International Teacher Education Conference 2014 1

International Teacher Education Conference 2014
For intensity measurement, calibration was carried out at the same time. To calibrate for intensity during
recording, three calibration signals were generated and measured with a sound level meter, based on which a
calibration equation was calculated using the linear regression method. The actual intensity level of the recorded
signals was calculated using this intensity calibration equation.
The extracted syllables of both the English donor words and Cantonese loanwords were then classified into
two types, (1) stressed syllables or those corresponding to stressed syllables in the English donor words, and (2)
unstressed syllables or those corresponding to unstressed syllables in the English donor words, for later
comparisons of the mean values of F0s, syllable duration and intensity.
RESULTS
Tables 6 and 7 show the average fundamental frequency (F0) (in Hz), syllable duration (in ms) and average
intensity (in dB) of the English donor word syllables and loanword syllables in the prototypes of highly
proficient speakers and less proficient ones respectively, with data of the English stressed syllables and
corresponding Cantonese loanword syllables shaded in grey.
Table 6 Average fundamental frequency, syllable duration and average intensity of the English donor word syllables and loanword syllables
in the prototype of highly proficient speakers
Sauna
Sau na
F0 (Hz) 144.50 152.60 92.32 86.36
Duration (ms) 0.43 0.37 0.19 0.37
Intensity (db) 81.90 81.90 73.80 73.82
Guitar
Gui tar
F0 (Hz) 113.40 108.00 114.60 119.00
Duration (ms) 0.09 0.18 0.39 0.25
Intensity (db) 71.00 72.00 80.00 74.00
Carnivals
Car ni vals
F0 (Hz) 145.36 139.74 108.15 98.19 89.00 80.68
Duration (ms) 0.15 0.19 0.11 0.10 0.12 0.20
Intensity (db) 80.42 78.94 77.16 73.86 73.38 71.90
Vanilla
Va nil la
F0 (Hz) 115.02 101.82 121.76 120.31 86.98 86.84
Duration (ms) 0.09 0.19 0.24 0.21 0.20 0.24
Intensity (db) 76.30 76.77 77.87 75.67 74.10 77.36
Table 7 Average fundamental frequency, syllable duration and average intensity of the English donor word syllables and loanword syllables
in the prototype of less proficient speakers
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