and less so by their segmental salience. Our study emphasizes the need to take into account the form of the linguistic material in future investigations at higher levels of processing.

This study explores the effects of embodied prosodic training on the production of non-native French front rounded vowels (i.e. /y, ø, oe/) and the overall pronunciation proficiency. Fifty-seven Catalan learners of French practiced pronunciation in one of two conditions: one group observed hand gestures embodying prosodic features of the sentences they were listening to, while the other group did not see any such gestures. The learning outcome was assessed in a pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest through a dialogue-reading task and a sentence imitation task in terms of accentedness, comprehensibility and fluency scores, and through formant analysis of participant-produced target vowels. The results showed that compared to non-embodied training, embodied prosodic training yielded continuous improvement in accentedness in both tasks and improved the F2 values of French front rounded vowels (more fronted). As for comprehensibility and fluency scores, both groups showed similar levels of significant improvement. This study highlights the interaction between prosodic and segmental features of speech by showing that training with embodied prosodic features benefitted accentedness and the production accuracy of non-native vowels.

Our study proposes the use of a free classification task for investigating the dimensions used by listeners in their perception of nonnative sounds and for predicting the perceptual discriminability of nonnative contrasts. In a free classification task, participants freely group auditory stimuli based on their perceived similarity. The results can be used to predict discriminability and can be compared to various acoustic or phonological dimensions to determine the relevant cues for listeners. The viability of this method was examined for both a segmental contrast (German vowels) and a nonsegmental contrast (Finnish phonemic length). Perceptual similarity data from the free classification task accurately predicted discriminability in an oddity task and separately provided rich information on how the perceptual space is shaped. These results suggest that a free classification task and related analyses are informative and replicable methods for examining nonnative speech perception.

Information technology provides a lot of convenience for humans in completing their tasks and getting results according to targets. In line with that, language teachers have a duty to find out the level of language skills and forms of language errors in students. Machine Learning as part of technology can be maximized to detect forms of Arabic speaking error in students. This study was conducted with a qualitative approach. Data were collected via SIAKAD machine learning containing Arabic videos. Based on the results, the SIAKAD machine learning uncovered several Arabic speaking errors such as grammar, pronunciation, shifat al-huruf, vowels, word expression, and concatenated sentences. Therefore, machine learning with various types can be maximized in Arabic learning which ultimately leads to technological developments that must be accompanied by the ability of teachers to be skilled in operationalizing technology.

This article reports on the second language (L2) perception of contrasts among British English monophthongs. This study has two aims: 1) to explore the discriminability of contrasts in L2 British English monophthongs; and 2) to test the perceptual assimilation model-L2 (PAM-L2) towards the ability to discriminate British English contrasts. The contrasts considered were: /i?/-/[near-close near-front unrounded vowel]/, /ae/-[open-mid back unrounded vowel]/, /[ezh]?/-/[open-mid back unrounded vowel]/, /u?/-/[near-close back rounded vowel]/, /e/-/ae/, /[open-mid back unrounded vowel]/-/[open back rounded vowel]/, /[near-close back rounded vowel] /-/[open-mid back rounded vowel]?/, /[open back unrounded vowel]?/-/[open-mid back unrounded vowel]/, /[esh]?/-/[open-mid back rounded vowel]?/. Fifty-two native speakers of Thai who were learning English as a foreign language in Thailand participated in a forced-choice ABX discrimination task. The participants were divided between two groups -- those high-experienced and those low-experienced. The results evidence how both groups performed well on most contrasts (over 80% correct), except for /[open-mid back unrounded vowel]/-/[open back rounded vowel]/. Although the discriminability of the contrast /[open-mid back unrounded vowel]/-/[open back rounded vowel]/ was lower than with the other contrasts, the discrimination scores among both groups remained in a middle range (over 70%). No effect of L2 experience was found, thus suggesting that the abilities of both groups did not differ. The PAM-L2 was accurate in predicting that neither group of L2 Thai learners would have difficulty in discriminating the considered L2 sound contrasts. These results imply that the results gained from a perceptual assimilation task are useful in predicting the discriminability of L2 sound contrasts, as suggested by the PAM-L2.

