The Acoustic Correlates of Lexical Stress in Disyllabic Words in El Salvadorian-Accented English

99 Pages·2017·25.45 MB·English

St. Cloud State University
theRepository at St. Cloud State
Culminating Projects in English Department of English
12-2017
The Acoustic Correlates of Lexical Stress in
Disyllabic Words in El Salvadorian-Accented
English
Karla E. Herrera Huezo
St. Cloud State University
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Recommended Citation
Herrera Huezo, Karla E., "The Acoustic Correlates of Lexical Stress in Disyllabic Words in El Salvadorian-Accented English" (2017).
Culminating Projects in English. 114.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/engl_etds/114
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The Acoustic Correlates of Lexical Stress in Disyllabic Words
in El Salvadorian-Accented English

by

Karla Elizabeth Herrera Huezo

A Thesis
Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of
St. Cloud State University
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of
Master of Arts
in Teaching of English as a Second Language

December, 2017

Thesis Committee:
Ettien Koffi, Chairperson
Michael Schwartz
Monica Devers
2

Abstract
Experiments on lexical stress in English conducted by Fry (1955, 1958) propose that the
acoustic correlate strategy is F0>Duration>Intensity. The results of his findings provide good
insights on American English speaker’s perception and production of lexical stress in disyllabic
homographs. On the other hand, some studies conducted in Spanish lexical stress propose that
the most prominent acoustic correlate is duration (Ortega-Llebaria and Prieto, 2010); another
study propose that intensity is a relevant cue when marking lexical stress (Urrutia, 2007). Other
studies have investigated English lexical stress produced by Spanish speakers (Edmunds, 2009).
Such experiments have analyzed Spanish produced by speakers from Spain or Chile, but not
from Central America. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate acoustic correlates of
lexical stress in disyllabic words in El Salvadorian-accented English and their impact on
intelligibility. Eight disyllabic words were analyzed using TextGrids created in Praat (Boersma
& Weenink, 2013). The words were recorded from and produced by 21 Salvadorian (11 female
and 10 male) speakers of English. The recordings were retrieved from the Speech Accent
Archive website (Weinberger, 2015). Three acoustic correlates of lexical stress (F0, duration and
intensity) were measured, and Just Noticeable Differences (JND’s) were used to judge which
acoustic correlate speakers employed to mark stress. The quantitative data was analyzed using
descriptive statistics that provided summaries about the measurements. The results of the study
showed the acoustic correlate strategy employed by female and male speakers respectively.
Moreover, results yielded information that had not been foreseen at the beginning of the study,
but that would be interesting to research further.
Key words: acoustic correlate, lexical stress, F0, duration, intensity, intelligibility,
Spanish, Salvadorian
3

Dedication
Para mi mami
4

Acknowledgements
Praise be to my Lord for blessing with the opportunity of getting a master’s degree!
During this research journey, I have certainly learned a lot not only about lexical stress both in
English and Spanish but more specifically about El Salvadorian-accented English. This
investigation process was long at times, frustrating and challenging at others, but with no doubt
rewarding and satisfactory. However, I would have never been able to accomplish my goal
without the patient help and support of those who were part of this enriching experience.
I would like to begin thanking the members of my thesis committee: Dr. Ettien Koffi, my
committee chair, who gave me the idea of studying lexical stress in El Salvadorian-accented
English and patiently helped me develop the skills I needed to conduct this study; his vast
knowledge and expertise on the field of acoustic phonetics inspired and led my path; Dr.
Michael Schwartz and Dr. Monica Devers whose valuable feedback, comments and suggestions
contributed greatly not only to the development of this work, but also to my professional growth.
In addition, I would like to sincerely thank Education USA in El Salvador and the
scholarship program La Fuerza de los 100,000 en las Americas for having faith in me and
investing in my education. I would also like to extend my appreciation to my MA TESL
classmates and friends who made my experience unforgettable; in particular, I would like to
thank my Salvadorian fellows whose support, and friendship enhanced my learning.
Finally, I could not have made it this far without my beloved family and friends in El
Salvador and in different parts of the United States; your love, prayers and support gave me the
strength I needed during difficult times. My heartfelt thanks to a wonderful man who supported
me since the very beginning and whose love, care and support encouraged me through the ups
and downs, Zach.
5

