Eleni Tsiartsioni

In my PhD research I study the acquisition of features of the English speech rhythm and stop voicing system by Greek learners of English. In particular, I test the effectiveness of explicit pronunciation teaching on the acquisition of the aforementioned features of the English pronunciation. Three different age groups are examined (ages 10, 13 and 16) in order to determine whether there is an optimal age for the acquisition of FL pronunciation, and also to assess the effectiveness of pronunciation teaching on different ages. Students’ performance is measured at two stages of the project, namely prior and after the teaching procedure. Rhythm is approached with the use of the PVI measure developed by Low, Grabe and Nolan (Low, Grabe and Nolan 2000), which examines the vocalic and intervocalic duration variability in a long stretch of speech. The acquisition of the durational correlates of voicing is measured with the use of waveform and spectrographic analysis of features in word initial and final stops. 

September 2002- September 2003:
Master of Philosophy in Applied Linguistics
Center for Language and Communication Studies, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
(accepted to the course on a scholarship - part of the bilateral agreement between the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and Trinity College Dublin)
MPhil Dissertation: “The Acquisition of Features of Rhythm and Stop Voicing in Greek and English L2”, Trinity College Dublin.
Supervisor: Dr Ailbhe Ni Chasaide.

1998-2002:
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, BA English Language and Literature (grade 9.24)
Undergraduate Dissertation: “The Effects of Age and Exposure in the Phonology of Greek-English Interlanguage: An Acoustic Analysis of VOT and Vowel Production”
Supervisor: Dr Katerina Nicolaidis

Work Experience

December 2004-present:
Oral examiner at the English Language State exams (levels B2, C1), organised by the Ministry of Education September

2002-May 2003:
Instructor of Modern Greek Language, Department of Classics, Trinity College Dublin

European Educational Programmes

2004 July:
Participation in a Comenius Course for Teachers of English at the University of Limerick, Ireland, course title: English for Teachers

2001 January-May:
Participation in an Erasmus/Socrates exchange programme at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth

• English (C2 level)
• French (B2 level)
• German (A2 level)
• Dutch: six-month studies, basic knowledge of the language
  

Conference Presentations

• 'Can pronunciation taught? Teaching English speech rhythm to Greek students’ 3-5 April 2009, 19^th International Symposium of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
• ‘Teaching English pronunciation to Greek students’, 7-8/6/2008, Research    Day, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
• ‘A PVI analysis of Greek speech rhythm among children, teenagers and adults’, 10-11/5/2008, Poster presented at the 29^th Annual Meeting of the Linguistics Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
• ‘The effectiveness of pronunciation teaching to Greek state school students’, 14-16/12/2007. 14^th International Conference of Applied Linguistics, Thessaloniki Greece.
• ‘Acquiring stops in Greek and English L2: An acoustic analysis’, 30/8-2/9/2007. 8^th International Conference on Greek Linguistics, University of Ioannina, Greece
• ‘Phonological acquisition and EFL pronunciation teaching: Methodology and research of a work in progress’, 8-9/6 2007. Research Day, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
  

• Tsiartsioni, E. 2009: ‘A PVI analysis of Greek speech rhythm among children, teenagers and adults’, Proceedings of the  29^th Annual Meeting of the Linguistics Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, 10-11/5/2008.
• Tsiartsioni, E. 2009: ‘Acquiring stops in Greek and English L2: An acoustic analysis’, Proceedings of the 8^th International Conference on Greek Linguistics, University of Ioannina, Greece 30/8-2/9/2007.