Sandhi-Variation and the Comprehension of Spoken English for Japanese Learners
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SANDHI-VARIATION AND THE COMPREHENSION OF SPOKEN ENGLISH FOR JAPANESE LEARNERS A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Brett Collins May, 2018 Examining Committee Members David Beglar, Advisory Chair, Teaching and Learning Tomoko Nemoto, Teaching and Learning Rob Waring, External Member, Notre Dame Seishin University Kazuya Saito, External Member, Birkbeck, University of London © Copyright 2018 by Brett Collins ii ABSTRACT In this study I addressed three problems related to how sandhi-variation , the adjustments made by speakers to the speech stream, filters comprehension for second language listener processing. The first was the need to better understand proficiency problems encountered by L2 listeners as they decode the speech stream with the phonological features of sandhi-variation, elision and assimilation, by investigating the item difficulty hierarchy of the phenomena. The second was the scarcity of research on aural processing abilities of second language learners in relation to their understanding sandhi-variation in aural texts. The third concerns the lack of research investigating links between learners’ backgrounds and their ability to handle listening texts, especially variations in the speech stream in target aural texts. The purpose of this study was threefold. My first purpose was to investigate the item difficulty hierarchy of sandhi- variation types that learners have in relation to L2 listening proficiency. My second purpose was to evaluate links between aural input containing elision and assimilation and second language aural processing, to provide insight into how learners deal with sandhi- variation as they process such input. My third purpose was to investigate through the use of interviews the aural input that participants have encountered prior to the interventions of this study, to help explain which types of aural input can facilitate intake. Twenty-five first- and second-year Japanese university students participated in the current study. The participants completed a series of instruments, which included (a) a Test of English as a Foreign Language Paper-Based Test (TOEFL PBT), (b) a Listening Vocabulary Levels Test (LVLT), (c) a Modern Language Aptitude Test– Elementary (MLAT-E), (d) a Pre-Listening in English questionnaire, (e) an Elicited iii Imitation Test (EIT), and (f) a Background and Length of Residency interview. The EIT was used as a sandhi-variation listening test with two component parts (i.e., elision and assimilation) and two sub-component parts (e.g., two different utterance rates), using elicited imitation. Finally, the participants were interviewed about their language backgrounds to gauge their understanding and feelings about English. An empirical item hierarchy for elision and assimilation was investigated, along with the determinants of the hierarchy. Overall, the tendency was for items with elision and assimilation to be more difficult. Results also indicated that the two input rate variables combined with elision and assimilation affected the non-native participants’ listening comprehension. Moreover, the strength of the relationship between two measures of the participants’ language ability, proficiency and aptitude, and their comprehension of items with and without the phonological features of elision and assimilation, were investigated. The results confirmed a positive relationship between language aptitude as measured by the MLAT-E and the comprehension of the phonological features of elision and assimilation. Finally, the results indicated that there were no significant, positive correlations between English language proficiency scores and both the Pre-Listening Questionnaire, which measured the participants’ feelings about second language listening, and the Background and Length of Residency Interview. More research needs to be conducted to determine how learners’ backgrounds are related to listening comprehension in order to better prescribe aural input in second language listening classrooms. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would first like to acknowledge myself, or, at least, the person I was when I started the process. That kid was naive. I have learned to buck up better since then thanks to the work needed to finish this degree. Also, I have learned so much from the mountain of mistakes I made while writing this dissertation, and that in the mistakes lie lessons. Dr. David Beglar was there throughout my trials and errors, and he modeled academics for me. When I look back over the feedback that Dr. Beglar gave over the many years, I am in awe, and I am inspired to help others. Thank you, Dr. Beglar, for your tremendous support and advice. Your edits were always right. Great thanks goes to the members of my committee. Dr. Rob Waring helped me through a panic at the proposal stage. He was instrumental in pointing me in new directions, and he gave good suggestions at the defense. Dr. Tomoko Nemoto gave many good comments at the defense, which helped me gain a different perspective on pronunciation and transcription. Dr. Kazuya Saito gave excellent advice to help me expand my perspective on the study, especially on language aptitude. Other help came from readers, especially Dr. Phillip Clark. His many close readings of the manuscript and suggestions on style and structure made the study more presentable. Dr. Rick Derrah also read parts of the manuscript and made suggestions. Also, early on, Dr. Mark Sawyer helped me formulate ideas for this study. Thanks to Yuki Tokashiki and Masahiro Toma for translation work. Thank you very much to the members of the Temple University Japan 2008 cohort, especially Phillip Clark, Rick Derrah, John Rylander, and Scott Shinall, for support from the early days on. Thanks to the White Bear crew, including Kevin Ballou. Thank you to Miles Davis, especially for On The Corner , Big Fun , and Bitches Brew . These albums got me through some rough days. Thanks to my close friends who are still around after all this time, and apologies to those friends who are not. Thanks and love to Jittima for her daily kindness and love. Finally, the imperfections within the manuscript are absolutely my fault. v TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................x LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................1 The Background of Issue .........................................................................................1 The Statement of the Problem..................................................................................6 Purposes and Significance of the Study ...................................................................8 The Audience of the Study ....................................................................................10 Delimitations ..........................................................................................................11 Organization of the Study ......................................................................................12 2. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ...............................................................................14 Sandhi-Variation ....................................................................................................14 Sandhi-Variation in Classical Phonetics .....................................................16 Sandhi-Variation in L2 Research ................................................................23 Sandhi-Variation in Current Linguistic Theory ..........................................27 Spoken Language Processing in English ...............................................................34 Anticipatory System and Feed-Forward Anticipatory Model .....................34 L2 Language Processing .............................................................................37 Comprehension Breakdowns .......................................................................41 vi Syllables and Mora ......................................................................................43 Second Language Aptitude ....................................................................................46 Background and Length of Residency ...................................................................48 Gaps in the Literature.............................................................................................52 Purposes of the Study.............................................................................................54 Research Questions ................................................................................................55 3. METHODS ....................................................................................................................58 Educational Setting ................................................................................................58 Participants .............................................................................................................60 Instrumentation