Posted: November 22nd, 2014

Linguistics Analysis / Scientific Report

Linguistics Analysis / Scientific Report

Logistics:
Based on the data collected, you are required to submit one scientific report answering the following questions.
Individual work:
I have recruited two non-native speakers of English with whom I conducted a perception test. The perception test was designed to measure their accuracy of the following English vowel contrasts known to be difficult for L2 learners of English: /i/-/?/, /?/-/æ/, and /u/-/?/. I also provided Native English speaker perception test, to be compared with the 2 Korean speakers.
Here is the accuracy:
Language    Participant No.    /i/    /?/    /?/    /æ/    /u/    /?/
English    39    100%    95.83333    100    100    100    93.75
English    40    100%    95.83333    100    100    97.91667    100

Language    Participant No.    /i/    /?/    /?/    /æ/    /u/    /?/
Korean    29    91.67    94.44    97.22    83.33    50.00    100.00
Korean    30    72.22    88.89    80.56    83.33    21.43    78.57

Based on the data you collected, please write a scientific report following the steps below:

1. Make an experimental hypothesis which explains the English vowel inventory and the speakers’ L1 vowel inventory. For example, if the L1 of your participants is Korean, you need to provide phonemic information for English and Korean vowels, respectively. Next, find any discrepancies between the two languages to see if any of the English phonemes are missing in the speakers’ L1 and discuss whether the target contrasts are phonemic or allophonic in their L1.
Finally, make your own hypothesis regarding which vowel contrast(s) L2 learners of the L1 group have difficulty with.

2. Support your hypothesis with one speech perception model: Now, you need to support your hypothesis with one theoretical model for L2 speech perception. In class we discussed PIM, PAM, SLM, and NRV (see lecture slides; Escudero, 2006; Yavas, 2011, pp. 219-226) (THIS IS THE POWERPOINT PROVIDED). Using one of the models, discuss the source of the difficulty you hypothesized. Briefly explain the model at first and then apply the model to the target contrasts. Please keep in mind that you discuss Steps 1 and 2 based on the literature, not on your data yet.

3. Methodology: You built the experimental hypothesis and provided one speech perception model which underpins your hypothesis. For the perception test, I empirically tested this hypothesis. Please provide information about your participants and describe the methodology that you used:
Participant 29:
male, 21, born in Montreal. L1 is Korean. Went through French education system, so in ESL context.

Participant 30:
male, 23, born in Seoul, South Korea. L1 is Korean. Went to elementary school in Korea up until gr3 before immigrating to Montreal at 8-9yrs old. Did some French classes and then went to a French high school because of bill 101. So he learned English in ESL context in school too.

4. Result/Discussion: Explain the results from the data I provided and discuss whether your hypothesis is supported or not. Of course, you have to justify the results. If the data was shared by other classmates, you should indicate your group members.

5. Application: So far, you have addressed perceptual difficulty that L2 learners have and the source of this difficulty. As a teacher, you might want to provide them with a stand-alone pronunciation lesson so they could overcome the difficulty. What could you tell students in such a lesson?

PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET AN AMAZING DISCOUNT 🙂