Date of Award
7-2025
Culminating Project Type
Thesis
Styleguide
apa
Degree Name
English: Teaching English as a Second Language: M.A.
Department
English
College
College of Liberal Arts
First Advisor
Ettien Koffi
Second Advisor
Michael Schwartz
Third Advisor
Lisa Loftis
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Keywords and Subject Headings
Prosody, Intonation, Russian-Accented English, Pitch/F0, Intensity, Sonority, Duration, Rhythmicity Just Noticeable Differences, Relative Functional Load, Melodicity Scores and Scales
Abstract
This thesis presents an acoustic phonetic analysis of intonation patterns in compound sentences spoken by Russian-accented English (RAE) speakers. Using the sentence “She can scoop these things into three red bags and we will go meet her Wednesday at the train station,” the study explores how Russian speakers use pitch, intensity (sonority), and duration (rhythmicity) in English as a second language. Guided by Koffi’s (2023) psychoacoustic model and the Equal Energy Hypothesis—which treats speech as a three-dimensional construct—the study employs Just Noticeable Difference (JND) thresholds and Relative Functional Load (RFL) calculations to evaluate prosodic patterns in speech from 10 female and 10 male Russian speakers. Findings reveal that RAE speakers generally follow universal intonational norms, such as pitch resets at clause boundaries and terminal falls in declaratives. However, differences emerge in rhythmicity, notably the over-lengthening of function words. Gender-based variation was observed in pitch prominence and intensity. The study also introduces a “melodicity score” measuring expressive intonation through pitch, sonority, and rhythm. The RAE group's score of 65.81% falls in the modal range, indicating neutral, everyday intonation. Among prosodic features, pitch had the highest functional load, followed by rhythmicity and sonority. Pedagogically, the findings suggest pronunciation instruction for Russian learners should prioritize rhythm, particularly reduction of function words. Technologically, the results can inform speech synthesis and improve automatic speech recognition systems by enhancing their responsiveness to RAE input. Overall, the study offers insights into the interaction between universal and language-specific intonation in L2 English.
Recommended Citation
Gadieva, Dina, "Acoustic Phonetic Study of Intonation Patterns of Compound Clauses in Russian-Accented English" (2025). Culminating Projects in TESL. 75.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/tesl_etds/75
