P. Burgos

Bio: P. Burgos is an academic researcher from Radboud University Nijmegen. The author has contributed to research in topics: Vowel & Pronunciation. The author has an hindex of 5, co-authored 8 publications receiving 58 citations.

Pronunciation errors by Spanish learners of Dutch: A data-driven study for ASR- based pronunciation training

Abstract: In this paper we report on a study on pronunciation errors by Spanish learners of Dutch, which was aimed at obtaining information to develop a dedicated Computer Assisted Pronunciation Training (CAPT) program for this fixed language pair (Spanish L1, Dutch L2). The results of our study indicate, that, first, vowel errors are more frequent and variable than consonant mispronunciations. Second, Spanish natives appear to have problems with vowel length, vowel height, and front rounded vowels. Third, they tend to fall back on the pronunciation of their L1 vowels.

Auris populi: crowdsourced native transcriptions of Dutch vowels spoken by adult Spanish learners

Abstract: 16th Annual Conference of the International Speech Communication Association, 6 september 2015

Palabras. Crowdsourcing transcriptions of L2 speech

Abstract: We developed a web application for crowdsourcing transcriptions of Dutch words spoken by Spanish L2 learners. In this paper we discuss the design of the application and the influence of metadata and various forms of feedback. Useful data were obtained from 159 participants, with an average of over 20 transcriptions per item, which seems a satisfactory result for this type of research. Informing participants about how many items they still had to complete, and not how many they had already completed, turned to be an incentive to do more items. Assigning participants a score for their performance made it more attractive for them to carry out the transcription task, but this seemed to influence their performance. We discuss possible advantages and disadvantages in connection with the aim of the research and consider possible lessons for designing future experiments.

文化と言語の多様性の中のCommon European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR)--それは基準か? (第10回明海大学大学院応用言語学研究科セミナー 講演)

Abstract: 中國科技大學通識教育中心英語文證照奬勵金實施要點 中華民國 105 年 1 月 8 日通識教育委員會議通過 一、 中國科技大學(以下簡稱本校)為鼓勵本校學生通過具公信力機構之英語文能力測驗或 取得證照,特訂定「中國科技大學通識教育中心英語文證照獎勵金實施要點」(以下簡 稱本要點)。 二、 學生於就讀本校期間,通過歐盟共同架構(CEFR)語言能力參考指標 B1(中級)同等級英 語文能力測驗以上(含)者,得依據本要點酌予獎勵。檢測項目請參閱本中心「歐洲語言 學習、教學、評量共同參考架構與各英語檢測分級對照表」(參見附表);未列於標準 對照表之測驗項目不給予獎助。 三、 凡本校學生,除應英系外,均得申請。大學部學生通過同等級以申請一次為限,在學期 間得重複申請,但該次申請之級別不得低於前次。 本獎勵金每學期核發乙次,每次核發全校前 10 名,各名次核發金額如附表。 四、 申請人應提供在學期間,申請當(學)期參加考試之證明文件及成績證明或證照,以憑辦 理。 五、 獎勵金申請作業:請至通識教育中心網頁下載「英語文證照獎勵金申請表」(附件 1), 填妥後檢附成績單正本及影本(背面簽名並註明與正本無異)各一份、本人金融帳戶存 簿(郵局或土地銀行)封面影本送至通識教育中心。 通識教育中心得每學期遴選受獎代表,擇期公開頒奬,並辦理後續請款作業。 六、 奬勵金申請期限:通過相關證照考試半年內應提出申請,逾期視同放棄。 七、 本要點之獎勵金由學校開設通識教育中心專戶,一切收支專款專用;每年度如有剩餘 款,則移至翌年度繼續使用。 八、 本要點經通識教育中心會議審查通過,陳請校長核定後公告實施,修訂時亦同。

The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary English Pronunciation

