Abstract
Chinese ESL learners in Hong Kong frequently have pronunciation problems for the vowel pairs /ɪ/-/iː/, /ʊ/-/uː/, /ʌ/-/ɑː/, /e/-/eɪ/, and /aʊ/-/ɑː/. Whether it is also challenging for them to perceive the vowel pairs remains unclear. This study aims to examine how Chinese learners of English in Hong Kong perceive these vowel pairs and investigate the effectiveness of integrating acoustic-cue visualization in the phonetic training of English vowel perception. The study consisted of three interrelated parts: a pre-test, four training sessions, and a post-test. 54 ESL learners whose L1 was Chinese participated in this study. The results show that (i) identifying /ʊ/, /uː/ and /ʌ/, discriminating /ɑː/ from /aʊ/ and /uː/ from /ʊ/ were challenging; (ii) the training improved the subjects’ perception of most vowels; and (iii) the improvement was more significant for the subjects with lower English proficiency. Copyright © 2023 Guarant International.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Prague 2023 |
| Editors | Radek SKARNITZL, Jan VOLÍN |
| Place of Publication | Czech Republic |
| Publisher | Guarant International |
| Pages | 4244-4248 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9788090811423 |
| Publication status | Published - 2023 |
Citation
Chen, H. C., Han, Q., & Tian, J. (2023). The integration of acoustic-cue visualization in HVPT of English vowel perception by Chinese ESL learners. In R. Skarnitzl., & J. Volín (Eds.), Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Prague 2023 (pp. 4244-4248). Guarant International.Keywords
- English vowels
- Acoustic phonetics
- Pedagogy
- Second language acquisition