This research aimed to (1) develop and measure the efficiency of a set of reading and pronunciation skills in Chinese phonetics via Seesaw online classroom; (2) examine the effectiveness of the set; and (3) evaluate students' satisfaction with practice packages on Chinese pronunciation via Seesaw online classroom. Thirty-six undergraduate students majoring in Chinese language teaching at a university in Thailand were the participants of this study. This study used descriptive statistics (mean and S.D.) and dependent samples t-test. The results of this research indicated a substantial increase in students' learning achievement due to the Seesaw online classroom. Additionally, the Development of Practice Packages for Chinese Pronunciation Skill Acquisition via Seesaw Online Classroom was greater ([x-bar]=4.84, S.D.=0.37) than the researcher's standard of 3.50, and achieved the efficiency standard criteria of 82.50/84.97, which was greater than the 80/80 efficiency standard criterion chosen. Students' satisfaction with learning was high when they utilized Seesaw's Chinese pronunciation practice packages ([x-bar]= 4.50, S.D.= 0.54).

This study was conducted with the following objectives: 1) to develop digital technology that supports learning in children with disabilities; 2) to test the effectiveness of digital technology used in children's learning. The sample selected to study the current context of and needs of digital technology consisted of a group of 46 teachers and parents. The sample group of children with disabilities who participated in the digital technology experiment comprised three children. The sample group who took part in the experiment in fieldwork comprised 45 children from nine types of disabilities; these were purposively sampled. The research instruments consisted of 1) ten easy-books with single vowels in Thai; 2) ninety individual implementation plans; 3) computer software to promote the reading of ten stories; 4) an evaluation form for children with disabilities' reading ability in Thai vocabulary in Prathom level 1; 5) a survey form for the current context of and the needs for digital technology to promote the children's learning; 6) an interview form for the current context of and the needs for digital technology to promote the children's learning. The data were analysed with the statistics of mean, standard deviation (SD) and efficiency assessment, using the E1/E2 formula with the 80/80 criteria. The research found that the effectiveness assessment value of digital technology to promote the children's learning was found at the rate of 86/90, which was higher than the standard rate.

This study aims to investigate the improvement of EFL students' English pronunciation skills by using English phonetic alphabet drills. The samples of this study were 35 first-year students of English for International Communication major, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-ok. They all registered for the English Pronunciation subject in the second semester. The instruments used for collecting data were English phonetic alphabet drills, English phonetic alphabet collecting forms, observation and focus group interview questions. The data were analyzed both statistically and descriptively. The results showed that all students were able to pronounce English consonant and vowel sounds more accurately after applying English phonetic alphabet drills. However, Nasal /m, n, [eng]/in the final position, and /l/ in the initial and medial position were still the problematic consonant sounds including central vowels, /[lambda]/ and /[schwa]/, and the back vowels, /[open back unrounded vowel]/, /[near-close back rounded vowel]/, /u/ and /[schwa][near-close back rounded vowel]/. Students also had difficulties pronouncing voiced sounds. The causes of pronunciation errors were due to differences in the phonological system of the languages, mother tongue interference, and English spelling and pronunciation. From the findings, it was clear that the English phonetic alphabet knowledge could help student improve their English pronunciation.

This paper analyzes a few significant differences between Spanish and English in relation to phonological patterns. First, a short introduction is given about these two languages, and it is briefly explained in what linguistic aspects they are similar or different. Then, each of these linguistic features is analyzed in detail, clearly establishing the differences existing between Spanish and English. The specific phonological features that are addressed on this academic paper are vowel and consonant phonemes, diphthongs and triphthongs, as well as word and sentence stress. Furthermore, several pronunciation difficulties for Spanish speakers are discussed. Finally, some didactic implications are considered so that teachers can help their students of either language learn the second one considering important linguistic features.

This study examined the comparative effect of recasts and prompts on EFL learners' pronunciation accuracy of consonants and vowels. Eighty-nine elementary EFL learners were selected among 117 through their performance on a piloted sample KET and were randomly assigned into two experimental groups (recast, prompt), and a control group. A piloted researcher-made pronunciation pre-treatment test was administered to the three groups to measure their pronunciation accuracy before the treatment. The three groups underwent the same amount of teaching time and received the same material. The participants in the recast group received recast and those in the prompt group received prompt. However, the participants in the control group received no specific type of corrective feedback. At the end of the treatment, the participants took a pronunciation post-test parallel with the pre-treatment test. An Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was run. The results indicated that both recast and prompt had a significantly positive effect on EFL learners' pronunciation accuracy of consonants and vowels. Moreover, the results showed that there was no significant difference between the effect of recast and prompt on EFL learners' pronunciation accuracy of consonants and vowels.