Table of Contents
Page
List of Tables ........................................................................................................................... 7
List of Figures .......................................................................................................................... 8
Chapter
I: Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 9
Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................. 9
II: Literature Review ................................................................................................................ 11
Lexical Stress in American English ............................................................................. 13
Lexical Stress by L2 Learners ...................................................................................... 15
Spanish Lexical Stress ................................................................................................. 17
Lexical Stress by Hispanic L2 Learners ...................................................................... 19
Research Questions ...................................................................................................... 20
III: Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 22
Participants ................................................................................................................... 23
Description of Data Collection Instruments ................................................................. 25
Procedures .................................................................................................................... 25
IV: Results ........................................................................................................................... 28
Analyses and Ranking of Acoustic Correlates ............................................................. 28
Female Data Analysis .................................................................................................. 29
Analysis of F0 .................................................................................................. 29
Analysis of Intensity ........................................................................................ 30
Analysis of Duration ........................................................................................ 32
6

Chapter Page
Ranking of Acoustic Correlates (F0, Intensity and Duration) ..................................... 34
Male Data Analysis ...................................................................................................... 38
Analysis of F0 .................................................................................................. 38
Analysis of Intensity ........................................................................................ 40
Analysis of Duration ........................................................................................ 41
Ranking of Acoustic Correlates (F0, Intensity and Duration) ..................................... 43
Research Question 1: Acoustic Correlates of Stress Employed
by Salvadorian Speakers of English ................................................................ 46
Research Question 2: Impact of Lexical Stress Strategy
on Speakers’ Intelligibility ............................................................................... 47
V: Addendum ........................................................................................................................... 48
Pedagogical Implications ............................................................................................. 51
References ........................................................................................................................... 53
Appendices
Appendix A: Spectrograms of Disyllabic Words Produced by Females ..................... 57
Appendix B: Spectrograms of Disyllabic Words Produced by Males ......................... 79
7

List of Tables
Page
Table 1. Demographics of female participants ........................................................................ 24
Table 2. Demographics of male participants ........................................................................... 24
Table 3. F0 used in disyllabic words by female speakers ........................................................ 29
Table 4. Intensity used in disyllabic words by female speakers .............................................. 31
Table 5. Duration used in disyllabic words by females speakers ............................................ 32
Table 6. Summary and Ranking of Acoustic Correlate means produced by females .............. 35
Table 7. Correlate Interaction and Stress Encoding Strategy by female speakers ................... 37
Table 8. F0 used in disyllabic words produced by males ........................................................ 38
Table 9. Intensity used in disyllabic words produced by males speakers ................................ 40
Table 10. Duration used in disyllabic words produced by male speakers ............................... 41
Table 11. Summary and ranking of acoustic correlate means produced by males .................. 43
Table 12. Correlate interaction and Stress encoding strategy by male speakers ..................... 46
8

List of Figures
Page
Figure 1. Annotated TextGrid of <Stella> and <plastic> ........................................................ 26
Figure 2. Summary of F0 produced by females ....................................................................... 30
Figure 3. Summary of intensity produced by females ............................................................. 32
Figure 4. Summary of duration produced by females .............................................................. 33
Figure 5. Interaction of acoustic correlates employed by females ........................................... 36
Figure 6. Summary of F0 employed by males ......................................................................... 39
Figure 7. Summary of intensity employed by males ............................................................... 41
Figure 8. Summary of duration employed by males ................................................................ 42
Figure 9. Summary of acoustic correlates produced by males ................................................ 44
9

Chapter I: Introduction
Statement of the Problem
There has been a lot of research on what acoustic correlates native speakers of English
prefer to mark stress (Fry, 1955; Fry, 1958; Ladefoged, 2003; Adams & Munro, 1978; Beckman
& Edwards, 1994). Even though there is extensive research on lexical stress, researchers’
opinions vary on what correlate plays the most prominent role when perceiving stress. For
example, Fry (1958) Ladefoged (2003) and Lehiste (1970) agree that the main cue to mark stress
is F01. Others like Adams and Munro (1978) and Beckman and Edwards (1994) found that the
strongest correlate is duration.
Researchers have also studied English lexical stress produced by second language
speakers (L2). Some of the studies have focused on Mandarin (Ou, 2016; Zhang, Nissen &
Francis, 2008 and Mok & Dellwo, 2008), Spanish (Edmunds, 2009 and Gutierrez-Diez, 2001),
Israeli (Silber-Varod, Sagi & Amir, 2016), Singapore English (Ling & Gabe, 1999) Russian
(Chrabaszcz, Winn, Lin, & Idsardi, 2014). and Dutch (Sluijter & Van Heuven, 1996). These
studies have focused on the production and perception of lexical stress, but only Silber-Varod,
Sagi and Amir (2016) have ranked the correlates. Though there is research done on Spanish-
accented English, there is a lack of literature on lexical stress production of Salvadorian speakers
of English.
The purpose of this study is to contribute to our understanding of the production of
lexical stress in Salvadorian-accented English. To do this, the researcher has analyzed a set of
eight disyllabic words:

1 This is the lowest frequency of any waveform in a speech sound, also called fundamental frequency or pitch.