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Stress shift in Czech English
Farana, Michal ; Červinková Poesová, Kristýna (advisor) ; Matuchová, Klára (referee)
The purpose of the bachelor thesis is to explore how Czech speakers of English are able to predict and apply stress shift in their speech. The theoretical part gives a brief description of the English stress system and focuses primarily on a detailed exploration of the stress shift phenomenon and its function in relation to the rhythmic structure of English. The practical part aims at examining the ability of Czech speakers to produce stress shift in selected contexts. The respondents were recorded reading a text with items that typically undergo stress shift. The data obtained from these recordings were perceptually analysed and subsequently used to either prove or disprove the hypotheses formulated at the beginning of the research. Key Words lexical stress, sentence stress, rhythm, stress shift, Czech English
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Common Pronunciation Mistakes among Spanish Speakers of English with the Focus on Vowels
Pýcha, Jaroslav ; Červinková Poesová, Kristýna (advisor) ; Bojarová, Marie (referee)
This thesis is focused on vowels and describes them as to their articulatory, auditory, and acoustic properties. The following chapter presents a phonological description of two specific languages - English and Spanish. The aforementioned languages are then compared in their vocalic systems, phonotactical patterns and orthographical representation of vowels. Based on the knowledge gained from the comparison of English and Spanish, several hypotheses regarding Spanish pronunciation of English were formed. The validity of these hypotheses was investigated through the use of an experiment. 15 recording of native Spanish speakers reading an original English text are perceptually analysed in the empirical part. The aim is to prove that the wide variety of English vowels causes pronunciation difficulties to Spanish speakers, who are used to differentiating only 5 pure vowels. The socio-cultural background and the language competencies of the respondents are considered when interpreting the amassed data. The results of the experiment, which confirm the majority of the hypotheses, are presented in the final part of the thesis.
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Anglicisms as a means of teenage identity construction in the virtual environment
Lipková, Eva ; Matuchová, Klára (advisor) ; Červinková Poesová, Kristýna (referee)
The thesis deals with the contemporary Czech adolescents' use of the English loan words and their role in identity construction in the virtual environment. Its objective is to prove that in the sample of respondents Anglicisms may be considered a distinctive feature of the online teenage group identity. The theoretical part provides framework where the basic terms are explained - such as identity, its interconnectedness with language, self-presentation, the adolescent age and the interplay of all these elements in the online milieu. The practical part then presents results of the field research, explains the choice of a comparative approach and confirms the initial hypothesis given in the introduction. The conclusion interprets the gained data and offers assumptions. Key words: identity, selective self-presentation, search for self, testing possible selves, virtual environment, adolescent age, peer feedback, language, Anglicism.
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English as a Lingua Franca in the Context of the Czech Educational System
Kadlecová, Hana ; Matuchová, Klára (advisor) ; Červinková Poesová, Kristýna (referee)
Despite the predominance of English used by non-native speakers in international communication, the approach to teaching this language is still centred on the notion of acquiring English for the purpose of communication with native speakers. This thesis argues for acknowledgement of English as a lingua franca in the approach to teaching English. It also stresses the necessity of further investigations into the global use of English to better understand this phenomenon. A questionnaire was conducted with ten English teachers to see their opinions about some of the key issues of English as a lingua franca (for instance the concept of nativeness, the role of a teacher and the understanding of an error). As a result, it was found that despite some slow changes in individual opinions, the traditional view on teaching English is still prevalent. Both the theoretical research and the analysis of the questionnaire stress the need of implementing the concept of English as a lingua franca into teaching English as it is necessary to prepare students for the reality of global use of this language. Key words: English as a lingua franca, second language acquisition, nativeness, error, variation
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Impact of Intersonorant Voicing on the Perception of Foreing Accent in the Speech of Advanced Czech Learners of English
Dvořáková, Martina ; Červinková Poesová, Kristýna (advisor) ; Matuchová, Klára (referee)
This thesis aims at exploring the impact of intersonorant voicing (/ˈbeɪzɪk/ instead of /beɪsɪk/) that frequently occurs in the speech of Czech learners of English on the degree of foreign accentedness. To evaluate this phenomenon, the method of a perception test was used. The sample phrases with and without the aforementioned mistake were evaluated by native speakers of the English language. The result of their observation, the level of foreign accentedness, was marked on a seven point scale and analysed by the author with the aim of either confirming or rejecting two original hypotheses concerning the relationship between the intersonorant voicing and foreign accentedness when featured in various positions.
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Role of interactive computer word games in English vocabulary acquisition
Banáková, Lucia ; Matuchová, Klára (advisor) ; Červinková Poesová, Kristýna (referee)
This bachelor thesis examines the possibilities that computer assisted language learning (CALL) games might provide to learners of English as a second or foreign language in vocabulary learning. Since the prominent focus is on the practical part, only a limited selection of relevant theories and concepts about vocabulary learning and CALL technologies in general is provided in the theoretical part. The practical part introduces an originally designed and programmed CALL vocabulary game and audits its functionality and helpfulness in vocabulary learning process of high school English as second language students through an experiment and a questionnaire survey. The results are analyzed in the last chapter and improvements and further extensions to the game are proposed.
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Ability of Czech Speakers of English to Pronounce Words with Silent Letters
Pospíšilová, Markéta ; Červinková Poesová, Kristýna (advisor) ; Farrell, Mark Robert (referee)
The aim of this thesis is to show the historical development of silent letters and their role in contemporary English. In the theoretical part a definition of a silent letter is provided and the reasons for its emergence are outlined. Moreover, we will concentrate on individual silent letters and describe in which positions they normally occur. In the practical part the ability of Czech learners of English to pronounce selected words with silent letters is assessed. The research includes a comparison of recordings obtained from students of the first and the fourth year of upper-secondary education.
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