Intelligibility is a critically important aspect for effective oral communication. This study explored salient (important) pronunciation errors and their relative roles in the intelligibility of nonnative speech based on listener judgments. Speech samples, collected from speakers with a Turkish as a native language (L1) background, were presented to listener groups in two consecutive sub-studies. In expert listening sessions, listeners with an academic background in pronunciation research and teaching (N=3) detected salient pronunciation errors via a thinking aloud protocol. During the intelligibility research, native listeners (N=33) transcribed the target words with salient pronunciation errors presented either as individual words isolated from their contexts or in longer utterances. The intelligibility scores were calculated and analyzed to investigate the role of salient pronunciation errors on speakers' intelligibility in English. The findings indicated that mispronunciations of segmentals and incorrect stress placement were the most common error types as detected by expert listeners. Negative transfer was found to be an important factor in such salient errors. According to the results of the intelligibility research, pronunciation errors affected speakers' intelligibility to a certain extent. Segmental errors were the main causes of reduced intelligibility. Moreover, mispronunciations of two sounds that were seen in most error sites, /[schwa]/ and /[theta]/, seemed to make speech more accented while not seriously affecting intelligibility. Also, errors in strong syllables had a more detrimental effect on intelligibility compared to those in weak syllables.

Previous research in L2 perception has shown limited and diverge findings for final stop voicing contrasts by learners with different L1 backgrounds in comparison to natives of the target language. This paper aimed to investigate L2 learners' perceptual identification of voicing in English final stops based on the duration of succeeding vowel, and the impact of prior linguistic expertise in establishing L2 phonetic category as learners' level of proficiency develop. The subjects were adult Arabic L2 learners (N = 9) with different proficiency levels (advance, intermediate, & beginners). The subjects' performance was later compared to controlled native English group (N=3). Data were elicited through listening to stimuli in one task that contained three controlled conditions and one test condition. The analysis employed descriptive statistics, and one-way ANOVA. The findings showed that as the subjects' proficiency level developed, their accuracy in identifying final stops voicing increase. It also showed the possibility of establishing L2 phonetic category that seemed developed in correspond to the development of L2 proficiency level. The results illustrate the systematic processing of L2 sounds which have implications for theories in L2 perception.

Analysis of a corpus of errors in pronouncing Proper Nouns used in English collected from the spontaneous speech of a sample of Arab informants showed that Arabic speakers have the following problems: (i) mispronouncing English vowels in "Google," "Moodle," "Uber," "Nixon," "London;" (ii) replacing consonants absent in L1 ("p v") by their equivalents (bebsi, jafa); (iii) germinating consonants in city and country names ("Peking"; "Venezuela," "Minnesota"); (iv); inserting a vowel in consonant clusters in Proper Nouns and acronyms ("Zelinsky", "Logansk", "SNAS", "GMC"); (v) breaking words into two sub-words ("Kasper"+"sky", "Sky"+"pe"); (vi) pronouncing words the way they are spelled (Nazi, Nike, Huawei, Hyundai, Wednesday); and (vii) transferring Arabic stress rules to English words (McDonald, Mayflower). Pronunciation errors made by Arab students are attributed to transfer from the native language, i.e., Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) or the local dialect, insufficient mastery of English pronunciation rules, phonics and phone-grapheme correspondences and lack of knowledge of the differences between English and Arabic phonology. To correct pronunciation problems, the study recommends that students watch pronunciation practice videos that focus on a single error or rule at a time; raising students' awareness of English pronunciation rules, phonics, phoneme-grapheme correspondences and comparing English and Arabic vowels, consonants, syllable structure, pause, juncture and stress rules; providing direct pronunciation instruction, graded lessons and remedial exercises. Future research needs to investigate Arab students' pronunciation problems in assimilation, elision, and others.

Dyslexia is a neuro-sensory issue that makes reading challenging. However, Dyslexic Phonemic R[subscript 3] is a novel approach that improved the phonological development and resolved the reading challenges of dyslexia. The primary goal of the study was (1) to evaluate the current state of the phonemic and auditory symptoms of children with dyslexia and (2) To study the effects of the Dyslexic Phonemic R[subscript 3] Approach on the reading development of children with dyslexia. The Dyslexic Phonemic R[subscript 3] Approach was the only experimental group in the case study, which examined the prevalence of dyslexia among the participants. There was no control group. 45 students with dyslexia were the participants chosen from thirty schools in the Indian town of Silchar. These adolescents were chosen from a population of 12-13-year-olds with auditory and phonemic deficiencies after getting the consents of their parents. The Dyslexic Phonemic R3 Approach significantly improved the reading, and spelling habit of student with dyslexia. The dyslexic phonemic R3 approach was developed in Assam University, Silchar, India by Dr. Ananta Kumar Jena. Vowels in this context are phonemic patterns that are primarily divided into two types: long and short vowels, and syllables (closed and open). In many situations, short vowels are most frequently utilised. The Dyslexia-Phonemic R3 technique uses these three procedures to diagnose dyslexia.

