The Impact of Phonological Variation on Speech Perception and
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47941/ejl.1766Keywords:
Keywords: Phonological Variation, Speech Perception, Speech Production, Language Diversity, Communication Effectiveness, Language Policy, Linguistic Theory, InterventionAbstract
Purpose: The general aim of the study was to examine the impact of phonological variation on speech perception and production.
Methodology: The study adopted a desktop research methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources hence it is often considered a low cost technique as compared to field research, as the main cost is involved in executive's time, telephone charges and directories. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library.
Findings: The findings reveal that there exists a contextual and methodological gap relating to phonological variation on speech perception and production. Preliminary empirical review revealed that that phonological variation significantly influences both speech perception and production processes. It highlighted the complex interplay between phonological variation, social factors, cultural context, and cognitive mechanisms. Moreover, the study emphasized the importance of addressing phonological variation in language education, clinical practice, and intercultural communication to promote inclusive communication practices in diverse settings. Overall, the findings contribute to a deeper understanding of language diversity and its implications for communication.
Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Labov's theory of Variationist Sociolinguistics, Optimality theory and Speech Accommodation theory may be used to anchor future studies on phonological variation on speech perception and production. The study provided valuable recommendations that contributed to theoretical understanding, practical communication outcomes, and language policy decisions. It integrated insights from phonological variation research into linguistic theories, recommended the integration of phonological training into language instruction programs, and emphasized the importance of inclusive language policies. Additionally, the study suggested interventions to improve communication effectiveness, bridge communication gaps, address language disorders, and promote linguistic diversity. By incorporating these recommendations, stakeholders worked towards enhancing communication and fostering linguistic inclusivity across diverse linguistic contexts.
Downloads
References
Adegbija, E. (2013). Tone and intonation. In R. Mesthrie (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Sociolinguistics (pp. 321-338). Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511845307.021
Boberg, C. (2019). Understanding English dialects and accents (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Chen, Y., Ding, Y., & Zhang, H. (2017). Neurocognitive Correlates of Phonological Variation in Speech Perception. Neuropsychologia, 103, 123-138.
Coupland, N. (2014). Sociolinguistics: Theories and realities. Palgrave Macmillan.
De Oliveira, C. A. S., & Gomes, H. L. (2015). Socio-economic aspects of language variation and change: Insights from Brazil. Language in Society, 44(4), 477-504. DOI: 10.1017/S0047404515000446
Derwing, T. M., & Munro, M. J. (2015). Pronunciation fundamentals: Evidence-based perspectives for L2 teaching and research. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Eckert, P. (2012). Three waves of variation study: The emergence of meaning in the study of sociolinguistic variation. Annual Review of Anthropology, 41, 87-100. DOI: 10.1146/annurev-anthro-092611-145828
Fishman, J. A. (2018). Language policy and language planning. In R. Mesthrie (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Sociolinguistics (pp. 357-374). Cambridge University Press.
Fukushima, S., & Adachi, N. (2019). Politeness strategies and social change in Japanese. Journal of Politeness Research, 15(2), 235-259. DOI: 10.1515/pr-2017-0025
Gahl, S., & Garnsey, S. M. (2018). Knowledge of grammar, knowledge of usage: Syntactic probabilities affect pronunciation variation. Language, 94(4), e245-e273.
Gallagher, G. (2017). Regional variation in American English. Language and Linguistics Compass, 11(7), e12229. DOI: 10.1111/lnc3.12229
GarcÃa, E. M., López, A. B., & MartÃnez, R. S. (2019). The Role of Phonological Variation in Multilingual Speech Perception. International Journal of Multilingualism, 16(3), 265-282.
Giles, H. (2016). Communication accommodation theory. In J. P. Robinson, P. R. Shaver, & L. S. Wrightsman (Eds.), Measures of personality and social psychological attitudes (pp. 477-501). Academic Press.
Giles, H., Coupland, N., & Coupland, J. (1991). Accommodation theory: Communication, context, and consequence. In H. Giles, J. Coupland, & N. Coupland (Eds.), Contexts of accommodation: Developments in applied sociolinguistics (pp. 1-68). Cambridge University Press.
Hayashi, T. (2014). Phonetics and phonology of Japanese pitch accent. Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781315769396
Hirose, K., & Kitamura, C. (2018). Cognitive processing of L2 Japanese by age groups: A study of relative clauses and case markers. Language Teaching Research, 22(2), 203-228. DOI: 10.1177/1362168816657022
Hoffmann, C., & Deumert, A. (2015). Sociolinguistics and colonial language histories: African continuities and discontinuities. In C. Hoffmann & A. Deumert (Eds.), The Sociolinguistics of the Globalization of English (pp. 149-167). Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139027766.009
Jackson, C. R., Patel, V., & Smith, A. (2021). Phonological Variation and Speech Production in Language Disorders. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 64(5), 1746-1760.
Johnson, D. E., & Scobbie, J. M. (2012). Regional accents of English in Scotland: Language variation, phonetic detail, and phonological structure. Canadian Journal of Linguistics, 57(1), 126-128. DOI: 10.1353/cjl.2012.0006
Johnson, K., & Ladefoged, P. (2012). Acoustic and auditory phonetics (3rd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
Labov, W. (2010). Principles of linguistic change: Cognitive and cultural factors (Vol. 3). John Wiley & Sons.
Labov, W. (2012). Dialect diversity in America: The politics of language change. University of Virginia Press.
Labov, W. (2015). The social stratification of English in New York City (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Lee, S. H., Kim, J. Y., & Park, H. M. (2018). Cultural Influences on Phonological Variation in Speech Perception. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 49(5), 765-782.
Lewis, M. P., Simons, G. F., & Fennig, C. D. (Eds.). (2015). Ethnologue: Languages of the world (18th ed.). SIL International.
Makoni, S., & Pennycook, A. (2013). Disinventing and reconstituting languages. Multilingual Matters. DOI: 10.21832/9781847699253
McCarthy, J. J., & Prince, A. (1993). Prosodic morphology. In J. Goldsmith (Ed.), The handbook of phonological theory (pp. 318-366). Blackwell.
Ndhlovu, F. (2016). Language, migration and social (in) justice in a globalized world. Language Sciences, 54, 1-9. DOI: 10.1016/j.langsci.2015.12.002
Oliveira, A. M., & Galucio, A. V. (2017). Brazilian Portuguese: Sociolinguistic aspects. In R. Mesthrie (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Sociolinguistics (pp. 339-356). Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511845307.022
Pisoni, D. B., & Luce, P. A. (2012). Representations and organization of language and speech sounds in the human brain. Annual Review of Psychology, 63, 89-114.
Prince, A., & Smolensky, P. (2004). Optimality Theory: Constraint interaction in generative grammar. John Wiley & Sons.
Silva, J. F., & Ribeiro, M. B. (2018). A sociophonetic perspective on the speech of São Paulo, Brazil. Language Variation and Change, 30(1), 95-121. DOI: 10.1017/S0954394518000024
Smith, J. R., Jones, L. K., & Davis, M. A. (2017). Exploring the Influence of Regional Accents on Speech Perception and Production. Journal of Phonetics, 65, 123-140.
Trudgill, P. (2014). Sociolinguistics: An introduction to language and society (5th ed.). Penguin.
Wang, X., Liu, H., & Zhang, L. (2019). Gender Differences in Phonological Variation and Speech Perception. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 38(3), 344-361.
Wang, Y., Zhang, L., & Chen, Q. (2020). Investigating Phonological Variation in Second Language Speech Production. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 42(2), 265-282.
Wells, J. (2016). Accents of English. Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139166922
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Taye Jacobs
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
