An important issue in the recent L2 literature is whether adult learners can perceive a gradient phonetic difference between L1 and the corresponding L2 phonemes. This leads us to further judge whether such learners can acquire allophonic contrast in L2. The same issue has been addressed in the current study with reference to Kuwaiti adult learners of English. The aim of this study is to analyze velar stops /k, g/ as perceived and produced by Kuwaiti Arabic (KA) learners of English. In this study, comprehension is measured by a perception test, and pronunciation is measured by obtaining readings of voice onset time (VOT) in Praat software. The velar stops will also be analyzed using the framework of the classic version of optimality theory (OT). OT became one of the major generative frameworks in the field of generative phonology. OT is a constraint-based theory of phonology advanced by Prince and Smolensky. In the perception test, participants were asked to listen to words containing target sounds, which were “keys,” “skis,” and “geese,” and note on paper which English word they had heard. In the discrimination task, these words were presented in pairs, and the participants were asked to say whether they had heard a single word twice or two words together. In the production test, they read from a list of words, including “keys,” “skis,” and “geese,” and their productions were recorded. A large group of Kuwaiti English learners perceived and produced these velar stops of English. Their discrimination of voiced and voiceless velar stops was excellent, but their identification of [g] was weak. Their identification of the voiceless velar stop /k/ was also native-like. In production, they were native-like in aspirated [kh]. In the production of the unaspirated voiceless velar stop [k], they were not native-like, but they had developed an understanding of this allophone of English. In [g], some students were native-like, some were still learning, and some had only relied on L1 transfer.
| Published in | International Journal of Education, Culture and Society (Volume 7, Issue 1) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.16 |
| Page(s) | 33-41 |
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Second Language, Phonology, Perception, Production, Optimality Theory, English, Kuwaiti Arabic
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APA Style
Sultan Melfi Aldaihani, Shorouq Khalid Al-Houti, Yousef Masad Alenezi. (2022). Learning Proper VOT of English Velar Stops by Kuwaiti Undergraduate Students from VOT and Optimality Theory Perspectives. International Journal of Education, Culture and Society, 7(1), 33-41. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.16
ACS Style
Sultan Melfi Aldaihani; Shorouq Khalid Al-Houti; Yousef Masad Alenezi. Learning Proper VOT of English Velar Stops by Kuwaiti Undergraduate Students from VOT and Optimality Theory Perspectives. Int. J. Educ. Cult. Soc. 2022, 7(1), 33-41. doi: 10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.16
AMA Style
Sultan Melfi Aldaihani, Shorouq Khalid Al-Houti, Yousef Masad Alenezi. Learning Proper VOT of English Velar Stops by Kuwaiti Undergraduate Students from VOT and Optimality Theory Perspectives. Int J Educ Cult Soc. 2022;7(1):33-41. doi: 10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.16
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author = {Sultan Melfi Aldaihani and Shorouq Khalid Al-Houti and Yousef Masad Alenezi},
title = {Learning Proper VOT of English Velar Stops by Kuwaiti Undergraduate Students from VOT and Optimality Theory Perspectives},
journal = {International Journal of Education, Culture and Society},
volume = {7},
number = {1},
pages = {33-41},
doi = {10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.16},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.16},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijecs.20220701.16},
abstract = {An important issue in the recent L2 literature is whether adult learners can perceive a gradient phonetic difference between L1 and the corresponding L2 phonemes. This leads us to further judge whether such learners can acquire allophonic contrast in L2. The same issue has been addressed in the current study with reference to Kuwaiti adult learners of English. The aim of this study is to analyze velar stops /k, g/ as perceived and produced by Kuwaiti Arabic (KA) learners of English. In this study, comprehension is measured by a perception test, and pronunciation is measured by obtaining readings of voice onset time (VOT) in Praat software. The velar stops will also be analyzed using the framework of the classic version of optimality theory (OT). OT became one of the major generative frameworks in the field of generative phonology. OT is a constraint-based theory of phonology advanced by Prince and Smolensky. In the perception test, participants were asked to listen to words containing target sounds, which were “keys,” “skis,” and “geese,” and note on paper which English word they had heard. In the discrimination task, these words were presented in pairs, and the participants were asked to say whether they had heard a single word twice or two words together. In the production test, they read from a list of words, including “keys,” “skis,” and “geese,” and their productions were recorded. A large group of Kuwaiti English learners perceived and produced these velar stops of English. Their discrimination of voiced and voiceless velar stops was excellent, but their identification of [g] was weak. Their identification of the voiceless velar stop /k/ was also native-like. In production, they were native-like in aspirated [kh]. In the production of the unaspirated voiceless velar stop [k], they were not native-like, but they had developed an understanding of this allophone of English. In [g], some students were native-like, some were still learning, and some had only relied on L1 transfer.},
year = {2022}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Learning Proper VOT of English Velar Stops by Kuwaiti Undergraduate Students from VOT and Optimality Theory Perspectives AU - Sultan Melfi Aldaihani AU - Shorouq Khalid Al-Houti AU - Yousef Masad Alenezi Y1 - 2022/02/16 PY - 2022 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.16 DO - 10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.16 T2 - International Journal of Education, Culture and Society JF - International Journal of Education, Culture and Society JO - International Journal of Education, Culture and Society SP - 33 EP - 41 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2575-3363 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.16 AB - An important issue in the recent L2 literature is whether adult learners can perceive a gradient phonetic difference between L1 and the corresponding L2 phonemes. This leads us to further judge whether such learners can acquire allophonic contrast in L2. The same issue has been addressed in the current study with reference to Kuwaiti adult learners of English. The aim of this study is to analyze velar stops /k, g/ as perceived and produced by Kuwaiti Arabic (KA) learners of English. In this study, comprehension is measured by a perception test, and pronunciation is measured by obtaining readings of voice onset time (VOT) in Praat software. The velar stops will also be analyzed using the framework of the classic version of optimality theory (OT). OT became one of the major generative frameworks in the field of generative phonology. OT is a constraint-based theory of phonology advanced by Prince and Smolensky. In the perception test, participants were asked to listen to words containing target sounds, which were “keys,” “skis,” and “geese,” and note on paper which English word they had heard. In the discrimination task, these words were presented in pairs, and the participants were asked to say whether they had heard a single word twice or two words together. In the production test, they read from a list of words, including “keys,” “skis,” and “geese,” and their productions were recorded. A large group of Kuwaiti English learners perceived and produced these velar stops of English. Their discrimination of voiced and voiceless velar stops was excellent, but their identification of [g] was weak. Their identification of the voiceless velar stop /k/ was also native-like. In production, they were native-like in aspirated [kh]. In the production of the unaspirated voiceless velar stop [k], they were not native-like, but they had developed an understanding of this allophone of English. In [g], some students were native-like, some were still learning, and some had only relied on L1 transfer. VL - 7 IS - 1 ER -
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