Arguing that the question of social acceptability of allophonic variations is not a linguistic issue, but rather an issue of social identity, the discussion considers the speech chain, language as a social activity with its "norms" for social acceptability, and the specific context where Singaporean English is a marker of social…

The inability to focus on the rhythmic pattern as a whole is one of the main deficiencies in the teaching of English rhythm, and it is partly responsible for syllabic rhythm in the speech of learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). A technique is proposed that isolates the segmental phones and sequences so that EFL learners recognize them.…

A test of the ability of adult Japanese and Korean students to perceive correct and misarticulated /r/ involved tape recordings of native English speakers and the students themselves. Comparison of the results "subjects made more errors perceiving their own speech" with similar research on first- and second-language acquisition has pedagogical…

Examines the effects of vowel height and place of articulation in interlanguage devoicing patterns of final voiced stop consonants (b, d, g) in words such as "cab,""bad,""bag" in the acquisition of English as a foreign language by Mandarin, Japanese, and Portuguese speakers. Results display a combinatory effect of…