Concerning the different pronunciations of “our,” how does the pronunciation affect people of generational and foreign language background differences?

Authors

  • Wesley Sydnor Cab Calloway School of the Arts

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v12i1.4007

Keywords:

Non-native English Speakers, Linguistics, Pronunciation of , Anthropology, Generational Differences, Older Generation, Younger Generation, Children, High School, Teachers, Adults, Generation Z, Millennials

Abstract

The younger generation’s dialect has changed rapidly due to the increased consumption of media from different backgrounds. Changing dialect affects the way we communicate with each other. The research question I curated concerned the different pronunciations of “our,” and how the difference in pronunciation affects people of generational and foreign language backgrounds. The methods of the study included a short sequence of questionnaires to provide interest, statistical information, as well as availability information for myself (the interviewer) to find a time at which I may interview the participant. The takeaway from the research was originally to research more on the topic of the generational differences of dialects. However, upon further inspection of my participant pool, another observation of the variables was needed to encompass the entire population. Thus, it can be concluded that dialect changes among people with the competing dialects of the older and younger generations affect the non-native population. The hypothesis suggests there is a relationship between dialect used by both younger and older generations, which  impacts L2 English speakers and their pronunciation of “our.” The results were calculated by hand from data collected on Google Sheets. It can be assumed that the [‘aʊɚ] to [‘ar] pronunciation dialect change affected most of the older and younger populations. 42.86% of the total participants used the pronunciation of “our” as [‘aʊɚ], meaning that less than half of the population used the “proper” pronunciation of “our.” The following results are deemed inconclusive due to the number of variables that were present.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References or Bibliography

Armstrong, E., Paul, M. (1886). International Phonetic Alphabet Chart.

International Phonetics Association.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/IPA_chart_2020.svg

Barbieri, F. (2008). Patterns of age-based linguistic variation in American English.

Journal of Sociolinguistics, 12(1), 58–88.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9841.2008.00353.x

Boji Pak-Wing Lam, & Li Sheng. (2016). The Development of Morphological

Awareness in Young Bilinguals: Effects of Age and L1 Background. Journal of

Speech, Language & Hearing Research, 59(4), 732–744.

https://doi.org/10.1044/2015_JSLHR-L-14-0171

Clark, L. (2018). Priming as a Motivating Factor in Sociophonetic Variation and

Change. Topics in Cognitive Science, 10(4), 729–744. https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12338

Cran, W. (2005). Do you speak American? Princeton, NJ: Films for the Humanities &

Sciences.

Odisho, E. Y. (2016). The Weight of Phonological Vs. Phonetic Accent in

Teaching Pronunciation: Implications and Applications. Linguarum Arena:

Revista Do Programa Doutoral Em Didáctica de Línguas Da Universidade

Do Porto, 7, 31–48.

May, S. (2011). Language and Minority Rights: Ethnicity, Nationalism and the Politics of

Language (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203832547

Restrepo, M. A. (1998). Identifiers of Predominantly Spanish-Speaking Children

With Language Impairment. Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing

Research, 41(6), 1398–1411. https://doi.org/10.1044/jslhr.4106.1398

Schmalz, X., Robidoux, S., Castles, A., & Marinus, E. (2020). Variations in the

use of simple and context-sensitive grapheme-phoneme correspondences

in English and German developing readers. Annals of Dyslexia, 70(2),

–199. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-019-00189-3

Tahta, S., Wood, M., & Loewenthal, K. (1981). Age Changes in the Ability to

Replicate Foreign Pronunciation and Intonation. Language &

Speech,24(4), 363–372. https://doi.org/10.1177/002383098102400405

Published

02-28-2023

How to Cite

Sydnor, W. (2023). Concerning the different pronunciations of “our,” how does the pronunciation affect people of generational and foreign language background differences?. Journal of Student Research, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v12i1.4007

Issue

Section

AP Capstone™ Research