Session Foreign Lang. Acqu. III:Foreign Language Acquisition III: Miscellaneous
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| Foreign Lang. Acqu. III-1 |
A report on our summer intensive program in developing English communicative skills
Yuichi Todaka, Miyazaki Municipal University Paper File |
| English Phonetics Seminar members at Miyazaki Municipal University in Japan have been conducting a summer intensive program each year since the year 2000. Various activities to improve the members’ English listening, pronunciation, and reading skills have been adopted from various sources, and we have been making modifications to our program each year. This report makes some practical suggestions to improving Japanese EFL learners’ English skills based on our 7-year experience. | |
| Foreign Lang. Acqu. III-2 |
Production and perception of English //-// and //-// in a formal setting: Investigating the effects of experience and starting age
Joan C. Mora, Universitat de Barcelona Natalia Fullana, Universitat de Barcelona Paper File |
| This study looked at the perception and production of English - and - by Catalan/Spanish learners of English varying in starting age of FL learning and experience in the FL in a formal learning context. Results showed that neither starting age nor experience had a significant effect on how accurately participants perceived and produced the two vowel contrasts, although a late starting age advantage was observed as suggested by previous research conducted in formal instruction settings. | |
| Foreign Lang. Acqu. III-3 |
English Sounds in German: Listeners’ Choices
Julia Abresch, Institute of Communication Sciences, University of Bonn Paper File |
| To figure out, whether native German speakers tend to prefer English xenophones or their nativised German counterparts in the pronunciation of Anglicisms and English proper names, a preference test was carried out. Listeners had to rank the different varieties in a web-based test. The results show clearly that two groups of sounds can be made out: sounds which listeners like to hear in their original English pronunciation and those which are expected to be substituted by native equivalents. | |