English Vowel Production by Native Mandarin and Hindi Speakers

Research into pronunciation and acoustic properties of foreign speech have evolved with technology and produced interesting results. The production of English vowel sounds by native Mandarin and Hindi speakers were investigated. The first three formant frequencies (F1, F2) and the mean and standard deviation values are calculated. The goal of this study is to contribute to a richer understanding of accent variation, and its application for speech technology. Vowel production quality of Mandarin and Hindi speakers of English obtained was low. We report that native Mandarin and Hindi speakers of English do not produce the right sound for central and especially back vowels.