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Article published In: Segmental, prosodic and fluency features in phonetic learner corpora
Edited by Jürgen Trouvain, Frank Zimmerer, Bernd Möbius, Mária Gósy and Anne Bonneau
[International Journal of Learner Corpus Research 3:2] 2017
► pp. 250–277

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Comparing visualization techniques for learning second language prosody

First results

 | University of Southern Denmark
 | University of Southern Denmark
 | University of Southern Denmark
 | University of Southern Denmark
Published online: 4 December 2017
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijlcr.3.2.07nie
Abstract
We tested the usability of prosody visualization techniques for second language (L2) learners. Eighteen Danish learners realized target sentences in German based on different visualization techniques. The sentence realizations were annotated by means of the phonological Kiel Intonation Model and then analyzed in terms of (a) prosodic-pattern consistency and (b) correctness of the prosodic patterns. In addition, the participants rated the usability of the visualization techniques. The results from the phonological analysis converged with the usability ratings in showing that iconic techniques, in particular the stylized “hat pattern” visualization, performed better than symbolic techniques, and that marking prosodic information beyond intonation can be more confusing than instructive. In discussing our findings, we also provide a description of the new Danish-German learner corpus we created: DANGER. It is freely available for interested researchers upon request.
Article outline
  • 1.Prosodic notation systems as visualization techniques
  • 2.Method
    • 2.1Participants
    • 2.2The stimuli
      • 2.2.1Sentence material
      • 2.2.2Prosodic reference productions
      • 2.2.3Visualization and notation techniques
    • 2.3Procedure and data elicitation
    • 2.4Data analysis
      • 2.4.1Prosodic-phonological annotation
      • 2.4.2Contrastive evaluation and statistics
  • 3.Results
  • 4.Discussion
  • 5.DANGER – a new Danish-German learner corpus
    • 5.1Size and content
    • 5.2Setup and recordings
    • 5.3Distinctive features of the corpus
  • 6.Future work
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
References (63)
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