Experimental method

Students can acquire English rhythm if they were exposed to it, by listening
to a good pronunciation model. We assume that isochrony can be perceived if
students attention was drawn to the stressed and unstressed syllables at
both the word and sentence levels. This can be achieved by allowing students
to listen to authentic English read out by a native speaker or by listening to
recordings. It is assumed that students will perceive the natural rhythm to a
certain extent if they listen carefully and repeatedly. In this experiment we
have devised a list of sentences read out by a native speaker of British
English. A native speaker of Arabic will read out a parallel list of sentences in
which there exist similar rhythmic patterns of the English sentence. The
following example explains the notion of parallel rhythmic pattern:
Rhythmic pattern

Arabic utterance

English utterance

/ /

xabarun hm

have a good day

This list will be given to two groups of students who had no training in
linguistics, i.e. students who belong to departments other than the
Languages and Translation Department. The first group will be labeled A.
The same list will be given to a similar group, labeled B. Group A will be given
the chance to exercise the English utterance together with the Arabic
rhythmic patterns models. Group B will exercise the same English utterances
without listening to the Arabic model.
In addition to these lists of utterances, students will be asked to read out a
short passage of connected speech in order to examine their ability to
maintain English rhythm in longer stretches of speech. This time, they will not
of course, listen an Arabic model, but, rather, to a recording made by a
phonetician who is a native speaker of English.
The recording will be transcribed of both groups, A and B, and then analyzed
(using statistical methods) in order to arrive at whether the listening to the
Arabic rhythmic patterns have any positive effect on acquiring good English
rhythm in group A.
The English rhythmic patterns are taken mainly from Allen (1966) and
Mortimer (1985).
The Arabic utterances are devised by the authors.

Isolated utterances:
Patterns

Arabic Examples

English Examples

/ /

m tm

/ /

xabarun hm

//

y adq

sharp pen, hard disk, brown

hat
very good school, have a good
day
try again, not enough, long ago

//

hal tafham

///

kam qultu lak

////

law kuntu adri qumt

/
///
/
///
//
/

law kuntu adri qumna

I thought so, for ever, at

breakfast
I want to know, another time, I
thought it was
I think he wants to go, Its not
the one I want
you ought to give an answer

law kunta tadri qum fi l-l

I think he wants to go there too

mualilah, mubaarah

He came with us. A friend of mine

//

ruddi alayh

///

min badi m j

///

in jakum fsiqun

/
///
/
///
/
///
//
/

lam yastalim qa min sad

Send him away. Give me a ring.

Show me the way.
I wanted to know. I think that he
might.
Its quite inconceivable. Lets
cancel the other one.
We wont be in time for the play.

lu kuntu qarban minhum

I told him to wait in the corridor.

law kuntu maknaka jitu

bih
amun huwa, karul kalm

//

ilmas il jidr, urbu alizm

in
iti kn al-air1

You know that we ought to

discuss it today.
A beautiful one, Ive eaten them
all.
Put it on the floor. Send them out
to play.
I think it will be fine. I wanted you
to know.

///

/
///
/
//
//
/
//

alam aqul lakuma l

aun
annaha fikra ria
kam liban fi-af
kam liban tra fi-af

Its not the one I borrowed from

you.
I think it was an excellent idea.
Show him up to his room.
Standing behind the door
When are you going away?

Passage in normal orthography

(Students will be asked to read out this passage. The pronunciation of

some words like righteous and crescendo will be given to them before
recording).
A noise
I live in a block of flats. Recently, after midnight someone on the floor below began to
hammer firmly and continuously. Perhaps some new idea about his furniture had just
occurred to him at that hour. One could almost feel the whole vast building shiver at such an
outrage. A righteous neighbor began to tap a reprimand upon that wall hammering sharply
and quickly and suddenly ceasing. There was a silence. Then, after a minute the first
hammerer began again but as if trying to make no noise apologetically. The righteous
neighbors taps broke out again in a crescendo of furious rebuke and ceased. And although
the first hammerer was still at it, his blows grew fainter, dwindled sadly away and soon
ceased altogether. Hes been put in his place.

Passage in phonetic transcription

(Here is the same passage in phonetic transcription as it is read by the

phonetician David Abercromie for checking rhythm when transcripts are
analyzed):
nz
a lv n blk v flts. isntli, ft mdnat, smwn n fl bl
bgn t hm, fmli kntnjsli. phps sm nju ad bat z
fn hd st kd t hm t t . wn kd lmst fil hl
in
1 From Ahmed Showqis poem

vst bld v t s n te. as neb bgn t tp

eprmnd pn wl, hm pli kwkli n sdnn li sis.
wz salns. en, ft mnt, fst hm bgn gen, bt z f
ta t mek n nz, pletkli.
as nebz tps bk t gen, n kend v fjs bjuk,
n sist. nd l fst hm wz stl t t, hz blz gu fent,
dwndld
l sdli we, n sun sit ltge. hid bin pt n n z ples.