Tonal realization of English intonation and register by Japanese learners of English as a foreign language compared to English speakers

2016 ◽  
Vol 140 (4) ◽  
pp. 3338-3339
Author(s):  
Toshiko Isei-Jaakkola ◽  
Keiko Ochi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Japanese Learners Of English ◽  
Japanese Learners

scholarly journals Effects of HVPT on perception and production of English fricatives by Japanese learners of English

2019 ◽  
pp. 186-192
Author(s):  
Atsushi Iino
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Computer Program ◽  
Reading Aloud ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
High Variability ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Japanese Learners Of English ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Japanese Learners ◽  
Perception Training

This study investigated the effects of High Variability Phonetic Training (HVPT) on beginner level English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Japanese learners’ perceptions and productions of the English fricatives /f/, /v/ and /θ/. With the use of the computer program ‘English Accent Coach’ (EAC, Thomson, 2017), two groups of participants were engaged in learning the sounds in a two-syllable environment: target consonant + vowels (CV) and target consonant + vowels + consonant (CVC). The perception training with EAC was conducted for five weeks between a pre-test and a post-test in perception and production. Production was measured in the form of recorded reading aloud and was evaluated by native English speakers and a Japanese teacher of English. The results indicated the advantageous effects of CVC environments on perception as well as on production.

The Generalization of Instruction on Genitive Relative Clause in the Acquisition of English as a Foreign Language

2006 ◽  
Vol 151 ◽  
pp. 99-113
Author(s):  
Akihiro Ito
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Japanese Learners Of English ◽  
Special Instruction ◽  
Japanese Learners

This study examines the generalization of instruction in foreign language learning. A group of Japanese learners of English served as participants and received special instruction in the structure of genitive relative clauses. The participants were given a pre-test on combining two sentences into one containing a genitive relative clause wherein the relativized noun phrase following the genitive marker "whose" is either the subject, direct object, or object of preposition. Based on the TOEFL and the pre-test results, four equal groups were formed; three of these served as experimental groups, and one as the control group. Each experimental group was given instruction on the formation of only one type of genitive relative clause. The participants were then given two post-tests. The results indicated that the generalization of learning begins from structures that are typologically more marked genitive relative clauses to those structures that are typologically less marked, and not vice versa.

Japanese learners’ acquisition of English manner-of-motion verbs with locational/directional PPs

2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shunji Inagaki
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Directed Motion ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Positive Evidence ◽  
Japanese Learners Of English ◽  
Japanese Speakers ◽  
Japanese Learners

This study investigated first language (L1) influence on second language (L2) argument structure in a situation where an L2 argument structure forms a superset of its L1 counterpart. In such a situation, a partial fit between the L1 and the L2 may trigger L1 transfer, whereas availability of positive evidence may allow the learner to arrive at the L2 grammar (White, 1991b). This study tested these predictions by investigating whether Japanese speakers can recognize the directional reading of English manner-of-motion verbs ( walk, swim) with locational/directional PPs ( under, behind), such as John swam under the bridge, where under the bridge can be either the goal of John’s swimming (directional) or the location of John’s swimming (locational). By contrast, their Japanese counterparts allow only a locational reading, as Japanese is more restricted than English in allowing only directed motion verbs ( go) to appear with a phrase expressing a goal. Thirty-five intermediate Japanese learners of English and 23 English speakers were tested using a picture-matching task. Results show that, unlike English speakers, Japanese speakers consistently failed to recognize a directional reading. I suggest that positive evidence need not only be available but also be frequent and clear in order to be used by L2 learners to broaden their interlanguage grammar.

Japanese EFL learners’ sentence processing of conceptual plurality: An analysis focusing on reciprocal verbs

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
YU TAMURA ◽  
JUNYA FUKUTA ◽  
YOSHITO NISHIMURA ◽  
YUI HARADA ◽  
KAZUHISA HARA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
First Language ◽  
Sentence Completion ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Japanese Learners Of English ◽  
Transitive Verbs ◽  
Reading Experiment ◽  
Japanese Learners

ABSTRACTThis study aimed to investigate how Japanese learners of English as a foreign language, whose first language does not have obligatory morphological number marking, process conceptual plurality. The targeted structure was reciprocal verbs, which require conceptual plurality to interpret their meanings correctly. The results of a sentence completion task confirmed that participants could use reciprocal verbs reciprocally in English. In a self-paced reading experiment, participants read sentences with reciprocal verbs and those with optionally transitive verbs (e.g., while the king and the queen kissed/left the baby read the book in the bed). There was no reading time delay for reciprocal verbs but a delay for optionally transitive verbs. Therefore, the participants succeeded in processing second language conceptual plurality in the online sentence comprehension task.

