The Effect of Proficiency on the Pronunciation Accuracy of Chinese Learners of French—A Case Study of /ã/

Research Article
Open access

The Effect of Proficiency on the Pronunciation Accuracy of Chinese Learners of French—A Case Study of /ã/

Qi Yu 1*
  • 1 Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing, China    
  • *corresponding author yuqi@bfsu.edu.cn
Published on 1 March 2023 | https://doi.org/10.54254/2753-7048/2/2022478
LNEP Vol.2
ISSN (Print): 2753-7056
ISSN (Online): 2753-7048
ISBN (Print): 978-1-915371-07-2
ISBN (Online): 978-1-915371-08-9

Abstract

Chinese learners experience various pronunciation challenges when learning French, such as the nasal vowel /ã/, due to the negative transfer of their mother tongue. However, it has been noticed that there is an improvement in pronunciation as proficiency improves. This paper, therefore, explores whether there is a stable relationship between proficiency and pronunciation accuracy by acoustically analysing the pronunciation of /ã/ in four participants with different levels of French proficiency. The author uses PRAAT software to extract the values of the first and second formants for comparison with native speakers. The experimental results show that, in general, participants in the high proficiency group pronounce the words closer to native speakers and with greater accuracy. However, the degree to which proficiency affects pronunciation accuracy varies depending on the environment in which /ã/ is found.

Keywords:

Nasal vowel, Formant frequency, Acoustic analysis, Pronunciation accuracy, Target language acquisition

Yu,Q. (2023). The Effect of Proficiency on the Pronunciation Accuracy of Chinese Learners of French—A Case Study of /ã/. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,2,808-812.
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References

[1]. Odlin, T. (1989). Language Transfer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[2]. Using the CEFR: Principles of Good Practice. (2011). Cambridge: University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations.

[3]. Liste de fréquence lexicale (2022). Retrieved May 5, 2022, from https://eduscol.education.fr/186/liste-de-frequence-lexicale.

[4]. Boersma, P., & Weenink, D. (2005). Praat: doing phonetics by computer (Version 4.5.16) [Computer program]. Retrieved May 2, 2022, from http://www.praat.org/.

[5]. Priyanka A. A., Bharti W. G., & Suresh C. M. (2016). Introduction to EEG – and Speech-Based Emotion Recognition. Cambridge : Academic Press.

[6]. Haase, C., & Orlova, N. (Eds.). (2019). English Language Teaching through the Lens of Experience. Cambridge : Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

[7]. Ladefoged, P., & Johnson, K. (2010). A Course in Phonetics (Sixth Edition). Wadsworth Publishing Company.

[8]. Azra, J. L. (2019). Les voyelles nasales du français de l’origine à nos jours: revoir la question des changements de timbre. Available from Seinan Gakuin University Institutional Repository Web site, http://repository.seinan-gu.ac.jp/.

[9]. Delvaux, V., Metens, T. & Soquet, A. (2002). Propriétés acoustiques et articulatoires des voyelles nasales du français. XXIVe Journées d’étude sur la parole, Nancy, 348-352.

[10]. Montagu, J. (2004). Les sons sous-jacents aux voyelles nasales en français parisien : indices perceptifs des changements. JEP, Fès, Maroc.

[11]. Ladefoged, P., & Johnson, K. (2010). A Course in Phonetics (Sixth Edition). Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Cite this article

Yu,Q. (2023). The Effect of Proficiency on the Pronunciation Accuracy of Chinese Learners of French—A Case Study of /ã/. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,2,808-812.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

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About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Educational Innovation and Philosophical Inquiries (ICEIPI 2022), Part I

ISBN：978-1-915371-07-2(Print) / 978-1-915371-08-9(Online)
Editor：Abdullah Laghari, Nasir Mahmood
Conference website: https://www.iceipi.org/
Conference date: 4 August 2022
Series: Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media
Volume number: Vol.2
ISSN：2753-7048(Print) / 2753-7056(Online)

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References

[1]. Odlin, T. (1989). Language Transfer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[2]. Using the CEFR: Principles of Good Practice. (2011). Cambridge: University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations.

[3]. Liste de fréquence lexicale (2022). Retrieved May 5, 2022, from https://eduscol.education.fr/186/liste-de-frequence-lexicale.

[4]. Boersma, P., & Weenink, D. (2005). Praat: doing phonetics by computer (Version 4.5.16) [Computer program]. Retrieved May 2, 2022, from http://www.praat.org/.

[5]. Priyanka A. A., Bharti W. G., & Suresh C. M. (2016). Introduction to EEG – and Speech-Based Emotion Recognition. Cambridge : Academic Press.

[6]. Haase, C., & Orlova, N. (Eds.). (2019). English Language Teaching through the Lens of Experience. Cambridge : Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

[7]. Ladefoged, P., & Johnson, K. (2010). A Course in Phonetics (Sixth Edition). Wadsworth Publishing Company.

[8]. Azra, J. L. (2019). Les voyelles nasales du français de l’origine à nos jours: revoir la question des changements de timbre. Available from Seinan Gakuin University Institutional Repository Web site, http://repository.seinan-gu.ac.jp/.

[9]. Delvaux, V., Metens, T. & Soquet, A. (2002). Propriétés acoustiques et articulatoires des voyelles nasales du français. XXIVe Journées d’étude sur la parole, Nancy, 348-352.

[10]. Montagu, J. (2004). Les sons sous-jacents aux voyelles nasales en français parisien : indices perceptifs des changements. JEP, Fès, Maroc.

[11]. Ladefoged, P., & Johnson, K. (2010). A Course in Phonetics (Sixth Edition). Wadsworth Publishing Company.

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