• MALSORI
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• no.66
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• pp.41-59
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• 2008

Knowledge in linguistic rhythm of the target language plays a major role in foreign language proficiency. This study attempts to discover valid rhythm features that can be utilized in automatic assessment of non-native English pronunciation. Eight previously proposed and two novel rhythm metrics are investigated with 360 English read speech tokens obtained from 27 Korean learners and 9 native speakers. It is found that some of the speech-rate normalized interval measures and above-word level metrics are effective enough to be further applied for automatic scoring as they are significantly correlated with speakers' proficiency levels. It is also shown that metrics need to be dynamically selected depending upon the structure of target sentences. Results from a preliminary auto-scoring experiment through a Multi Regression analysis suggest that appropriate control of unexpected input utterances is also desirable for better performance.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.81-87
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• 2019

The purpose of the current study is to investigate the realization of speech rhythm in English as spoken by Korean learners of English. The study particularly aims to examine the rhythm metrics of English read speech by learners who speak Busan or the South Kyungsang dialect of Korean. Twenty-four learners whose L1 is Busan Korean and eight native speakers of English read a passage wherein five sentences were segmented and labeled as vocalic and intervocalic intervals. Various rhythm metrics such as %V, Varcos, and Pairwise Variability Indexes (PVIs) were calculated. The results show that Korean learners read English sentences with significantly more vocalic and consonantal intervals at a slower speech rate than native English speakers. The analyses of rhythm metrics revealed that when the speech rate was not normalized, Korean learners' English showed more variability in the length of consonantal and vocalic intervals. However, speech-rate-normalized rhythm metrics for vocalic intervals indicated that Korean learners transferred their L1 rhythmic structures (a syllable-timed language) into their L2 speech (a stress-timed language). Overall, the results suggest that Korean learners' English reflects the rhythmic characteristics of their L1. The effect of the learners' L1 dialect on the realization of L2 speech rhythm is also speculated.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.49-55
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• 2009

This study investigates whether rhythm metrics can be used to capture the rhythmic differences between spontaneous and read English speech. Transcription of spontaneous speech tokens extracted from a corpus is read by three English native speakers to generate the corresponding read speech tokens. Two data sets are compared in terms of seven rhythm measures that are suggested by previous studies. Results show that there is a significant difference in the values of vowel-based metrics (VarcoV and nPVI-V) between spontaneous and read speech. This manifests a greater variability in vocalic intervals in spontaneous speech than in read speech. The current study is especially meaningful as it demonstrates a way in which speech styles can be differentiated and parameterized in numerical terms.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.19-28
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• 2022

The current study was designed to explore whether taking English pronunciation classes could improve the realization of English rhythm by Korean learners of English. Specifically, this study used various rhythm metrics to examine the extent to which the learners' speech became rhythmically similar to the target language after taking classes that focused on English pronunciation. Sixteen learners who took a 15-week English pronunciation course at a university read an English passage twice (at the beginning and the end of the semester). The rhythm metrics such as Deltas, Varcos, and Pairwise Variability Indices were calculated for the learners' speech, as well as that of 8 native speakers of English. The results demonstrated that the learners' speech was slower, and they put more frequent within-sentence pauses than the native speakers even after the classes. The analyses also indicated that the speech recorded at the beginning of the semester was rhythmically much more different from the target language than at the end of the semester. After the classes, however, the learners' consonantal intervals became much more target-like, while the vocalic intervals were rhythmically even further from those in the target language. Overall, the findings suggested that the pronunciation classes helped the learners to produce English speech that was rhythmically similar to the native speakers.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.71-79
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• 2019

This study aims to investigate the rhythmic patterns in the English speech produced by Chinese learners of English who learn English as a foreign language (EFL learners). Utilizing interval-based rhythm metrics, namely, VarcoC, VarcoV, nPVI-C, nPVI-V, and %V, the study compared the rhythmic differences in English speech between ten native speakers from the United States and forty Chinese EFL learners from mainland China. A sentence elicitation task consisting of thirty picture prompts and corresponding thirty stimuli sentences with at least five vocalic and four consonantal intervals was conducted. Statistical results reveal that both Chinese advanced learners and beginners had significantly lower degree of stress-timed in their English speech, indicating that the acquisition of the L2 speech rhythm was influenced by the learners' L1 rhythmic pattern. In addition, the results also show that the Chinese advanced learners had significantly higher degree of stress-timed in their English speech than beginners and showed no significant difference with native speakers in VarcoC and nPVI-C. These results indicate that the direction of L2 speech rhythm development was from more syllable-timed to more stress-timed.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.45-52
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• 2018

