A Comparative Study on English Pronunciation and Phonology of Chinese EFL Learners

Pronunciation often gets ignored over grammar and vocabulary in EFL programs.However,words stressed incorrectly or with inappropriate pitch or intonation will impede the learner in getting the intended message across.Phonology,then,should be an integral part of any EFL lesson.This paper examines the current situation of English pronunciation of Chinese students and aiming to present a procedural approach for incorporating phonological elements into an EFL syllabus.

The Theory of Internal Compensation in Language Systems

This essay elaborates as thoroughly as possible the theory of internal compensation of the natural language system, and proves that the general distinctive function, which vanishes because of the loss or decrease of one or more sub-systems or units with their distinctive function, will be compensated with the increase of others or something new to guarantee the general balance of the whole system and fulfill the need of communication. By just discussing some phenomena of internal compensation at the phonological level here, this essay reveals some interesting rules and gives new explanations to some phenomena that have not been explained or not explained properly, then prove the theory’s function of explanation.

American English-Speakers’ Perception of Non-Native Phonotactic Constraints: The Influence of Training in Phonology

The purpose of the present study was to examine the differences between perceptions of non-native phonotactic rules and constraints by monolingual English-speaking undergraduate students in a program of communication disorders who had taken and passed a course in the study of phonology and by undergraduate students in communication disorders who had not yet taken a course in phonology. Participants listened to audio recordings of words from Hindi, Hmong, Kurdish, Russian, and Swedish recorded by speakers fluent in those languages. Each of the words contained at least one phonotactic constraint that is not permitted in American English phonology. Participants were instructed to write exactly what they heard after each word in the recordings, and their perceptions of the illegal constraints were scored as correct or incorrect. No significant difference was found between the students who had taken a phonology course and the students who had not. The most common misperception made was the omission of one phoneme when two were illegally combined. The results of this study, though not consistent with anticipated results, have many implications for issues concerning the linguistic diversity of the United States, among other issues related to language.

A Contrastive Study on French and Urhobo Phonological Systems A Case Study of Articles and Demonstrative Structures

It is a general knowledge that French as a language is widely spoken internationally whereas Urhobo is mainly spoken in the geographical location where it belongs. It is also spoken, and this, sparingly so, by Urhobo persons in the Diaspora. Presently, Urhobo has become a language of study at the Delta State University, Abraka. It has also been included in the educational curriculum for study at the lower cadre of secondary school education in the Delta State. This situation has triggered the author＇s interest in doing a contrastive phonological study. The significance of this study is that it will highlight the salient differences in some of the grammatical aspects in the languages under consideration and also identify the difficulties that learners experience as a result of these difficulties. The author will also, as much as it is possible, proffer solutions to these learning difficulties.

Differences between Generative Phonology and Traditional Phonology

Phonology as a subject has gone through a history of almost a century. During these years, linguists have tried many ways to interpret phonology in various aspects, which makes different various ways from the traditional schools. This paper will put emphasis on the major differences between them, hoping to give an innovation to the aim of research.

A Brief Introduction to Phonology, Morphology,Lexicology, and Semantics

Phonetics is a fundamental branch of linguistics and itself has three different aspects.Articulatory Phonetics—describes how vowels and consonants are produced or'articulated'in various parts of the mouth and throat.Acoustic Phonetics—a study of how speech sounds are transmitted:when sound travels through the air from the speaker’s mouth to the hearer’s ear.

The Practical Meaning of Understanding Phonetics and Phonology

Phonetics and phonology are two significant areas of English pronunciation.Understanding the concepts of phonetics and phonology is essential for English teachers,which helps them prepare for the class and develop their own speaking competence.In addition,learning knowledge in these two areas also help students understand the language more efficiently.

On the Phonology Characteristics of Leizhou Dialect in Malaysia

Based on first-hand materials obtained from field investigations in Malaysia, the results show that: firstly, there are 17 initials in the Leizhou dialect of Malaysia, including the implosives initial and the [f] initial. The pronunciation of Leizhou dialect in China is already rare, some of which are retained in the Leizhou dialect of Malaysia. Its initial consonant is borrowed from local Hua Yu or other Chinese dialects. Secondly, the Leizhou dialect of Malaysia has 46 finals. The pronunciation and timbre of some of its vowels are similar to the Yue dialect of Malaysia [&#592] main vowel. Thirdly, there are 8 monosyllabic tones in the Leizhou dialect of Malaysia. The pronunciation and tone of some of its characters are similar to the Xia Yin entering tone of Yue dialect of Malaysia.