Comprehension process of second language indirect requests

1994 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 475-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satomi Takahashi ◽  
Herbert L. Roitblat
Keyword(s):  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Literal Interpretation ◽  
Japanese Learners Of English ◽  
Sentence Reading ◽  
Comprehension Process ◽  
Indirect Requests ◽  
Japanese Learners ◽  
Subsequent Target

ABSTRACTThis study examined the comprehension of English conventional indirect requests by native English speakers and Japanese learners of English. Subjects read stories inducing either a conventional or a literal interpretation of a priming sentence. Reading speeds did not vary as a function of the interpretation. Subsequent target sentences that paraphrased either the literal or the conventional interpretation of the prime sentence were read more quickly when they paraphrased a conventional interpretation of the sentence than when they paraphrased a literal interpretation. Target sentences were also read more quickly if they paraphrased the interpretation induced by the context than if they did not match. The results suggest that both native and nonnative speakers process both meanings of an ambiguous conventional request.

scholarly journals Perceived Phonological Overlap in Second-Language Categories: The Acquisition of English /r/ and /l/ by Japanese Native Listeners

Languages ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Michael D. Tyler
Keyword(s):  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Discrimination Accuracy ◽  
Japanese Learners Of English ◽  
Immersion Experience ◽  
Phonological Categories ◽  
Japanese Learners ◽  
The Continuum

Japanese learners of English can acquire /r/ and /l/, but discrimination accuracy rarely reaches native speaker levels. How do L2 learners develop phonological categories to acquire a vocabulary when they cannot reliably tell them apart? This study aimed to test the possibility that learners establish new L2 categories but perceive phonological overlap between them when they perceive an L2 phone. That is, they perceive it to be an instance of more than one of their L2 phonological categories. If so, improvements in discrimination accuracy with L2 experience should correspond to a reduction in overlap. Japanese native speakers differing in English L2 immersion, and native English speakers, completed a forced category goodness rating task, where they rated the goodness of fit of an auditory stimulus to an English phonological category label. The auditory stimuli were 10 steps of a synthetic /r/–/l/ continuum, plus /w/ and /j/, and the category labels were L, R, W, and Y. Less experienced Japanese participants rated steps at the /l/-end of the continuum as equally good versions of /l/ and /r/, but steps at the /r/-end were rated as better versions of /r/ than /l/. For those with more than 2 years of immersion, there was a separation of goodness ratings at both ends of the continuum, but the separation was smaller than it was for the native English speakers. Thus, L2 listeners appear to perceive a phonological overlap between /r/ and /l/. Their performance on the task also accounted for their responses on /r/–/l/ identification and AXB discrimination tasks. As perceived phonological overlap appears to improve with immersion experience, assessing category overlap may be useful for tracking L2 phonological development.

The Effect of Study-Abroad on Pragmatic Transfer

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-20
Author(s):  
Naoko Osuka
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Limited Range ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Pragmatic Transfer ◽  
Japanese Learners Of English ◽  
Studying Abroad ◽  
The Us ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Japanese Learners

AbstractThis study aims to investigate the effect that studying abroad may have on pragmatic transfer in requests, refusals, and expressions of gratitude, produced by Japanese learners of English. Twenty-two Japanese college students completed a multimedia elicitation task (MET) before and after studying in the US for one semester, together with twenty-two L1 English speakers and twenty L1 Japanese speakers as baseline data. The MET is a computer-based instrument for eliciting oral data. Unlike previous studies on pragmatic transfer, which often lack statistical evidence, this study includes statistical analysis. The analysis revealed that negative pragmatic transfer occurs within a limited range. The identified transfer includes pragmalinguistic transfer, whereby, assuming that their politeness levels are equal, learners directly translate L1 expressions into L2; and sociopragmatic transfer, whereby learners transfer L1 discourse patterns and functions. Resistance to L2 norms and increased fluency can be influencing factors. The results indicated that the effect of study-abroad is limited because most of the negative transfer which was identified before studying abroad remained after studying abroad. Thus, the necessity of explicit pragmatic instruction was proposed.

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