Interpreting Visual Feedback on English Suprasegmentals in Computer Assisted Pronunciation Instruction
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.v11i4.5-22Keywords:
Teaching suprasegmentals, electronic visual feedback, computer assisted instruction, acoustic phonetics, interpreting pitch and intensity displays, intonation contours, syllable duration, stress and rhythmAbstract
Although electronic visual feedback for teaching suprasegmentals has been discussed in the literature in the last few years, insufficient information has been published on how to interpret visual feedback graphs, a necessary skill for selecting appropriate phonetic material to be used with visual feedback and for explaining the visual display to students. The purpose of this paper is to identify some of the problems in interpreting visual feedback displays of suprasegmentals and to discuss some strategies for using this type of feedback on suprasegmentals more effectively. The problems discussed are interpreting the pitch display, identifying syllables, determining syllable, boundaries and syllable duration, and interpreting pitch and intensity patterns when the parameters of duration, pitch, and display space are varied. An understanding of such problems should help the teacher to become more effective in selecting utterances to be used with visual feedback so that students will be able to identify suprasegmental patterns and learn them with the greatest ease possible.
References
______. (1991). “Teaching Discourse Intonation Through Visual Feedback." Paper presented at the 25th Annual International TESOL Convention. New York, NY
______. (1992). “Using Electronic Visual Feedback to Teach Suprasegmentals." System 20, 51-62.
Bolinger, D. (1986). Intonation and Its Parts. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.
Bot, K. de (1983). “Visual Feedback of Intonation: Effectiveness and Induced Practice Behavior.” Language and Speech 26, 4, 331-350.
Brazil, D., M. Coulthard, and C. Johns (1980). Discourse Intonation and Language Teaching. London: Longman.
Chun, D. (1988). "The Neglected Role of Intonation in Communicative Competence and Language Proficiency." Modern Language Journal 72, 3,295-303.
______. (1989). "Teaching Tone and Intonation with Microcomputers." CALICO Journal 6, 3, 21-47.
Clark, J., and C. Yallop (1990). An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Cruttenden, A. (1986). Intonation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Delattre, P. (1963). “Comparing the Prosidic Features of English, German, Spanish, and French.” International Review of Applied Linguistics 1, 193-210.
Dickerson, W. (1989). Stress in the Stream of Speech: Teacher's Manual. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Fry, D. (1979). The Physics of Speech. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gilbert, J. (1984). Clear Speech. New York: Cambridge University Press.
______. (1987). “Pronunciation and Listening Comprehension." Current Perspectives on Pronunciation edited by J. Morley, 33-39. Washington, D. C.: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages.
Hogg, R., and C. McCully (1987). Metrical Phonology: A Coursebook. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hooper, J. (1976). An Introduction to Natural Generative Phonology. New York: Academic Press.
James, E. (1976). "The Acquisition of Prosodic Features of Speech Using a Speech Visualizer." International Review of Applied Linguistics 14, 227-243.
Lane, L., P. Mitchell, G. Molholt, M. Pennington, C. Perdreau, A. Cessaris, and L. Fischer (1988). "Taking the Mystery Out of the Mouth: Visible Speech." Paper presented at the 22nd Annual TESOL Convention, Chicago.
McNerney, M., and D. Mendelson (1987). “Putting Suprasegmentals in Their Place." TESL Talk 17, 132-140.
Molholt, G. (1988). “Computer Assisted Instruction for Chinese Speakers." TESOL Quarterly 22,91-111.
Pennington, M. (Ed), (1989). "Applications of Computers in the Development of Speaking and Listening Proficiency." Teaching English with Computers. La Jolla, CA: Athelstan Publications.
______. and J. Richards (1986). "Pronunciation Revisited." TESOL Quarterly 20, 207-225.
Spaai, W., and D. Hermes (1992). "A Visual Display for the Teaching of Intonation." CALICO Journal 10, 3,19-30.
Wong, R. (1987). Teaching Pronunciation: Focus on Rhythm and Intonation. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Regents.
