Mary O'Brien
University of Calgary, Linguistics, Languages and Cultures, Faculty Member
This research topic stems from the "Interdisciplinary Approaches to Multilingualism" conference, which was hosted by the Language Research Centre at the University of Calgary. It was the first conference of its kind, which... more
This research topic stems from the "Interdisciplinary Approaches to Multilingualism" conference, which was hosted by the Language Research Centre at the University of Calgary. It was the first conference of its kind, which brought together the work of researchers, educators, and policy makers in the areas of first and second language acquisition from psycholinguistic and pedagogical perspectives. The goal was to provide an opportunity for participants to engage with the implications of multilingualism from a range of perspectives, including the effects of being bilingual from infancy to adulthood, the process and benefits of learning multiple languages, and the impact of multilingualism on society
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Background There is a growing recognition that underutilization and underemployment of skilled immigrants, especially internationally trained health professionals, creates a financial burden on individuals and economic losses for the host... more
Background There is a growing recognition that underutilization and underemployment of skilled immigrants, especially internationally trained health professionals, creates a financial burden on individuals and economic losses for the host country. Albeit a missed opportunity for both the immigrants and the receiving country, no public policy and systemic measures are in place to address this issue. Nevertheless, certain individuals and organizations have made some isolated efforts, but no synthesized knowledge is available for understanding what initiatives exist altogether and how they function. We have conducted a methodological Internet scan to identify the existing individual, private, and systemic initiatives and resources that support these health professionals. This will provide health and workforce policymakers, settlement service providers, and relevant academics with the knowledge base for potential different strategies to address this issue and guide them towards developi...
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Both L2 learners and their teachers are concerned about pronunciation. While an unspoken classroom goal is often native-accented speech (i.e., a spoken variety of the mother tongue that it not geographically confined to a place within a... more
Both L2 learners and their teachers are concerned about pronunciation. While an unspoken classroom goal is often native-accented speech (i.e., a spoken variety of the mother tongue that it not geographically confined to a place within a particular country), pronunciation researchers tend to agree that comprehensible speech (i.e., speech that can be easily understood by an interlocutor) is a more realistic goal. A host of studies have demonstrated that certain types of training can result in more comprehensible L2 speech. This contribution considers research on training the perception and production of both segmental (i.e., speech sounds) and suprasegmental features (i.e., stress, rhythm, tone, intonation). Before we can determine whether a given pronunciation feature is easy or difficult to teach and—more importantly—to learn, we must focus on: 1) setting classroom priorities that place comprehensibility of L2 speech at the forefront; and 2) relying upon insights gained through rese...
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As immigration to Canada increases, so, too, do the complexities associated with serving various groups of newcomers, including immigrants, refugees, temporary foreign workers and international students. A range of stakeholder groups,... more
As immigration to Canada increases, so, too, do the complexities associated with serving various groups of newcomers, including immigrants, refugees, temporary foreign workers and international students. A range of stakeholder groups, such as grassroots community organisations, immigrant service provider organisations and academic researchers, have developed knowledge about how to best serve newcomers as they integrate into life in Canada. To date, there have been few opportunities for members of these and other stakeholder groups to work together to ensure that the needs of newcomers are being efficiently met. In this article, we describe a multi-step process of reciprocal knowledge engagement involving diverse stakeholders and led by the Newcomer Research Network at the University of Calgary. This engagement has the ultimate goal of developing a knowledge mobilisation hub focused on building capacity in community-engaged research with newcomers. In order to understand how we will ...
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Lexical stress assignment plays a central role in being understood in a second language. In fact, research has shown that it may be more important for the comprehensibility of second language learners’ speech than, for example,... more
Lexical stress assignment plays a central role in being understood in a second language. In fact, research has shown that it may be more important for the comprehensibility of second language learners’ speech than, for example, grammatical correctness (Trofimovich & Isaacs, ). Nonetheless, its production poses challenges for second language learners. This study investigated the effect of perceptual training on the production of three types of predictable German lexical stress patterns by native speakers of English. Beginner and intermediate learners produced German words from three categories: words ending in schwa; words with unstressed suffixes; and German‐English cognates. The results demonstrate that both beginner and intermediate learners improved in their production of lexical stress after the training. Though participants in both groups had more difficulties in assigning lexical stress to cognate words than to non‐cognate words, production accuracy could best be predicted by ...
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... Our understanding of these issues has been enhanced by the efforts of scholars ... In the virtuallandscape, students receive reinforcement through their interaction with animated characters in a ... barriers, restricting game play to... more
... Our understanding of these issues has been enhanced by the efforts of scholars ... In the virtuallandscape, students receive reinforcement through their interaction with animated characters in a ... barriers, restricting game play to the boulevards, streets and plazas in this virtual city. ...
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ABSTRACTThis study examined whether late-learning English–German second language (L2) learners and late-learning German–English L2 learners use prosodic cues to disambiguate temporarily ambiguous first language and L2 sentences during... more
ABSTRACTThis study examined whether late-learning English–German second language (L2) learners and late-learning German–English L2 learners use prosodic cues to disambiguate temporarily ambiguous first language and L2 sentences during speech production. Experiments 1a and 1b showed that English–German L2 learners and German–English L2 learners used a pitch rise and pitch accent to disambiguate PP-attachment sentences in German. However, the same participants, as well as monolingual English speakers, only used pitch accent to disambiguate similar English sentences. Taken together, these results indicate the L2 learners used prosody to disambiguate sentences in both of their languages and did not fully transfer cues to disambiguation from their first language to their L2. The results have implications for the acquisition of L2 prosody and the interaction between prosody and meaning in L2 production.
