Hello Pron SIG'sters, i am a new member, and a 5-year vet of teaching
in Japan. In case you dont know, they routinely add syllables and
change the pronunciation of most of their 'loan words', thereby making
comprehensibility challenging... So, i created this very simple
equation to help draw attention to the fact that communication is
about both pronunciation & segmentals on the one hand & intonation &
prosody on the other, but i couldnt use technical terms. So, i
simplified it.

I tell my students this:

C=S+R
Communication = Sound + Rhythm

But what i mean is this:
Comprehensibility = Segmentals + Prosody

Now, there is a catch, called the 'Minus One Factor':

C=(S-1)+R is still comprehensible
and
C=S+(R-1) is still comprehensible
and even
C=(S-1)+(R-1) can still be comprehensible, if context is clear.

What this means is that -1 is some slight change from standard
pronunciation, although there is clearly no world standard.

The 'Minus One Factor' account for all comprehensible accents.

But, of course, there is another catch: the "Minus Two Factor":

C=(S-2)+R is false.
C=S+(R-2) is false.
C=(S-2)+R-2) is false.

The -2 obviously means any large change in sound or rhythm, and
especially the adding of syllables, which again, is the main issue
with the Japanese.

I recently introduced this theory to 20+ ppl at an English teacher's
conference in Tokyo, and i am interested in hearing your response to it:

Do you think your students or yoursleves might be able to use it to
help draw attention to both aspects of spoken communication?

Any feedback is welcome!

Thank you very much,
Chris P. Madden