Acoustic Features of German Language Learning — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

Acoustic Features of German Language Learning

Name: Lauren Elliott
Major: Psychology and Neuroscience
Hometown: Avon, IN
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Independent research

Abstract

A speaker’s progress toward language fluency involves improvement at producing the language’s typical sounds, or phonemes. How accurately a speaker makes language-appropriate phonemes can affect both the intelligibility of their speech, as well as their perceived proficiency. Few studies have quantified these acoustic properties in more detail than subjective listener evaluations. This study aims to record audio data from both Native German Speakers, as well as German Language Learners at various stages of learning. Native Speakers will be recorded as they read German target sentences, which contain a collection of words that differ from each other in ways that are difficult for native English speakers to pronounce correctly. After being presented with a recording and written version of each target sentence, Carthage German students will read the same sentences, each three times. This data can then be used to analyze and compare the pronunciations of specific phonemes, which will further aid the development of software able to accurately measure various acoustic features of speech, making it possible to capture phonological progress in a quantitative, objective way. This technology could help language learners measure their progress and receive feedback about how they can improve. Recording language learners at different stages of experience and proficiency will help create a baseline of acoustic progress that will enable such measurements and feedback.

Poster file