ERIC Number: EJ868634
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009-Oct
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1094-3501
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Comprehensibility and Prosody Ratings for Pronunciation Software Development
Warren, Paul; Elgort, Irina; Crabbe, David
Language Learning & Technology, v13 n3 p87-102 Oct 2009
In the context of a project developing software for pronunciation practice and feedback for Mandarin-speaking learners of English, a key issue is how to decide which features of pronunciation to focus on in giving feedback. We used naive and experienced native speaker ratings of comprehensibility and nativeness to establish the key features affecting comprehensibility of the utterances of a group of Chinese learners of English. Native speaker raters assessed the comprehensibility of recorded utterances, pinpointed areas of difficulty and then rated for nativeness the same utterances, but after segmental information had been filtered out. The results show that prosodic information is important for comprehensibility, and that there are no significant differences between naive and experienced raters on either comprehensibility or nativeness judgements. This suggests that naive judgements are a useful and accessible source of data for identifying the parameters to be used in setting up automated feedback. (Contains 1 figure and 4 notes.)
Descriptors: Pronunciation, Computer Software, Mandarin Chinese, Native Speakers, English (Second Language), Intonation, Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, Evaluators, Auditory Perception, Reliability
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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