As there is no vowel length contrast in Chinese, Chinese learners of Thai (CLTs) often have difficulty distinguishing between short and long vowels, especially when the same vowel grapheme in Thai orthography can be pronounced as both a short and a long vowel. This study examined the importance of metalinguistic knowledge (MLK) used by CLTs before and after praxis intervention with the aim of providing insight into the relationship between MLK and L2 acquisition. Twenty CLTs and ten Thai native speakers were tested for their ability in identifying Thai vowel length. The CLTs were divided into two subject groups following the pre-test. The first group (CH1) was given only exercises, while those in the second group (CH2) were also taught rules. The two groups were tested for accuracy and reasoning behind a given identification. Two-tailed t-test results show statistically significant differences in scores of CH1 and native speakers and a positive relationship between accuracy in identification and L2 learners' MLK, including the ability to identify, describe, and explain L2 vowel length. Importantly, CH2 performed better in the post-test than those in CH1, suggesting that MLK helps enhance L2 acquisition. In addition, the results of a mixed-effect regression model show that four factors (group, stimuli type, tone, and structure) influenced the identification scores of CLTs.

The study investigates the relationship between lexical encoding and production in order to establish whether learners are able to produce a difficult contrast in words that they merged in their mental lexicon. Forty American English learners of Russian were tested on their production and lexical encoding of familiar and highly-frequent words with the plain/palatalized contrast in second language (L2) Russian. Results suggest that the relationship between phonolexical encoding and production is less straightforward than a simple mirror image and is strongly affected by the prosodic position of the target consonants. In word-final position, learners did not lexically encode the difference between plain and palatalized consonants but they strived to produce it, although not very successfully. In intervocalic position, learners' ability to encode and produce words with the plain/palatalized contrast was more accurate than in word-final position, which was attributed to the 'spelling trap' effect. Since Russian orthography employs vowel graphemes to mark the plain/palatalized status of preceding consonants, it appears that learners relied on these assumed vowel differences to articulate complex palatalization gestures. Thus, the findings of this study suggest that L2 learners can produce a contrast that they have not yet lexically encoded.

Lexical access is highly contextual. For example, vowel (rime) information is prioritized over tone in the lexical access of isolated words in Mandarin Chinese, but these roles are flipped in constraining contexts. The time course of these contextual effects remains unclear, and so here we tracked the real-time eye gaze of native Mandarin speakers in a visual-world paradigm. While listening to a noun classifier, before the target noun was even uttered, gaze to the target noun was already greater than looking to phonologically unrelated distractors. Critically, there was also more distraction from a cohort competitor (tone information) than a segmental competitor (vowel information) in more semantically constraining contexts. Results confirm that phonological activation in Mandarin lexical access is highly sensitive to context, with tone taking priority over vowel information even before a target word is heard. Results suggest that phonological activation in real-time lexical access may be highly context-specific across languages.

Computational models of child language development can help us understand the cognitive underpinnings of the language learning process, which occurs along several linguistic levels at once (e.g., prosodic and phonological). However, in light of the replication crisis, modelers face the challenge of selecting representative and consolidated infant data. Thus, it is desirable to have evaluation methodologies that could account for robust empirical reference data, across multiple infant capabilities. Moreover, there is a need for practices that can compare developmental trajectories of infants to those of models as a function of language experience and development. The present study aims to take concrete steps to address these needs by introducing the concept of comparing models with large-scale cumulative empirical data from infants, as quantified by meta-analyses conducted across a large number of individual behavioral studies. We formalize the connection between measurable model and human behavior, and then present a conceptual framework for meta-analytic evaluation of computational models. We exemplify the meta-analytic model evaluation approach with two modeling experiments on infant-directed speech preference and native/non-native vowel discrimination.

