TESL 0120: Analyzing Speech - Samples A & B

The Speech Analyzer!

I was not able to listen to Sample A as there was "cannot find page" error message.  However, I was able to watch a  YouTube video,  IELTS SpeakingVideo/2018/ULTIMATE/BAND9 (https://youtu.be/HjrlnyFKVKU), this video is what I will use for "Sample A" speaker.   Both women in the videos were of different ethnicity backgrounds and therefore, could play a role in the way they learn pronunciation in the English language and if they had more time and/or resources to learn the English language. 

In Speaker A's video, the woman had an accent but was able to speak with pretty good fluency  and accuracy, throughout her interview.  Her confidence in speaking the English language was also evident when she spoke.  She was able to understand the questions and answer with extra detail that was relevant to the question.  She definitely, new more English vocabulary and therefore, was able to express herself with other information that she was conveying.  There was a lot of intonation in her speech, which allowed me to clearly hear the rise and fall throughout her speech.  She used a lot of facial expression that seemed to coincide with the intonation in her voice.  Some letters (segmentals) in her speech had a different sound or was silent, but I was still able to make out the words.  She used utterances such as "ahhs and umms" in between thoughts but was able to connect her next thought almost immediately.  As an English speaker, I had no problem with understanding her, she could speak the English language well, all though some words were not pronounced precisely, it was pronounced well enough that I knew what she was talking about.  

Sample B:  Speaker B's pronunciation was very different than the previous.  She had a difficult time trying to pronounce words and in between words or phrases the fluency was somewhat choppy sounding and not as connected as Speaker A.  I had a difficult time trying to make out what she was saying but overall could get the jest of it with the words she was able to pronounce clearly.  It was also evident that the questions she was asked, she was able to understand, as she answered them accurately.  She was able to understand the language but had a difficult time speaking it. She also used a lot of "umms

and ahhs" that were prolonged between thoughts, until she was able to figure out what words she wanted to convey to the interviewer.  I found her "th" sound was more of a "s" sound, some of her consonants and vowels were not spoken as is in the English language but was I was able to identify what she was trying to say.  She would nervously smile during her interview.  Seemed as though she had just learned the English Language as compared to Speaker A (mentioned above).  I had to pay close attention to her speech in order to understand what she was saying.