Abstract

The present study examines the effects of training native Japanese speakers in the production of American /r/ using spectrographic visual feedback. Within a modified single-subject design, two native Japanese participants produced single words containing /r/ in a variety of positions while viewing live spectrographic feedback with the aim of producing /r/ with a third formant (F3) frequency of less than 2300 Hz (upper threshold for identifiable /r/). Feedback was gradually reduced to promote independent production and monitoring. Both participants showed improvement in /r/ production in trained and untrained single words as indicated by percentage increases and effect sizes. Blind ratings by independent experts indicated significant /r/ production improvements during the reading of the Rainbow Passage. Perceptual distinction of /r/ and /l/ in minimal pairs also showed an upward trend. These findings suggest that spectrographic visual feedback is a promising method for training /r/ to Japanese-speaking English language learners.

Citation

Patten, I. & Edmonds, L.A. (2015). Effect of Training Japanese L1 Speakers in the Production of American English /r/ Using Spectrographic Visual Feedback. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 28(3), 241-259. Retrieved November 30, 2023 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/168329/.

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Keywords

• Accuracy
• adults
• Articulation (Speech)
• Audio Equipment
• Comparative Analysis
• Cues
• English (Second Language)
• Feedback (Response)
• Instructional Effectiveness
• japanese
• Listening
• Oral Reading
• Phonemes
• Phonology
• Pretests Posttests
• Prompting
• Pronunciation
• Repetition
• Scores
• Second Language Instruction
• teaching methods
• training
• Visual Stimuli