The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the perception of pitch (fundamental frequency) changes in speech and musical ability (ability to distinguish between pitch levels), and between the perception of length changes in speech and musical ability (ability to distinguish between pitch levels). Eighty-one Japanese learners of English were asked to listen to both synthesized speech at controlled pitch levels and piano sounds. The result showed that there was a high correlation between the perception of pitch changes in synthesized speech and the ability to distinguish between high and low pitches in music, with a correlation coefficient of 0.59 (Sasaki, 2008). With Japanese learners of English as a second language, there was a correlation between the perception of pitch changes in English and the ability to distinguish between high and low pitches in music. This study examines whether there is also a correlation between the perception of English speech and the musical ability of native speakers of English. Forty-one native speakers of English were asked to listen to both synthesized speech at controlled pitch and length levels and piano sounds. The result showed that there was no correlation between the perception of pitch changes in speech and the ability to distinguish between high and low pitches in music, with a correlation coefficient of 0.08. There was also no correlation between the perception of length changes in speech and the ability to distinguish between high and low pitches in music, with a correlation coefficient of -0.17. With native speakers of English, there was no correlation between the perception of pitch and length changes in English and ability in music.

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This paper reports on the present-day vowel and consonant features of Jersey and Guernsey accents of English in comparison with previous studies such as Ramisch (1989, 2004, 2007, 2013). All the data are from original recordings made on field trips in 2022. The vowels are shown on F1-F2 vowel diagrams, and the recent developments and the preservation of the traditional accents are discussed. Broadly speaking, dedialectalization on Channel Islands is progressing more or less in the same way as Great Britain. The influence of dark /l/ on the THOUGHT vowel gives birth to the Paul-pool merger in Guernsey accent. The variable -ing [ɪn] which Ramisch (1989) pointed out is not noticed, but velar nasal plus (-ing [ɪnɡ]) is perceived in both accents.

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The purpose of this study was to verify whether or not pronunciation instruction to elementary school teachers using a manual based on “Let’s Try!” by Joto et al. (2022a, b) would lead to an improvement in pronunciation among teachers. As a pilot study, two elementary school teachers were given 20 minutes of pronunciation instruction based on self-practice using the manual. The results of a comparison of the subjects’ pre- and post- test pronunciation of the alphabet with the native English speaker’s assessment of intelligibility showed that one elementary school teacher's pronunciation of the letter names of the English alphabet improved (significant difference). The other elementary school teacher also improved her pronunciation of some letters of alphabets when evaluated for intelligibility. In the future, it would be suggested that more teacher training on pronunciation is conducted.

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Little attention has been given to intonation in English teaching here. This is in spite of the often acclaimed target of communicative English. Empirically speaking, this deplorable state of affairs is reflected in the indifference to the subject and hence lack of understanding of it on the part of many teachers, and publishers as well who put together teachers’ manuals or guides. There are quite a few English phrases and sentences in textbooks where the intonation deviates from the ‘standard’ norms, though not for contrastive purposes. Apparently there is no logical reason behind highlighting function words or repeated words. Unfortunately the teachers’ manuals make no reference to them, to say nothing of explaining such exceptional cases. This paper focuses on ‘intonation in context’ seen in a few textbooks for junior high schools, shows how it is almost always treated like a stepchild in class, compared with other aspects of instruction, and then proposes a few concrete and practicable ideas by which to improve the situation. In particular I discuss mainly default/‘normal’ intonation patterns versus colloquial ones, quoting examples from the textbooks and explaining intonational meanings of them.

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This study examined the relationship between the trajectories of physical and articulatory movements in popular English and Japanese children’s games, based on the “articulatory dynamism” model proposed by the author. I selected the games of “peek-a-boo,” “inai inai baa” (a Japanese version of “peek-a-boo”), “ken ken pa” (a Japanese game similar to “hopscotch”), and “jan ken pon” (“rock-paper-scissors” in English). In “jan ken pon,” players make handshapes of “guu,” “choki,” and “paa,” which mean “rock,” “scissors,” and “paper,” respectively. They play these games by moving various parts of their bodies, simultaneously saying “peek-a-boo,” “inai inai baa,” “ken ken pa,” and “jan ken pon.” I focused on the player’s final movements which showed stretching and opening patterns with their hands or legs, and the final words of these games: “boo,” “baa,” “pa,” and “pon.” For this study, I compared the trajectories of the final parts of the physical movements and those of articulatory movements with respect to length and space. When the body movements showed a wide stretch or a long distance, the articulatory movements in pronouncing the words were long in the oral chamber. Humans tend to utter a word by making a long distance or space using their articulatory organs when they perceive a long distance in a body movement. As the final words mentioned above are the words consisting of a “bilabial” followed by a “central or back vowel,” the articulatory movement from bilabials to central or back vowels can unintentionally be selected to describe the stretch and open patterns of the physical movement. These findings suggest that the speakers’ perception of physical movement patterns may be linked to word production in children’s games. This study also examined the handshapes of “guu” and “paa,” which showed contrasting features, that is, “contraction” and “stretch-release.”

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