An Analysis of Learners’ Response to Diagnostic Rhyme Test

DOI: 10.5716/2251-1814_EeL45

Authors: Min KANG, Yaheng ZOU, Kazuhiro OHTSUKI, Harumi KASHIWAGI, Makoto KABURAGI

Abstract:

In this paper, we performed the diagnostic rhyme test for Japanese learners of English to examine if the synthetic sounds can be discriminated by learners of English the same as native-speakers and how synthetic sounds should be utilized in language learning. The diagnostic rhyme test (DRT) was written down as listening tests with two alternative forced choice questions. Meanwhile, learners were required to give their subjective opinions on the sounds that they heard by choosing one level of a five scale rating that show if the sounds are easy to understand and acceptable. The DRT results showed that the synthetic sounds are enough quality in intelligibility for language learners. We suggest that it will be an effective way to utilize synthetic sounds in discrimination training.

Keywords:Synthetic Sound; Diagnostic Rhyme Test; Foreign language learning; Assessment