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Research has shown that English and German native speakers use prosodic cues during speech production to convey the intended meaning of an utterance. However, little is known about whether American L2 learners of German also use such cues... more
Research has shown that English and German native speakers use prosodic cues during speech production to convey the intended meaning of an utterance. However, little is known about whether American L2 learners of German also use such cues during L2 production. The present study shows that intermediate-level L2 learners of German (English L1) use prosodic cues to disambiguate syntactically ambiguous German sentences during a contextualized sentence production task. These results highlight the interaction between prosody and meaning in L2 speech, suggesting ways in which prosodic training is important not only for L2 pronunciation, but also L2 listening and reading comprehension.
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This paper reports on the role of technology in state-of-the-art pronunciation research and instruction, and makes concrete suggestions for future developments. The point of departure for this contribution is that the goal of second... more
This paper reports on the role of technology in state-of-the-art pronunciation research and instruction, and makes concrete suggestions for future developments. The point of departure for this contribution is that the goal of second language (L2) pronunciation research and teaching should be enhanced comprehensibility and intelligibility as opposed to native-likeness. Three main areas are covered here. We begin with a presentation of advanced uses of pronunciation technology in research with a special focus on the expertise required to carry out even small-scale investigations. Next, we discuss the nature of data in pronunciation research, pointing to ways in which future work can build on advances in corpus research and crowdsourcing. Finally, we consider how these insights pave the way for researchers and developers working to create research-informed, computer-assisted pronunciation teaching resources. We conclude with predictions for future developments.
Research Interests: Computer Science, Educational Technology, Computer Assisted Language Learning, Computer Assisted Language Learning/Teaching, Phonetics and Pronunciation, and 7 moreTeaching EFL, English as a Foreign Language (EFL), Pronunciation Teaching, Pronunciation, English As a Second Language (ESL), Teaching English Pronunciation, and Second Language Pronunciation
Given the reality that computer games are ubiquitous in everyday life, researchers (Goodwin-Jones, 2005; Purushotma, 2005) are touting the potential of making use of them in the second language classroom. In the current paper, we situate... more
Given the reality that computer games are ubiquitous in everyday life, researchers (Goodwin-Jones, 2005; Purushotma, 2005) are touting the potential of making use of them in the second language classroom. In the current paper, we situate virtual reality (VR) technology within an L2 pedagogical framework and argue that it is a viable resource for enabling students to experience the target culture in ways that are impossible through the use of other technologies. In addition, we present the results of a pilot project in which we compare the effectiveness of two VR environments (CAVE and PC technology) on a variety of measures of student engagement: cultural awareness, collaboration, and overall experience. We argue that although the CAVE technology is perhaps the more exciting and immersive medium, its exorbitant cost and large scale make it an unfeasible prospect for most schools. The PC version of the game is readily accessible, can be run at no additional cost to the end user, and provides a positive and
potentially more engaging experience for students.
potentially more engaging experience for students.
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Abstract: This paper presents the results of a study on the use of a virtual reality (VR) world in a German language classroom. After participating in a lesson on the use of commands, students experienced the language and culture through... more
Abstract: This paper presents the results of a study on the use of a virtual reality (VR) world in a German language classroom. After participating in a lesson on the use of commands, students experienced the language and culture through navigation in a VR world. It is argued that this new medium
allows for students to be immersed in the target culture and language in ways that are not possible through the use of other media. The results of the study indicate that the virtual world experience enhances students’ awareness of the target culture.
allows for students to be immersed in the target culture and language in ways that are not possible through the use of other media. The results of the study indicate that the virtual world experience enhances students’ awareness of the target culture.
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This paper reports on the role of technology in state-of-the-art pronuncia- tion research and instruction, and makes concrete suggestions for future developments. The point of departure for this contribution is that the goal of second... more
This paper reports on the role of technology in state-of-the-art pronuncia- tion research and instruction, and makes concrete suggestions for future developments. The point of departure for this contribution is that the goal of second language (L2) pronunciation research and teaching should be enhanced comprehensibility and intelligibility as opposed to native-likeness. Three main areas are covered here. We begin with a presentation of advanced uses of pronunciation technology in research with a special focus on the expertise required to carry out even small-scale investigations. Next, we discuss the nature of data in pronunciation research, pointing to ways in which future work can build on advances in corpus research and crowd- sourcing. Finally, we consider how these insights pave the way for researchers and developers working to create research-informed, computer- assisted pronunciation teaching resources. We conclude with predictions for future developments.
Research Interests: Educational Technology, Computer Assisted Language Learning, Computer Assisted Language Learning/Teaching, Phonetics and Pronunciation, Teaching EFL, and 8 moreStandard English Pronunciation- British and American Accent, Computer Assisted Pronunciation Teaching (CAPT), English as a Foreign Language (EFL), Pronunciation Teaching, Pronunciation, English As a Second Language (ESL), Teaching English Pronunciation, and Teaching ESL/EFL
The 8th Proceedings of the PSLLT conference, Pronunciation and Technology, are freely available at the link