Development of a flash animation programme for English vowel training: A high variability approach

Principal Supervisor

Professor Jette Hansen Edwards, Department of English
Duration

2 years and 3 months
Approved Budget

HK $200,000
 
  • Project Objectives
  • Key deliverables expected
  • Evaluation of deliverables/outcomes
  • Dissemination of deliverables/outcomes

Project Objectives

  • This project proposes to develop a flash animation programme to teach the English vowels to students in the English Department at CUHK as well as other departments;


  • Unique to this programme is the use of high variability training methods, which encompass using multiple speakers (e.g., multiple voices) of both genders, across a range of English accents;


  • The programme would include both visual and aural information on each vowel identified in the targeted varieties of English, which would include BBC/RP English, General American, General Australian, Canadian English, Hong Kong English; and


  • Acoustic information would include acoustic analyses of each vowel spoken by each speaker as well as all the sound files.

    • Key deliverables expected and timelines for completion

    Stage 1: The PI would first research the vowel inventories for varieties of English to be included in the study. These varieties would minimally include: General American, BBC/RP English, General Australian, Hong Kong English, and Canadian English. A word list maximizing the different vowel sounds would also be created. To be completed by August 31 2013.

    Stage 2: Two native speakers – 1 woman and 1 man – of the targeted varieties would be requested to read the word list. A sound recording would be made of the data by the PI. To be completed by 30 September 2013.

    Stage 3: The sound files from the speakers would be digitized and imported into PRAAT for spectrographic analysis. The acoustic specifications (sound waves) of each vowel by each speaker in each environment (e.g., contextual factors such as following consonant can reduce the length of a vowel) would be plotted on a formant (acoustic properties of the sounds) chart to allow users of the software to compare their own sound files with each of the speaker’s files; to be completed by 31 August 2014.

    Stage 4: The sound clips and the acoustic analysis (e.g., formant chart) would be imported into the Flash Animation Professional CS-6 software; to be completed by 30 September 2014.

    Stage 5: The programme would be uploaded to the English Department website and then pilot tested with one class of ENGE 2510 and adjustments made. The programme would then be made available to all students at CUHK through the English Department website. Completed by 31 December 2014.

    Arrangements for evaluation of project deliverables/outcomes

    The programme would be uploaded to the English Department website during Term 1 of the 2014-2015 academic year and then pilot tested with one class of ENGE 2510 and adjustments made. The programme would then be made available to all students at CUHK through the English Department website.

    Means for disseminating project deliverables/outcomes

    Please see “Arrangements for evaluation of project deliverables/outcomes”.