Word Stress Placement by Native Speakers and Japanese Learners of English

This study investigated what factors are used by native speakers and Japanese learners of English when they determine the position of stress in producing and perceiving disyllabic English nonwords. Syllable structure (vowel length and number of consonants) and lexical class affected both groups, but in different ways. Phonotactic legality of intervocalic consonants influenced native speakers alone. The results are also discussed regarding the difference between production and perception tasks and the influence of Japanese syllables and lexical properties on learning English stress patterns.