Abstract: rules and representations (such as those found in Chomsky & Halle, 1968). Let us take an example from stress placement. As any learner of English knows, the patterns of English stress placement are complex: robúst, énter, cínema, Appalàchicóla. Chomsky and Halle’s main stress rule was one of the first successful attempts to find patterns in English stress placement. To paraphrase and simplify (ignoring nouns): For verbs or adjectives, assign primary stress to the final vowel of the word if the word ends in a long vowel, or a short vowel followed by a consonant; otherwise stress the penultimate syllable. As Kaye (1990) pointed out: if this is a possible rule, what isn’t? The point to be made here is that, when looking at proposals like the main stress rule, linguists began to realize that grammatical models must be learnable based on the input that the learners are exposed to. It was no longer enough to find the patterns in the data. From this point on, linguistic theory began to offer real insights into the study of both first and second language acquisition. The rules proposed give us descriptions of where the L2 learner starts, where they want to end up and what their intermediate system looks like. J. Archibald

Investigating the perception and production of the Arabicpharyngealised sounds by L2 learners of Arabic

Abstract: Pronunciation has received relatively little attention within the field of Arabic second language teaching and learning, particularly with respect to the more prominent areas of morphology, syntax, psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics. In the field of phonetics and phonology, it has been argued that Arabic pharyngealised sounds are distinctive and unique to Arabic and they are considered the most difficult sounds to acquire by L2 learners of Arabic. This research included two experiments that focused on examining the ability of a group of Arabic L2 learners from different L1 backgrounds to perceive and produce the fricative sounds /z/, /θ/, /f/, /ʃ/, /ħ/, /h/, /χ/, /ɣ/, /ʕ/, /sˤ/, /ðˤ/, /s/, /ð/, and the emphatic sounds /sˤ/, /ðˤ/, /dˤ/, and /tˤ/ in contrast with nonpharyngealised variants /s/, /ð/, /d/ and /t/. The aims were to investigate which aspects of acquisition were difficult and to examine the effects of technology-based instruction and traditional-based instruction to find an appropriate pronunciation teaching method to facilitate the perception and production of fricatives and emphatics. The technology-based method used in this study was adapted from Olson (2014) and Offerman and Olson (2016) to investigate the extent to which using speech analysis technology (Praat) can help in visualising the difference between pharyngealised and non-pharyngealised sounds in order to aid production and perception learning. The traditional-based method used in this study included repetition, practicing minimal pairs, and reading aloud techniques. Data were collected from forced-choice identification tasks and recordings taken during pre- and post-test conditions. The results revealed that the some of the fricatives and all the emphatic sounds posed perception and production difficulty to some L2 learners of Arabic, which is likely to be due to the absence of these sounds from the learners’ L1s. The results also showed significant improvements among all participants after the traditional and technology training courses. However, no significant difference was observed between L2 learners who received the traditional-based method and those who received the technology-based method. Both methods have increased students’ awareness and understanding of the features of the sounds under investigation. The contribution of the current study is to show how Arabic fricative and emphatic sounds can be effectively taught using form-focused instruction involving different traditional and technological techniques. This research has implications for the implementation of both techniques for language teachers and researchers as it shows how both approaches can be used to enhance students’ perceptive and productive skills.

Reading Skill and Exposure to Orthography Influence Speech Production.

Abstract: Orthographic experience during the acquisition of novel words may influence production processing in proficient readers. Previous work indicates interactivity among lexical, phonological, and articulatory processing; we hypothesized that experience with orthography can also influence phonological processing. Phonetic accuracy and articulatory stability were measured as adult, proficient readers repeated and read aloud nonwords, presented in auditory or written modalities and with variations in orthographic neighborhood density. Accuracy increased when participants had read the nonwords earlier in the session, but not when they had only heard them. Articulatory stability increased with practice, regardless of whether nonwords were read or heard. Word attack skills, but not reading comprehension, predicted articulatory stability. Findings indicate that kinematic and phonetic accuracy analyses provide insight into how orthography influences implicit language processing.