• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.35-43
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• 2011

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the viability of employing the intonation exaggeration technique proposed in [4] in teaching English prosody to university students. Fifty-six female university students, twenty-two in a control group and the other thirty-four in an experimental group, participated in a teaching experiment as part of their regular coursework for a five-and-a-half week period. For the study material of the experimental group, a set of utterances was synthesized whose intonation contours had been exaggerated whereas the control group was given the same set without any intonation modification. Recordings from both before and after the teaching experiment were made and one sentence set was chosen for analysis. The parameters analyzed were the pitch range, words containing the highest and lowest pitch points, and the 3-dimensional comparison of the three prosodic features [2]. An AXB and subjective rating test were also performed along with a qualitative screening of the individual intonation contours. The results showed that the experimental group performed slightly better in that their intonation contour was more similar to that of the model native speaker's utterance. This appears to suggest that the intonation exaggeration technique can be employed in teaching English prosody to students.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.95-108
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• 2009

One of the learning difficulties for Korean learners of English is the intonation of English focused yes/no questions. Focused words in English yes/no questions are realized as low pitch accents which contrast with high pitch accents in Korean counterparts. In order to improve Korean students' intonation, direct and metalinguistic explanations on the intonation of English focused yes/no questions were given to Korean learners of English. In pre-tests and post-tests, students' perceptions on the target items were measured. The study results showed that phonetic explanation using intonation contour enhanced students' perception on English intonation. With respect to the position of focused words, sentence initial and medial focused questions were more difficult than sentence final focused questions. The perception was most improved in sentence initial focused questions. The study showed the immediate effects of the explicit instruction on perceptions of English intonation.

• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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• 2000.07a
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• pp.88-95
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• 2000

This paper attempts to investigate characteristic features of Japanese EFL learners' English intonation and how their Japanese accents are affecting their English intonation, focusing on a comparison between the accent patterns of Japanese compounds and the stress patterns of English compounds. It is based on research dedicated to helping to improve the teaching and learning of English intonation (prosody) for Japanese EFL learners. It examines the Fundamental Frequency (henceforth Fx) contours of two EFL college students, one specializing in English and the other in Japanese. Both of them may be considered upper intermediate EFL students with their TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) scores ranging between 500 and 550.

• MALSORI
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• no.47
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• pp.15-29
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• 2003

When intonation in French is analysed in terms of a multi-dimentional and hierarchical structure, each of the prosodic units such as accent phrases(having different combinations of the basic tonemes L and H), pre-sentencial and post-sentencial long pauses, intonation phrases(containing boundary intonation), as well as intermediate phrases can be considered being realized on a separate tier. Unlike on the tiers where accent phrases and intonation phrases occur, an intonation rhythm consisting of plateaus is realised on that of intermediate phrases. This intonation rhythm consisting of plateaus is one of the significant factors that lead a basic French metrical rhythm. This paper first shows the types of combinations of the basic tonemes L and H found in French accent phrases. Secondly, this paper examines the roles intermediate phrases and plateaus play in French. Finally, this paper argues that intermediate phrases are the metrical units actually adopted as real utterance units in French.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.31-46
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• 2007

This study attempts to investigate that the training of pitch manipulation would help Korean speakers reduce the intonation errors based on the review of many previous studies on Korean speakers' phonetic realization of intonation. The previous studies have indicated that Korean speakers have problems with pitch manipulation in their production of English word stress, sentence stress, and eventually intonation. To train Korean speakers phonetically realize English pitch patterns, a blended learning module was operated for two weeks: face-to-face instruction for six hours and e-learning instruction for three hours in total. This module was designed to help Korean speakers realize pitch as a distinctive phoneme. An acoustic assessment on five Korean female English speakers shows that the training of pitch manipulation helps Korean English speakers reduce the intonation errors indicated in the previous studies reviewed.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.39-49
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• 2010

The purpose of this paper is to examine how Chinese speakers realize Korean intonation phrase (IP) boundary tones in the reading of a Korean text. Korean IP boundary tones play various roles in speech communication. They indicate prosodic constituents' boundaries while simultaneously performing pragmatic and grammatical functions. In order to express and understand Korean utterances correctly, it is necessary to understand the Korean IP boundary tone system. To investigate the IP boundary tone produced by Chinese speakers, we have specifically examined the type of boundary tones, the degree of internal pitch modulation of boundary tones, and the pitch difference between penultimate syllables and boundary tones. The results of each analysis were compared to the IP boundary tones produced by Korean native speakers. The results show that IP boundary tones were realized higher than penultimate syllables.

• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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• 1996.02a
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• pp.47-61
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• 1996

The phonetic study of English language in Japan is a matter of great importance, a problem of major concern and a. vital subject The special difficulties which the Japanese college students have in learning English lie in the field of prosodic features of English, such as, syllable, rhythm, stress, intonation, prominence, of.. These difficulties have made Japanese students' pronunciation relatively monotonous or mora(ness). In my presentation, the specific phonetic features of Japanese language first will be discussed and clarified. And then the effective teaching method of intonation to improve Japanese students' pronunciation will be suggested. Finally, the oral dialogue with intonation analysis and transcription in the class room will be demonstrated to highlight the presentation.

• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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• 1997.07a
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• pp.92-114
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• 1997

This study is aimed to grasp the actual problems of the perception of English rhythm and intonation structure by Korean University students who have studied English in the secondary schools for the past six years, and to establish the systems of English rhythm and intonation structure for the Korean students of English. For this study, the listening test is provided, and 100 students are chosen as the subjects of the study. The noticeable findings are summarized as follows: (1) Koreans perceive the words stress comparatively well in nonsense words, unfamiliar place names, and familiar word. (2) Koreans do not perceive the isochrony of English rhythm well enough. The perception of the sentence stress is very unstable, especially in the sentence involved in polysyllabic words, compound words, and 'emphatic stress' pr 'contrastive stress'(or in the different rhythmic patterns). (3) Koreans do not perceive the nucleus well enough. The perception of the nucleus is more stable in content words than in function words, at the end of a sentence than in the middle of a sentence, and in monosyllabic words than in the polysyllabic words. (4) Koreans do not perceive the boundary(or pause) of intonation group well enough. The perception of the pause is unstable in the long or complex sentence. (5) Koreans discriminate the meaning of English word stress comparatively well, especially in disyllabic words. But the discrimination is somewhat unstable in polysyllabic words and between 'adjective' and 'verb' (6) Koreans' discrimination of the intonation meaning is below the level. Koreans do not perceive the differences of intonation meaning according to the pitch accent or the focus. In conclusion, the writer will propose the procedures for the teaching of rhythm and intonation in the following order: word stress drill longrightarrowstressed and reduced syllables drilllongrightarrowrhythm group drilllongrightarrowthe varying rhythm drilllongrightarrowsentence stress drilllongrightarrownucleus drill longrightarrowintonation group drilllongrightarrowlong utterance drill of more than two intonation group.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.59-69
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to examine the variation of pitch contour observed in the reading of Korean sentences produced by Chinese Korean-learners. In the reading context, Korean sentence intonation can be described by considering accentual phrases' pitch pattern and intonational phrases' boundary tone. But when APs and IPs connect to each other to form sentences, another aspect of speech production must be considered, that is declination of pitch contour. So, in order to examine how Chinese speakers produce Korean sentence intonation, we have analysed the sentences' pitch contours produced by fourteen Chinese speakers differing in proficiency, and compared them to pitch contours produced by six Korean native speakers. The results show that Chinese speakers tend to decline the pitch contour in shorter sentences, but for longer sentences, the declination was not observed. Moreover, even though Chinese speakers produced sentences with declination, internal tonal modulation differs from native speakers.

• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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• 2000.07a
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• pp.283-300
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• 2000

This paper is intended to suggest how to improve Korean high school students' awareness of the pronunciation in order to foster communicative effectiveness. Initially it is focused on the tasks of listening to the suprasegmental aspects. The strategies used in the listening process are (1)discerning intonation units, (2)recognizing rhythm pattern, and (3)identifying contraction and linking in connected speech. The tasks including in each process are listening discrimination, guided practice activity, and listening and speaking activity. The teacher should avoid methods which yield discouraging outcomes and try to help students enjoy experience of success in doing exercises and activities. So I suggested: students put the slash on the pause perceptible to chunk the stream of speech into the intonation units, and mark the content words to internalize English rhythm. And then I suggested that students listen to pop song English in order to improve the awareness of function words and connected speech in the intonation unit.