Listening to speech in a noisy background is difficult for everyone. While such listening has historically been considered mainly in the context of auditory processing, the role of cognition has attracted considerable interest in recent years. This has been particularly true in the context of life-span research and the comparison of younger and…

In recent decades there has been a growing interest in the use of English as a lingua franca (ELF), for example identifying the lingua franca core (LFC), or pronunciation features important for intelligibility in ELF contexts. While some analyses of course books (CBs) have shown ELF research findings are not yet reflected in these materials, few…

Spoken words vary phonetically along a number of dimensions, such as duration, pitch, and vowel quality. Much of this variation is associated with social factors like the dialect, age, or gender of the speaker -- a type of variation termed 'socio-indexical'. Traditional theories of speech perception have seen this socio-indexical variation as a…

Purpose: The objectives of this study were to examine different speech profiles among children with dysarthria secondary to cerebral palsy (CP) and to characterize the effect of different speech profiles on intelligibility. Method: Twenty 5-year-old children with dysarthria secondary to CP and 20 typically developing children were included in this…

Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine the effect of background noise on the intelligibility of dysphonic speech and to examine the relationship between intelligibility in noise and an acoustic measure of dysphonia--cepstral peak prominence (CPP). Method: A study of speech perception was conducted using speech samples from 6 adult speakers…

Within educational research, there has been an increased interest in recent years to develop learners' language awareness (LA) in the context of plurilingual education. Recommendations and intentions are given pointing to the benefits, but there are few concrete tools for how it can be carried out in practice. The article seeks to contribute to…

Issues of intelligibility may arise amongst English learners when acquiring new words and phrases in North American academic settings, perhaps in part due to limited linguistic data available to the learner for understanding language use patterns. To this end, this paper examines the effects of Data-Driven Learning for Pronunciation (DDLfP) on…

This paper compares the speaking scores generated by two online systems that are designed to automatically grade student speech and provide personalized speaking feedback in an EFL context. The first system, "Speech Assessment for Moodle" ("SAM"), is an open-source solution developed by the author that makes use of Google's…

'Dysarthria' is a group of motor speech disorders resulting from a disturbance in neuromuscular control. Most individuals with dysarthria cope with communicative restrictions due to speech impairments and reduced intelligibility. Thus, language-sensitive measurements of intelligibility are important in dysarthria neurological assessment. The…

The expansion of the English language produced by non-native speakers has, in recent decades, been discussed by applied linguists from various theoretical perspectives. The discussion has highlighted evidence showing that the multiplicity and diversity of English uses have given rise to an acceleration in the rate of inter-variety contacts where…

The current study investigated the effects of repetition on the learning of second language (L2) spoken word forms. Japanese university students learning L2 English were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions (one, three, and six exposures) and learned 40 words while hearing them and viewing their corresponding pictures. A…

While there is ample research on the effect of exposure to foreign language (FL) video materials on developing vocabulary knowledge and listening skills, research on the impact of watching videos on acquiring pronunciation skills, especially in terms of both perception and production, is still in its infancy. This study investigates the effect of…

This study aimed to investigate the role that phonetic convergence plays in the acquisition of L2 segments. In particular, it examined whether phonetic convergence towards native speakers could help Arabic-speaking second-language (L2) learners of English improve their pronunciation of four problematic English segments (/p, v, [open-mid front…

We explored the proposal that overt repetition of verbal information improves the acquisition of a native accent in a second language. Mandarin-speaking Chinese learners of English were recorded while repeating and reading out English sentences before and after one of three treatments: (a) repeating native English sentences subvocally,…

Background: The increasing need for speech therapy due to our ageing population raises the demand on therapeutical resources. To meet this demand, innovative delivery of speech training is required. eHealth applications may provide a solution, as intensified and prolonged training is only possible and affordable in patients' home environment.…