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An acoustic investigation of segmentals and rhythm in Yunnan English
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Type
Thesis
Author
Ao, Ran
Supervisor
Low, Ee Ling
Abstract
There is a general paucity of acoustic investigation of pronunciation of English learners in Mainland China. The few studies that exist have mainly relied on auditory or impressionistic data analysis. Furthermore, most of these studies have focused on data from several provinces and attempted to use this to arrive at a general picture of English in China. However, given the large and diverse population and the linguistic diversity of China, focusing on several provinces may not present an accurate composite picture of Chinese English. To date, there has been only one published study of the pronunciation of Yunnan English, from an impressionistic, auditory perspective.
The present study fills this gap by providing an acoustic investigation of segmentals and rhythm of Yunnan English and seeks to fulfill three objectives. First, it contributes to the literature on and understanding of English in China by investigating the pronunciation of learners of English from one particular province, i.e. Yunnan province. Second, it aims to investigate acoustically three aspects of pronunciation of Yunnan English, namely consonants, vowels and rhythm. Third, it attempts to establish acoustically whether Yunnan English is more similar to British English (BrE) or American English (AmE) in terms of the three aspects of pronunciation investigated. To achieve the second and third aims, comparisons are made between Yunnan English as spoken by two groups, Han and Yi speakers, BrE and AmE.
Chapters 1 to 3 introduce the background to the study, review relevant literature and describe the methodology used in the study. Chapters 4 to 6 present the analyses of and findings on Yunnan English consonants, vowels and rhythm respectively. Chapter 7 provides the summary, discussion and implications of the findings, and the conclusion.
With respect to consonants, the findings reveal that Yunnan English has some consonantal features which may be specific to Yunnan English learners. The data confirm that aspiration exists between voiceless and voiced stops in Yunnan English. And t-tapping and rhoticity are found in some instances of postvocalic /r/, suggesting there are certain AmE features in Yunnan English. The data also show that Yunnan English shares some consonantal features with speakers from other provinces reported in the previous studies.
With regard to vowels, the formant frequency measurements show the distinctive vowel qualities of Yunnan English, in comparison with those of BrE and AmE. The calculations of Euclidean distance show that the vowel space of the Yi speakers is furthest away from the centroid of the vowel quadrilateral whereas the BrE speakers have the smallest acoustic vowel space. Examination of the THOUGHT, LOT and BATH vowels, however, shows no similarity between Yunnan English and American English.
The findings for the rhythm of Yunnan English show that this Expanding Circle variety is syllable-based, as opposed to BrE and AmE which are both stress-based. Based on the findings, the study discusses some important pedagogical implications for teaching English pronunciation in Yunnan. The findings of the present study confirms that Han and Yi speakers of Yunnan English in general, share common pronunciation features and that Yunnan English may be suitably classified as an Expanding Circle learner variety of English.
The present study fills this gap by providing an acoustic investigation of segmentals and rhythm of Yunnan English and seeks to fulfill three objectives. First, it contributes to the literature on and understanding of English in China by investigating the pronunciation of learners of English from one particular province, i.e. Yunnan province. Second, it aims to investigate acoustically three aspects of pronunciation of Yunnan English, namely consonants, vowels and rhythm. Third, it attempts to establish acoustically whether Yunnan English is more similar to British English (BrE) or American English (AmE) in terms of the three aspects of pronunciation investigated. To achieve the second and third aims, comparisons are made between Yunnan English as spoken by two groups, Han and Yi speakers, BrE and AmE.
Chapters 1 to 3 introduce the background to the study, review relevant literature and describe the methodology used in the study. Chapters 4 to 6 present the analyses of and findings on Yunnan English consonants, vowels and rhythm respectively. Chapter 7 provides the summary, discussion and implications of the findings, and the conclusion.
With respect to consonants, the findings reveal that Yunnan English has some consonantal features which may be specific to Yunnan English learners. The data confirm that aspiration exists between voiceless and voiced stops in Yunnan English. And t-tapping and rhoticity are found in some instances of postvocalic /r/, suggesting there are certain AmE features in Yunnan English. The data also show that Yunnan English shares some consonantal features with speakers from other provinces reported in the previous studies.
With regard to vowels, the formant frequency measurements show the distinctive vowel qualities of Yunnan English, in comparison with those of BrE and AmE. The calculations of Euclidean distance show that the vowel space of the Yi speakers is furthest away from the centroid of the vowel quadrilateral whereas the BrE speakers have the smallest acoustic vowel space. Examination of the THOUGHT, LOT and BATH vowels, however, shows no similarity between Yunnan English and American English.
The findings for the rhythm of Yunnan English show that this Expanding Circle variety is syllable-based, as opposed to BrE and AmE which are both stress-based. Based on the findings, the study discusses some important pedagogical implications for teaching English pronunciation in Yunnan. The findings of the present study confirms that Han and Yi speakers of Yunnan English in general, share common pronunciation features and that Yunnan English may be suitably classified as an Expanding Circle learner variety of English.
Date Issued
2015
Call Number
PE3502.C541 Ao
Date Submitted
2015