This study investigates the effect of Japanese (L1) on the production of the Korean rhythmic structure. Korean and Japanese have typologically different rhythmic structure as a syllable-timed language and mora-timed language, respectively. This rhythmic difference comes from the different phonological properties of the two languages. Due to this difference, Japanese speakers that are learning Korean may produce a different rhythm than native Korean speakers' rhythm. To investigate the influence of the native language's rhythm on the target language, we conducted an acoustic analysis using acoustic metrics such as %V, VarcoV, and VarcoS. Four Korean native speakers and ten advanced Japanese Korean learners participated in a production test. The analyzed material consisted of six Korean sentences that contained various syllable structures. The results showed that KS and JS's rhythms are different in %V as well as in VarcoV. In the case of VarcoS, significant rhythmic difference was observed in the VC and CVC syllable, in which the coda segment is nasal sound. This study allowed us to observe the influence of L1 on production of L2 rhythm.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.1-9
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• 2016

This paper investigated the rhythmic features of speakers of English as a lingua franca in Asian contexts. A speech corpus of 150 conversations between speakers of English in Asia with different L1 backgrounds was collected and %V, ${\Delta}V$, VarcoV, and nPVI-V of each speaker were analyzed. It was found that L1 difference of the speakers and the speakers' daily use of English influenced %V, while the speakers' daily use of English influenced ${\Delta}V$. The gender difference of the speakers also affected the rhythm of the utterances in VarcoV. A weak correlation between the two speakers' rhythm in each conversation was also found in %V and ${\Delta}V$. No significant effects were found in nPVI-V. The results revealed that the speakers tended to accommodate the rhythm of their utterance to that of the interlocutors'. Further study on the speaking rate of the speakers is required to overcome some inconsistencies found in the results of the rhythmic metrics used in this study.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.27-35
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• 2023

This study aimed to investigate the effect of Chinese on the production of Korean rhythm. Korean and Chinese are typologically classified into different rhythmic categories; because of this, the phonological properties of Korean and Chinese are similar and different at the same time. As a result, Chinese can exert both positive and negative influences on the realization of Korean rhythm. To investigate the influence of the rhythm of the native language of L2 learners on their target language, we conducted an acoustic analysis using acoustic metrics like of the speech of 5 Korean native speakers and 10 advanced Chinese Korean learners. The analyzed material is a short paragraph of five sentences containing a variety of syllable structures. The results showed that KS and CS rhythms are similar in %V, VarcoV, and nPVI_S. However, CS, unlike KS, showed characteristics closer to those of a stress-timed language in the values of %V and VarcoV. There was also a significant difference in nPVI_V values. These results demonstrate a negative influence of the native language in the realization of Korean rhythm. This can be attributed to the fact that all vowels in Chinese sentence are not pronounced with the same emphasis due to neutral tone. In this sense, this study allowed us to observe influences of L1 on L2 production of rhythm.

• Journal of Broadcast Engineering
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.573-588
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• 2009

In this paper, we propose a novel video quality degradation monitoring scheme titled VR-VQMS(Visual Rhythm based Video Quality Monitoring Scheme) over an IPTV service prone to packet losses during network transmission. Proposed scheme quantifies the amount of quality degradation due to packet losses, and can be classified into a RR(reduced-reference) based quality measurement scheme exploiting visual rhythm data of H.264-encoded video frames at a media server and reconstructed ones at an Set-top Box as feature information. Two scenarios, On-line and Off-line VR-VQMS, are proposed as the practical solutions. We define the NPSNR(Networked Peak-to-peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio) modified by the well-known PSNR as a new objective quality metric, and several additional objective and subjective metrics based on it to obtain the statistics on timing, duration, occurrence, and amount of quality degradation. Simulation results show that the proposed method closely approximates the results from 2D video frames and gives good estimation of subjective quality(i.e.,MOS(mean opinion score)) performed by 10 test observers. We expect that the proposed scheme can play a role as a practical solution to monitor the video quality experienced by individual customers in a commercial IPTV service, and be implemented as a small and light agent program running on a resource-limited set-top box.

• Sijohaknonchong
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• v.30
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• pp.165-188
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• 2009

This paper is an analysis about Ahn, Jasan's theory of Sijo. He comprehended that Korean classical poetry is not a literary genre written in letters but a music genre sung orally, because he minutely investigated old books under the situation without preconceptions. Ahn, who had a thorough knowledge on our native music or literature, had an exact recognition about Sijo. He had analyzed existence of Sijo after commenting Sijo's true nature, whenever he discuss. His attitude was possible for his recognition like that. The first step of Ahn, Jasan's theory of Sijo is source of Sijo searched for identity of Sijo. Generic source, metrics, poetical idea, and history are written well in the paper. Establishment of Sijo's poetic identity is second step's discourse about Ahn's theory of Sijo, the contents are integrated in his book Poetics of Sijo poetry. He became to discuss Sijo as a regular poetry, even in this book. Especially a minute discussion about theory of Sijo's phrase and lines was accomplished in this time, theory of metrics based on meter and rhythm was a core discussion of this time too. Although his scholarly opinions are not refined comparing to the scholars of later ages, we can say that his opinions clearly worked a role of exemplary precedent. His opinions were other scholars ahead, nevertheless he had been neglected by researchers for not belonging to major group against his will. For this reason, I think Ahn's status in history of Sijo study has to be readjusted.