Cover not available
Article published In:
Journal of Second Language Pronunciation
Vol. 5:1 (2019) ► pp.119–138

The accommodation of intelligible segmental pronunciation

Segmental repairs and adjustments in English as a Lingua Franca interactions

 | Niigata University
This qualitative and quantitative study applies conversation analytic methodology to the examination of mutual intelligibility, and then quantifies the segmental repairs and segmental adjustments that were required to maintain intelligibility in English as a Lingua Franca interactions among students at a Japanese university. In the qualitative portion, sequential analysis was used to ascertain the segmental repairs that were utilized to maintain mutual intelligibility and to identify the pronunciations that interactants oriented to as unintelligible and intelligible, which can then be compared to determine the segmental adjustments that changed an unintelligible pronunciation into an intelligible one. In the quantitative portion, the segmental repairs and the segmental adjustments were quantified in order to assess which kinds of segmental repairs and segmental adjustments are most frequent. This study concludes that reactive repair is the most frequent segmental repair, and modification is the most frequent segmental adjustment.
Keywords: accommodation, segmental repair, segmental adjustment, intelligibility, English as a Lingua Franca, conversation analysis
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The study
  • 3.Data and method
  • 4.Results
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Directions for future research and conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 13 March 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jslp.17002.one
References (48)
References
Agresti, A. (2007). An introduction to categorical data analysis. Hoboken: Wiley. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baird, R., Baker, W., & Kitazawa, M. (2014). The complexity of ELF. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, 3(1), 171–196. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brouwer, C. (2004). Doing pronunciation: A specific type of repair sequence. In R. Gardner & J. Wagner (Eds.), Second language conversations (pp. 93–113). New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
Canagarajah, S. (2013). Translingual practice. London/New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cogo, A. (2012). ELF and super-diversity: A case study of ELF multilingual practices from a business context. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, 1(2), 287–313. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cogo, A., & Dewey, M. (2012). Analysing English as a lingua franca. London/New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
D’Angelo, J. (2017). The status of ELF in Japan. In J. Jenkins, W. Baker, & M. Dewey (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of English as a lingua franca (pp. 165–175). London/New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Derwing, T., & Munro, M. (2015). Pronunciation fundamentals: Evidence-based perspectives for L2 teaching and research. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Deterding, D. (2013). Misunderstandings in English as a lingua franca: An analysis of ELF interactions in South-East Asia. Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Deterding, D., & Nur Raihan, M. (2016). The role of vowel quality in ELF misunderstandings. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, 5(2), 291–307. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Field, J. (2005). Intelligibility and the listener: The role of lexical stress. TESOL Quarterly, 39(3), 399–423. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Firth, A. (2009). The lingua franca factor. Intercultural Pragmatics, 261, 237–259. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gilner, L. (2016). Identification of dominant vocabulary in ELF interactions. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, 5(1), 27–51. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Heritage, J., & Clayman, S. (2010). Talk in action: Interactions, identities, and institutions. New York: Wiley-Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Iino, M., & Murata, K. (2016). Dynamics of ELF communication in an English-medium academic context in Japan: From EFL learners to ELF users. In K. Murata (Ed.), Exploring ELF in Japanese academic and business contexts (pp. 111–131). London/New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Jenkins, J. (2000). The phonology of English as an international language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
(2015). Repositioning English and multilingualism in English as a lingua franca. Englishes in Practice, 2(3), 49–85. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kaur, J. (2009). Pre-empting problems of understanding in English as a lingua franca. In A. Mauranen & E. Ranta (Eds.), English as a lingua franca: Studies and findings (pp. 107–123). Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Google Scholar
(2012). Saying it again: Enhancing clarity in English as a lingua franca (ELF) talk through self-repetition. Text & Talk, 32(5), 593–613. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Larsen-Freeman, D., & Cameron, L. (2008). Complex systems and applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Liddicoat, A. (2007). An introduction to conversation analysis. New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
McBride, P. (2016). An overview perspective on teaching ELF: Principles and practices. In K. Murata (Ed.), Waseda Working Papers in ELF, 51 (pp. 186–197). Tokyo: Waseda ELF Research Group.Google Scholar
