The Perception and Production of Arabic Lexical Stress by Learners of Arabic

304 Pages·2017·6.06 MB·English

The Perception and Production of Arabic Lexical Stress by Learners of Arabic:
A Usage-Based Account
By

Cheng-Wei Lin

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
(Near Eastern Studies)
in The University of Michigan
2018

Doctoral Committee:

Professor Mohammad T. Alhawary, Chair
Professor Patrice S. Beddor
Professor Nick C. Ellis
Professor Emeritus Raji M. Rammuny
Cheng-Wei Lin
[email protected]
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-7295-9120
© Cheng-Wei Lin 2018
Acknowledgements

It has been a long journey, and I would like to thank all the people who have helped me
and encouraged me these years.
First of all, I would like to thank the committee members for their feedback and time
dedicated to my dissertation. I would like to especially thank my advisor Professor Mohammad
Alhawary, who opened to me the different fields of Arabic linguistics, and has always motivated
me while intellectually challenged me with his thorough feedback on my work to help me
become a better researcher. I would like to thank Professor Patrice Beddor, who taught the first
theoretical linguistics class I have ever taken formally, and has provided me inspiration and
feedback since. I would also like to thank Professor Nick Ellis, who has inspired me of the
paradigm examined in this dissertation, and has provided substantial advice in experimental
testing. Lastly, I would like to thank Professor Raji Rammuny, who has taught me how to be a
better Arabic teacher and who has always been supportive of my research.
Secondly, I would like to thank the people who made the experiment in this dissertation
possible. I would like to thank the faculty members at National Chengchi University and
Georgetown University for their help. I would like to especially thank Professor Huey-Tsyr Jeng
and Professor Felicitas Opwis for giving me the permission to conduct my research there. I also
sincerely thank all the learners of Arabic who participated in the experiment. If it were not for
them, nothing would come out of this dissertation.
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Thirdly, I would like to thank the people around me for their understanding and support. I
would like to thank my cohorts from the department of Near Eastern Studies, especially for Lizz
Huntley for her support and help with the dissertation. I would like to thank the members of the
Phondi discussion group and the Psycholinguistics discussion group at U of M for allowing me
to present my work and for their feedback on this study. My colleagues at Michigan State
University must be thanked as well for their constant support and understanding, which makes
juggling between teaching Arabic and completing my dissertation possible.
I would like to thank Y for her constant support and company through the toughest times.
Lastly, I am deeply indebted to my parents for the years that I have been intermittently absent. I
would like to thank their constant support of me and their belief in me. Without them, none of
this could have been possible. This dissertation is dedicated to them.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................ ii
LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... viii
LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... x
LIST OF APPENDICES ............................................................................................................... xii
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. xiii

Chapter 1
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Arabic L2 Stress Perception and Production Studies ............................................................... 2
1.2 Objectives of the Dissertation ................................................................................................... 2
1.3 Organization of the Dissertation ............................................................................................... 4

Chapter 2
Background: Perception and Production of L2 Stress .................................................................... 6
2.1 Lexical Stress in Arabic ............................................................................................................ 7
2.1.1 The Phonology of Stress ................................................................................................. 7
2.1.2 The Phonetics of Lexical Stress in Arabic .................................................................... 12
2.2 Studies in L2 Stress Perception and Production ..................................................................... 13
2.2.1 L2 Stress Perception Studies ......................................................................................... 14
2.2.2 L2 Stress Production Studies ........................................................................................ 23
2.2.3 L1 and L2 Stress and Perception and Production and Arabic ...................................... 26
2.2.4 Conclusions from L2 Stress Perception and Production Studies .................................. 28
2.3 Studies on Frequency Effect In Language Processing and Learning ..................................... 29
2.3.1 Frequency Effect on L1 Learning and Processing ........................................................ 29
2.3.2 A Usage-Based Approach to Second Language Acquisition ....................................... 32
2.4 Frequency and Stress Perception and Production ................................................................... 33
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2.5 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 35