Main Problems with English Phonology for Chinese Mandarin Speakers

This paper uses the test books and learning situations of middle school beginners as an example, presents three main problems with phonology for Chinese Mandarin speakers: sound level, word level and connected speech level. It also gives solutions with supportive evidences to overcome these problems for beginners.

Interlanguage Phonological System of L1 Cantonese Learners of English

This paper aims to study the unique interlanguage phonological system of the L1 Cantonese learners of English in GuangdongProvince, including the roles of the differences between native language and target language, language transfer and other constraints dur-ing the interlanguage formation process. An experiment has been designed to test the pronunciation of targeted consonants of the voca-tional college students, who are English majors with Cantonese as native language but are also exposed to Mandarin for a long time. Re-sults show that the sounds that do not exist in native language are easily pronounced incorrectly. The phonological system the subjectsdevelop to substitute the targeted consonants is quite different from that of the L1 Cantonese learners from Hong Kong and is also variedfrom that of the L1 Mandarin learners from other province of China's Mainland. It confirms that the L1 Cantonese learners of English inGuangdong Province do have a unique phonological system in their interlanguage and that special attention should be paid by teachersduring the teaching of English pronunciation.

A Phonology-Based Contrast between English and Chinese

With the advancement of modern linguistics, an increasing number of linguists commence on engaging in the comparativestudy between English and Chinese on the basis of phonology. As a result, this paper explains what phonology is, and makes a con-trast between English and Chinese from the phonological components, including syllable,tone and intonation,rhythm,stress and pho-neme, which intends to give English learners a clear and full understanding of differences between English and Chinese and eventu-ally to enlighten them to master English.

The Inner Split in Genetics of Wu Colloquial Expression“[hÃɲ^(33) paʔ^(3) lÃɲ^(33) tÃɲ^(31)]”

“[ã^(44) kã^(44) paʔ^(5) lã44 tã^(53)]”(Chinese characters transcription“昂更八冷打”)is an colloquial expression in Tongxiang dialect of Suzhou-Jiaxing-Huzhou Sub-branch,Taihu Branch,Wu.It describes an awkward state with unfinished tasks.Its similar expressions can be found in other regions of Taihu Branch,including Yixing,Changzhou,Shaoxing and Ningbo,usually serving as“all”,while the expression“[hÃɲ^(33) paʔ^(3) lÃɲ^(33) tÃɲ^(31)]”(“亨八冷打”)in Shanghai Sub-branch indicates“the remaining parts”when used alone.“[hÃɲ^(33) paʔ^(3) lÃɲ^(33) tÃɲ^(31)]”stands for“all”only when followed by a word with meaning of“adding together”.In this paper,it is concluded and deduced from other similar morphemes that the contradictory connotations are related to an“inner split”process of an original word.Considering similar morphemes in other Chinese dialects(including Cantonese,Hakka,Jianghuai and Min),the following analysis proposes three possible original expressions and correlating trajectories of this inner phonetic-semantic split process,and selects a most credible way based on the rhyming dictionary and previous reconstructive models of ancient Chinese phonology.This presumptive analysis indicates that a broader“split and derivate”process generating new morphemes exists widely in Sinitic dialects as a natural company of phonetic features in Chinese language flow.

English Intonation Research and Teaching

Through the discussion and comparative research on theories, types and uses of English intonation, it is found that intonation is an indispensable part of oral communications. Proper use of intonation lies in knowing their functions and in the ability to correctly utter the patterns. Therefore, intonation theoretical knowledge is crucial and helpful to the English phonology teaching; and teachers need to properly incorporate intonation knowledge into teaching practice.

The Differences between Dalian Dialect and Standard Chinese

Dalian dialect is one kind of Northern dialect.Its formation is due to many factors including history,geographical location,Shandong dialect and influence from Russia and Japan.This paper analyzes the main difference between Dalian dialect and Standard Chinese,also presents the characteristics of Dalian dialect in four aspects: phonology,morphology,syntax and slangs.