Matsumoto, Y. (2011). Successful ELF communications and implications for ELT: Sequential analysis of ELF pronunciation negotiation strategies. The Modern Language Journal, 951, 97–114. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Munro, M., Derwing, T., & Morton, S. (2006). The mutual intelligibility of L2 speech. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 281, 111–131. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Murata, K. (1995). Repetitions: A cross-cultural study. World Englishes, 14(3), 343–356. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Murata, K., & Iino, M. (2017). EMI in higher education: An ELF perspective. In J. Jenkins, W. Baker, & M. Dewey (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of English as a lingua franca (pp. 400–412). London/New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nishizaka, A. (2015). Facts and normative connections: Two different worldviews. Research on Language and Social Interactions, 48(1), 26–31. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Németh, Z. (2012). Recycling and replacement repairs as self-initiated same-turn self-repair strategies in Hungarian. Journal of Pragmatics, 441, 2022–2034. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
O’Neal, G. (2015a). Interactional intelligibility: The relationship between consonant modification and pronunciation intelligibility in English as a lingua franca in Japan. Asian Englishes, 7(3), 222–239. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2015b). Segmental repair and interactional intelligibility: The relationship between consonant deletion, consonant insertion, and pronunciation intelligibility in English as a lingua franca in Japan. Journal of Pragmatics, 851, 122–134. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2015c). ELF intelligibility: The vowel quality factor. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, 4(2), 347–358. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2015d). Consonant clusters and intelligibility in English as a lingua franca in Japan. Pragmatics and Society, 6(4), 615–636. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2016a). Intelligibility and segmentation in English as a lingua franca in Japan. In K. Murata (Ed.), Waseda Working Papers in ELF, 51 (pp. 97–113). Tokyo: Waseda ELF Research Group.Google Scholar
(2016b). Intelligibility and segmental phoneme repair strategies in English as a lingua franca interactions among Chinese and Japanese speakers of English. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, 39(4), 379–400. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2017). The pragmatics of intelligible pronunciation: Preemptive and reactive segmental repair in English as a lingua franca interactions in Japan. In S. Assimakopoulos (Ed.), Pragmatics at its Interfaces (pp. 257–277). Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(forthcoming). Phonetic and phonologic accommodation in ELF interactions: Interactional intelligibility and sufficiency from an English as a lingua franca perspective and its implications for English pronunciation pedagogy (Unpublished doctoral thesis). Waseda University, Japan.
Orikasa, M. (2016). Intelligibility of varieties of English in Japan. World Englishes, 35(3), 355–371. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Saito, K. (2011). Identifying problematic segmental features to acquire comprehensible pronunciation in EFL settings: The case of Japanese learners of English. RELC Journal, 42(3), 363–378. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schegloff, E. A. (1993). Reflections on quantification in the study of conversation. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 26(1), 99–128. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2007). Sequence organization in interaction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Seidlhofer, B. (2011). Understanding English as a lingua franca. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Steensig, J., & Heinemann, T. (2015). Opening up codings? Research on Language and Social Interaction, 48(1), 20–25. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stivers, T. (2015). Coding social interaction: A heretical approach in Conversation Analysis? Research on Language and Social Interactions, 48(1), 1–19. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Szczepek Reed, B. (2012). A conversation analytic perspective on teaching English pronunciation: The case of speech rhythm. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 22(1), 67–87. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Thompson, A. (2017). Diversity of users, settings, and practices: How are features selected into ELF practice? Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, 6(2), 205–235. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tsuzuki, M., & Nakamura, S. (2009). Intelligibility assessment of Japanese accents: A phonological study of science major students’ speech. In T. Hoffmann & L. Siebers (Eds.), World Englishes – Problems, properties and prospects (pp. 239–261). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vertovec, S. (2007). Super-diversity and its implications. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 30(6), 1024–1054. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zhang, L. (2015). An empirical study of the intelligibility of English spoken by Chinese university students. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, 38(1), 36–54. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (6)

Cited by six other publications

O’Neal, George & Lance Latham
2023. Does the Functional Load Principle Predict How Important Phonemic Contrasts Are to Intelligibility Among ELF Users? A Partial Replication of Munro and Derwing (2006) From an ELF Perspective. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics 46:1 ► pp. 3 ff. DOI logo
Barrera-Pardo, Darío
2022. Testing the Lingua Franca Core: The intelligibility of flaps. Social Sciences & Humanities Open 6:1 ► pp. 100313 ff. DOI logo
O'Neal, George
2021. What is the effect of successive segmental repair on the mutual intelligibility of ELF users?. System 103 ► pp. 102683 ff. DOI logo
O’Neal, George
2019. Systematicity in linguistic feature selection: Repair sequences and subsequent accommodation. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca 8:2 ► pp. 211 ff. DOI logo
O’Neal, George
2020. Does an ELF phonology exist?. Asian Englishes 22:3 ► pp. 282 ff. DOI logo
O’Neal, George
2024. Does contextual information within a sentence affect the relationship between word level intelligibility and the Functional Load principle among ELF users? A preliminary study. Asian Englishes 26:2 ► pp. 355 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 10 august 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.