Chapter 3
Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 37
3.1. Experiment Design................................................................................................................. 38
3.1.1 Warm-Up Activity: Speed Reading .............................................................................. 39
3.1.2 Stress Identification Task .............................................................................................. 40
3.1.3. Lexical Decision Task .................................................................................................. 43
3.1.4. Stress Production Task ................................................................................................. 45
3.1.5. Post-Experiment Questionnaire ................................................................................... 49
3.1.6. Organization of the Experiment ................................................................................... 53
3.2. Stimulus Design ..................................................................................................................... 57
3.2.1 Estimating Frequency Distribution of Stress Patterns in Arabic .................................. 62
3.2.2 Data Extraction ............................................................................................................. 64
3.2.3 Frequency Distribution of Stress Pattern in Arabic ...................................................... 70
3.2.4 Correlation between the Sources .................................................................................. 82
3.2.5 Stimulus Organization .................................................................................................. 91
3.2.6 Stimulus Construction ................................................................................................... 97
3.3. Participants ........................................................................................................................... 106
3.2.1 Recruitment Criteria .................................................................................................... 107
3.2.2 Recruitment Procedure ................................................................................................ 113
3.2.3 Recruitment Results .................................................................................................... 113
3.4. Data Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 115
3.5 Summary ............................................................................................................................... 119

Chapter 4
Results ......................................................................................................................................... 123
4.1 Observation of Classroom Instruction .................................................................................. 124
4.2 Warm-Up Task: Speed Reading ........................................................................................... 131
4.3 Stress Identification Task ...................................................................................................... 134
4.3.1 Native Language and Performance ............................................................................. 135
4.3.2 Proficiency and Performance ...................................................................................... 138
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4.3.3 Stress Pattern and Performance .................................................................................. 142
4.3.4 Relative Frequency and Performance ......................................................................... 146
4.3.5 Summary of Results .................................................................................................... 153
4.4 Lexical Decision Task........................................................................................................... 155
4.4.1 Native Language and Performance ............................................................................. 155
4.4.2 Proficiency and Performance ...................................................................................... 158
4.4.3 Stress Pattern and Performance .................................................................................. 164
4.4.4 Relative Frequency and Performance ......................................................................... 165
4.4.5 Summary of Results .................................................................................................... 168
4.5 Stress Production Task .......................................................................................................... 171
4.5.1 Native Language and Performance ............................................................................. 172
4.5.2 Proficiency and Performance ...................................................................................... 176
4.5.3 Stress Pattern and Performance .................................................................................. 180
4.5.4 Relative Frequency and Performance ......................................................................... 181
4.5.5 Summary of Results .................................................................................................... 186
4.6 Sub-Group Comparisons – Input Variance ........................................................................... 189
4.7 Sub-Group Comparisons – Type of Nonsense Word ........................................................... 192
4.8 External Factors from the Questionnaire .............................................................................. 193
4.8.1 Instruction and Textbook ............................................................................................ 195
4.8.2 Self-Awareness of Stress ............................................................................................ 198
4.8.3 Extracurricular Engagement ....................................................................................... 200
4.8.4 Explicit Knowledge .................................................................................................... 201
4.8.5 External Factors and Experiment Results ................................................................... 203
4.9 Summary of Results .............................................................................................................. 206
4.9.1 Native Language ......................................................................................................... 206
4.9.2 Proficiency .................................................................................................................. 207
4.9.3 Relative Frequency ..................................................................................................... 208
4.9.4 External Factors .......................................................................................................... 209

Chapter 5
Discussion and Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 211
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5.1 Discussion ............................................................................................................................. 213
5.1.1 L1 Transfer.................................................................................................................. 213
5.1.2 The Effect of Proficiency ............................................................................................ 220
5.1.3 Frequency Effect ......................................................................................................... 222
5.1.4 Other External Factors ................................................................................................ 224
5.2 Limitations of the Study........................................................................................................ 227
5.3 Conclusion and Pedagogical Implications ............................................................................ 229

APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................ 234
BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................... 283

