A Contrastive Study on the Rhythm Features of Chinese Learners' Spoken English Based on Corpus

Abstract

The rhythm of spoken English is an important dimension in second language acquisition, influencing the naturalness and com
prehensibility of communication. Existing research mostly focuses on laboratory-controlled tasks, with insufficient attention to the use of
rhythm in real-life scenarios and discourse functions. This study, using 40 Chinese learners with varying English proficiency as subjects,
selected the Spoken BNC2014 corpus and employed a combined method of acoustic measurement and pragmatic functional analysis to
compare and analyze features such as stress, intonation, rhythm, and pauses. The results showed that advanced learners approached na
tive speakers in terms of stress and rhythm, while beginners were significantly affected by negative transfer from their native language,
manifesting as uniform syllabic stress, narrow intonation range, and unreasonable pause placement. The study revealed the developmental
pattern of rhythm transitioning from syllabic to stress, with causes involving negative transfer from the native language, input volume, and
differences in rhythmic awareness. Based on these findings, a hierarchical teaching strategy was proposed to provide empirical evidence
for oral rhythm instruction.