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Variability in Rhoticity in Czech Speakers of English
Fischer, Ondřej ; Šturm, Pavel (advisor) ; Sláma, Jakub (referee)
The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the description of contemporary Czech foreign accent in English by examining Czech learners' rhoticity, a substantial accent feature. Rhoticity is addressed both from a phonological and a phonetic perspective, and its variability under the influence of different factors is investigated. The theoretical part presents rhoticity and its various aspects in present day's accents of English, and its dimensions related to second language acquisition. The research part analyses rhoticity both in Czech university students of English, with respect to their accent-preferences, and in Czech non-students of English. The results show a distinct and consistent inclination to rhoticity in less proficient learners, a lower degree of consistency and dependence on accent models in students of English, a high capability of especially younger Czech learners to realise the rhotic contexts in a standard manner, and certain noticeable tendencies dependent on the critical /r/-phoneme's position in syllable. Key words: rhoticity, foreign accent, language transfer, L2 learner, accents of English, pronunciation model
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