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 3.1 Layout of the Control Panel....................................................................................................... 39
Figure 3.2 Sample of Stimuli Presentation in the Stress Identification Task .............................................. 42
Figure 3.3 Procedure of Stress Identification and Lexical Decision Task .................................................. 44
Figure 3.4 Procedure of Stress Production Task ......................................................................................... 46
Figure 3.5 Sample Stimulus for the Stress Production Task ....................................................................... 48
Figure 3.6 Sequencing of Questions in the Post-Experiment Questionnaire .............................................. 50
Figure 3.7 Sequencing of Tasks in the Experiment .................................................................................... 54
Figure 3.8 Data Processing Procedure for Frequency Dictionary ............................................................... 65
Figure 3.9 Correlation between Log Frequency and Rank of All Stress Patterns ...................................... 71
Figure 3.10 Correlation between Log Frequency and Syllable Number of All Stress Patterns .................. 72
Figure 3.11 Frequency Distribution of Bisyllabic Stress Patterns .............................................................. 73
Figure 3.12 Frequency Distribution of Trisyllabic Stress Patterns ............................................................. 73
Figure 3.13 Frequency Distribution of Quadrisyllabic Stress Patterns ....................................................... 74
Figure 3.14 Frequency Distribution of Syllabic Structure of Stress (All Stress Patterns) .......................... 75
Figure 3.15 Frequency Distribution of Syllabic Structure of Stress Grouped by Syllable Number ........... 77
Figure 3.16 Frequency Distribution of Stress Position (All Stress Patterns) .............................................. 78
Figure 3.17 Frequency Distribution of Stress Position Grouped by Syllable Number ............................... 79
Figure 3.18 Conditional Probability of Stress for All Stress Patterns ......................................................... 81
Figure 3.19 Correlation between Frequency Dictionary and Hans Wehr Dictionary ................................. 85
Figure 3.20 Correlation between Token-Type Frequency Ratio and Frequency Rank .............................. 87
Figure 3.21 Correlation between Frequency Dictionary and Al-Kitaab Textbooks ................................... 89
Figure 3.22 Stimuli Configuration ............................................................................................................ 104
Figure 3.23 Stress Typology Model .......................................................................................................... 107
Figure 3.24 Sample Analysis for Stress Production Responses ................................................................ 116
Figure 4.1 Boxplot for Duration of Completion for Speed Reading According to L1 ............................. 132
Figure 4.2 Boxplot for Duration of Completion for Speed Reading Drill According to L1 and Proficiency
...................................................................................................................................................... 133
Figure 4.3. Boxplot for the Response Accuracy for the Stress Identification Task According to L1 ....... 136
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Figure 4.4. Boxplot for the Reaction Time Grouped by Native Language for the Stress Identification
Task ............................................................................................................................................... 137
Figure 4.5. Boxplot for the Response Accuracy for the Stress Identification Task
According to Participants’ L1 and Proficiency ............................................................................ 139
Figure 4.6. Boxplot for the Reaction Time Grouped by Participants’ L1 and Proficiency for the Stress
Identification Task ........................................................................................................................ 140
Figure 4.7. Boxplot for the Response Accuracy (Real Words) Grouped by Participants’ L1 and
Proficiency for the Stress Identification Task ............................................................................... 142
Figure 4.8. Boxplot for the Response Accuracy for the Lexical Decision Taskaccordingly to Participants’
L1 .................................................................................................................................................. 156
Figure 4.9. Boxplot for the Reaction Time Grouped by Native Language for the Lexical Decision Task
...................................................................................................................................................... 157
Figure 4.10. Boxplot for the Correctness Rate Grouped by Participants’ L1 and Proficiency for the
Lexical Decision Task ................................................................................................................... 158
Figure 4.11. Boxplot for the Reaction Time Grouped by Participants’ L1 and Proficiency for the Lexical
Decision Task ................................................................................................................................ 160
Figure 4.12. Boxplot for the Response Accuracy for the Lexical Decision Task According to L1 and
Lexical Status of Stimuli ............................................................................................................... 161
Figure 4.13. Boxplot for the d-prime Score for the Lexical Decision Task According to L1 and
Proficiency .................................................................................................................................... 163
Figure 4.14. Boxplot for the Response Accuracy for the Stress Production Task According to Native
Language ....................................................................................................................................... 173
Figure 4.15. Boxplot for the Reaction Time for the Stress Production Task According to Native Language
...................................................................................................................................................... 175
Figure 4.16. Boxplot for the Correctness of Response Grouped by Participants’ L1 and Proficiency for the
Stress Production Task (Trial 1) ................................................................................................... 176
Figure 4.17. Boxplot for the Reaction Time Grouped by Participants’ L1 and Proficiency for the Stress
Production Task (Trial 1) .............................................................................................................. 179
Figure 4.18 Scores for Instruction and Textbook According to L1 and Proficiency ................................ 197
Figure 4.19 Scores for Self-Evaluation Grouped by L1 and Proficiency ................................................. 199
Figure 4.20 Scores for Extracurricular Engagement Grouped by L1 and Proficiency ............................. 201
Figure 4.21 Explicit Knowledge Score According to L1 and Proficiency 202

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