Abstract
This paper surveys the phenomenon of misplacement of the intonation nucleus in English by Japanese learners, by integrating the studies conducted by the same authors on several occasions. The studies were carried out from various perspectives in order to find out the reason why Japanese learners of English tend to pronounce words belonging to certain grammatical categories with high pitch, which native speakers of English interpret as the intonation nucleus being misplaced. The reasons behind this kind of mispronunciation, however, is in fact various and complex, and cannot be explained by simple negative transfer from the native language. Moreover, it has been found that formal instruction is needed in order to induce correct nuclear-stress placement.