On Aesthetic Representation at Phonological Level in English Versions of Zhu Ziqing's Lyric Prose Transient Days

The paper analyses aesthetic message at phonological level of Zhu Ziqing's lyric prose Transient Days and explores how such message is represented in English versions respectively translated by Zhang Peiji and Zhu Chunshen.

Schematic Analysis of Linguistic Features of Advertisements

Advertising constitutes an indispensable part of modern life, promoting sales and channeling consumption. Furthermore, the daily conversation is also strongly influenced by advertising language. In this research, schema theory is employed to analyze the graphological, phonological, lexical, grammatical and discoursal features of the advertising language and the cognitive change they bring about among the audience, aiming at helping the consumers have a better understanding of advertisements and helping the designers produce better works.

Words for Fearful Symmetry:A Stylistic Analysis of The Tyger

It studies William Blake’s poem The Tyger on a basis of the theories of modern stylistics and discusses the meaning realization of the poem from the phonological features, the lexical and syntactic features, and the semantic features.

Stylistic Analysis of Whitman'S Poem O Captain!My Captain!

The poem O Captain! My Captain! is a good poem written by the great American poet, Walt Whitman. It is a eulogy written on the death of Abraham Lincoln. In this poem the poet expresses his sadness at the death of the great leader and expresses his great love of his beloved leader. This paper is to have a stylistic analysis of the poem by observing its phonological, lexical, semantic and syntactic features.

Priming effects in Chinese character recognition for Chinese children with developmental dyslexia

BACKGROUND： Dyslexic children exhibit reading ability unmatched to age, although they possess normal intelligence and are well educated. OBJECTIVE： To examine the performance of dyslexic children in Chinese characters visual recognition tasks and to investigate the relationship between priming effect in character recognition and dyslexia. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING： A case-control study was performed at the Department of Children and Adolescent Health and Maternal Care, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology between March and June 2007. PARTICIPANTS： A total of 75 primary school students in grades 3 and 5 were selected from two primary schools in Wuhan City, Hubei province, China, and were assigned to three groups. （1） Reading disability （RD, n = 25）; （2） chronological age （CA） group （n = 25 normal readers that were intelligence quotient and age-matched to the RD group）; （3） reading level （RL） group （n = 25 normal readers that were intelligence quotient and RL-matched to the RD group）. All children were right-handed and had normal or corrected-to-normal vision. METHODS： Recognition of target characters was performed in each child using a masked prime paradigm. Recognition speed and accuracy of graphic, phonological, and semantic characters were examined. Simultaneously, data, with respect to response time for each target character and error rate, were recorded to calculate facilitation values （unrelated RT-related RT）. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： Response time, facilitation, and error rate in Chinese character recognition task were calculated. RESULTS： The baseline-adjusted facilitation of graphic, phonological, and semantic priming for dyslexic children was -0.010, -0.010, and 0.001, respectively. Dyslexic children displayed inhibition in graphic and phonological prime conditions. Facilitations under the three prime conditions were 0.026, 0.026, and 0.022 for the CA group. In the RL group, results were 0.062, 0.058, and 0.031 respectively. The differences of baseline-adjusted facilitation across the three groups were significant [F （2, 216） = 17.91, P 〈 0.01 ], whereas the main effect of prime condition IF （2, 216） = 0.49, P 〉 0.05] and the interaction of group x prime condition [F （4, 216） = 0.91, P 〉 0.05] were not significant. The error rate under the three prime conditions was 0.066, 0.077, and 0.079 for the RD group. As for the CA group, the results were 0.057, 0.071, and 0.074 accordingly, and in the RL group, the results were 0.119, 0.111, and 0.121, respectively. The difference of error rate across the three groups was significant （F = 6.61, P = 0.002）. The error rate was significantly greater in the RL group, compared with the CA and RD groups, while no significant difference existed between the RD and CA groups. CONCLUSION： Dyslexic children were slower to recognize target characters than normal readers, and did not exhibit significant prime effects in graphic and phonological primer condition. These results suggested that dyslexic children exhibited general deficits in phonological and graphic processing, and presented a different pattern in character recognition. These results could be interpreted by parallel-distributed processing models.