Instruction in second language (L2) English phoneme pronunciation almost invariably includes a focus on improving the learners' use of their articulatory organs to pronounce the relevant sounds. However, the pronunciation of many English sounds also relies on effort from the abdominal region, and under-utilization of this region can often contribute to pronunciation difficulties. For Chinese-speaking learners of English, such relevant sounds include the long vowel and diphthong sounds, particularly the phonemes /i?/, /u?/ and /e[near-close front unrounded vowel]/, and also the voiced fricative consonants, /z/, /[voiced dental fricative]/, /v/ and /[voiced postalveolar fricative]/. Consequently, this study examined the impact of teaching adult Chinese-speaking English learners to enhance the use of their abdomen when pronouncing these sounds. The main focus of the research was a quasi-experimental component, where both an experimental and control group were taught the same way in all aspects, with the only point of difference being that the experimental group was taught the abdominal techniques. Longitudinal multiple-case studies of learners from the experimental group were also employed to examine for any post-course maintenance of the phonemes as well as possible reasons for this. Results from the quasi-experimental component showed that it was advantageous to teach learners the abdominal techniques. Also, there were some discernible trends in the learners' post-course maintenance of the sounds. This article then discusses pedagogical implications of the study, and provides suggestions for future research of the abdominal techniques.

The English language pronunciation is a sub-skill of speaking modules during the learning process of a second language. Accurate pronunciation is not followed enough by Bangladesh students in speaking English It was found that the participants face barriers while pronouncing English. However, it is ignored and even provided the least attention by them. In order to explore the pronunciation barriers of vowels and consonants of Bangladesh expatriate learners and to identify remedial measures, this study stresses about four aspects of pronunciation: "vowel confusion and insertion," "missing stress sounds," "sounds' errors cause of written form," and "absence of fricatives." The study emphasizes on the value and status of pronunciation and overcame the approach of it among Bangladesh expatriate students. A pronunciation test was conducted with 8 Bangladesh expatriate learners with an age range of 20-25 years and the participants were asked to pronounce 7-8 words in every aspect, recorded their voice and documented for analysis along with observation of the Bangladesh expatriate learners at King Saud University. The study reveals that Bangladeshi students have many errors on the way to the correct vocalization of English sounds, which are mainly the influence of their mother tongue. Bangladeshi Learners could not make the distinction between long and short vowels. To overcome this problem, learners need to participate pronunciation practice in the formal assessment process in addition to language lessons and also focus their attention on conversation through multimedia.

Purpose: This study investigated the efficacy of ultrasound biofeedback compared to a traditional acoustic input-only method in the second-language (L2) production training of English tense-lax vowel contrasts (/i-[near-close near-front unrounded vowel]/ and /e-[open-mid front unrounded vowel]/). The relationship between the degrees of production and perception learning was also examined to explore a potential L2 production-perception link. Method: Using a pretest/training/posttest paradigm, two groups of native Mandarin speakers received three sessions of training, one with ultrasound and one with audio only. Perception performance was measured by accuracy in AX discrimination. Production performance was measured in terms of accuracy in repetition production and Euclidean distance between contrasting vowels. Results: Both groups showed significant improvements in posttest production and perception tasks. Additionally, the training benefits were retained 6 weeks after training. The two groups, however, did not differ significantly in training gains; nor was there a significant correlation between training-induced changes in perception and production performance. Conclusions: The results indicate that ultrasound feedback is similarly effective as the audio-only training in improving the L2 production of English tense-lax contrasts and the benefits transferred to perception. The lack of correlation between production and perception gains suggests that the two modalities need to be separately trained to achieve desired L2 learning outcomes.

Purpose: Atypical vowel production contributes to reduced speech intelligibility in children and adults with Down syndrome (DS). This study compares the acoustic data of the corner vowels /i/, /u/, /ae/, and /[open back unrounded vowel]/ from speakers with DS against typically developing/developed (TD) speakers. Method: Measurements of the fundamental frequency (f[subscript o]) and first four formant frequencies (F1-F4) were obtained from single word recordings containing the target vowels from 81 participants with DS (ages 3-54 years) and 293 TD speakers (ages 4-92 years), all native speakers of English. The data were used to construct developmental trajectories and to determine interspeaker and intraspeaker variability. Results: Trajectories for DS differed from TD based on age and sex, but the groups were similar with the striking change in f[subscript o] and F1-F4 frequencies around age 10 years. Findings confirm higher f[subscript o] in DS, and vowel-specific differences between DS and TD in F1 and F2 frequencies, but not F3 and F4. The measure of F2 differences of front-versus-back vowels was more sensitive of compression than reduced vowel space area/centralization across age and sex. Low vowels had more pronounced F2 compression as related to reduced speech intelligibility. Intraspeaker variability was significantly greater for DS than TD for nearly all frequency values across age. Discussion: Vowel production differences between DS and TD are age- and sex-specific, which helps explain contradictory results in previous studies. Increased intraspeaker variability across age in DS confirms the presence of a persisting motor speech disorder. Atypical vowel production in DS is common and related to dysmorphology, delayed development, and disordered motor control.