The relationship of accent and short and long vowel duration as seen in the pronunciation of Filipino learners of Japanese <Article>

This study examined the role of teaching accent in improving the production of short and long vowels of Filipino learners of Japanese. Before conducting a short instruction about Japanese accent, the duration of short vowels occurring on the penultimate syllable produced by Filipino students were observed to be longer than that of the nativespeaker's. This phenomenon was concluded to be due to native language interference since it was observed not only in beginner learners but also in more advanced learners who have acquired long vowels. However, after a short instruction about Japanese accent, the problems students had on pronouncing short vowels decreased. Therefore, it was concluded that making students focus their attention on producing the correct accent could have a positive effect that extends to the correct production of vowel length as well