Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to introduce characteristics of loudness control in realizing prominent syllables by Japanese learners of English. More specifically, the phonetic features peculiar to RMS (Root Mean Square) envelopes gained in the utterances by Japanese learners will be treated and pedagogical suggestions to correct these features will be made. After reviewing the previous studies on intonation, intonational characteristics by Japanese will be summarized in the order of tonality, tonicity, and tone. Then, the production experiment designed to compare phonetic realizations of prominent syllables by both native speakers of English and Japanese will be introduced. Finally, the problems with pronunciation training programs and software will be pointed out and suggestions for better training of rhythm will be put forward.
