An Analysis of Lexical Stress in English Pronunciation of Indo-European Words Loaned to Turkish by Turkish Speakers of English
Abstract
This study investigated lexical stress placement in English pronunciation of Indo-European words loaned to Turkish by Turkish speakers of English. We aimed to increase awareness of prosodic features since misusage of primary stress causes breakdowns in communication. The sample consists of 20 students in the ELT Department of a public university in Turkey and 10 native English speakers. The non-native speakers were divided into two groups for the purpose of observing the effect of treatment on lexical stress patterns of English. The participants were asked to read 30 tokens in isolation and in sentences while their speech were being recorded. The audio files were analyzed through Praat to determine where the participants placed primary stress. The accuracy of primary stress placement for each word was determined according to IPA transcriptions. The findings of the study revealed that there is a statistically significant difference in the accuracy of primary stress placement between native speakers and Turkish speakers of English. Negative L1 transfer was detected in the placement of lexical stress in the recordings of Turkish participants. The results showed that the participants receiving the treatment made significant progress. Furthermore, no statistically significant difference was found between isolated and in-sentence utterances. The findings of this study can serve as a tool for language teachers to create materials and effective resources that eliminate these difficulties for NNSs at any level of language education.
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References
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