Pronunciation assessment

After an extended period of being on the periphery, numerous advancements in the field of second language (L2) pronunciation over the past decade have led to increased activity and visibility for this subfield within applied linguistics research. As Derwing (2010) underscored in her 2009 plenary at the first annual Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching (PSLLT) conference, a record number of graduate students researching L2 pronunciation and subsequently launching into academic positions at international universities assures L2 pronunciation a bright future in research and teacher training. Other indicators of momentum include the focus of a Language Teaching timeline on the topic of pronunciation (Munro & Derwing 2011), the appearance of multiple encyclopedia volumes or handbooks of pronunciation (e.g. Levis & Munro 2013; Reed & Levis 2015), and the establishment of the specialized Journal of Second Language Pronunciation in 2015, which constitutes a milestone in the professionalization of the field and ‘an essential step toward a disciplinary identity’ (Levis 2015: 1)

Learning For Life: The Opportunity For Technology To Transform Adult Education - Part II: The Supplier Ecosystem

In fall 2014, Tyton Partners (formerly Education Growth Advisors), with support from the Joyce Foundation, conducted national research on the role and potential of instructional technology in the US adult education field. The objective was to understand the current state of the field with respect to technology readiness and the opportunities and challenges for increasing the use of technology-based instructional models within adult education. The initial publication in the series, "Part I: Interest in and Aptitude for Technology," focused on demand-side dynamics and addressed adult education administrators' and practitioners' perspectives on the role and potential of technology to support their students' needs and objectives. This second publication, "Part 2: The Supplier Ecosystem," highlights market composition and supply-side dynamics, instructional resource use, and opportunities for innovation

Digital Video Project: An Authentic Assessment to Assess Students’ Speaking Skills

This study was conducted to explore the use of digital video projects and to describe students' perceptions towards digital video project in the speaking assessment. The recorded students' speaking performances were assessed based on a speaking rubric that was adopted and modified to meet the requirements in authentic assessment using digital video projects. The criteria focused on three aspects, they are content, delivery, and creativity. This research involved 25 private university students from non-English departments who joined the English course at Universitas Slamet Riyadi Surakarta. The study utilized a content analysis method with a qualitative approach. The data were collected through the analysis of students' speaking rubric to explore the use of digital video project in speaking assessment and open-ended questionnaire to know the students' perception towards digital video project in the speaking assessment. In completing the project, the students follow four steps: starting the project, developing the project, reporting to the class, and assessing the project. The findings showed that digital video project helps learners to improve their ability to create a right introduction, keep their voice volume and expression, and promote their creativity to make interesting videos. The implication of the research is by employing the digital video project they create, students learn to speak and explore their ideas

An Experimental Study on Using Instructional Pronunciation Video to Improve Students’ Pronunciation

Technology has been used in many ways to enhance language learning. Professional literature and research have shown that using video technology in the teaching and learning of pronunciation in the English language classroom has been useful. This study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of an Instructional Pronunciation Video (IPV) in helping students with low oral proficiency to improve their English pronunciation. The one group pre-test post-test experimental research design is employed in determining whether the use of the IPV will lead to improvement in the students’ pronunciation. The data of this quantitative study were generated from the audio recordings of the pre and post reading aloud tests of 20 university students for identifying students’ pronunciation errors. The numbers of pronunciation errors from the pre and post reading aloud tests were then compared, in order to determine if there is any difference in students’ achievement after the IPV intervention. It was found that students improved significantly in their post reading aloud test as they made less pronunciation errors in the post reading aloud test by 48.7%. Therefore, it is recommended that instructors utilise IPV to support English pronunciation learning

Integrating TPACK in Pre-Service Teachers’ EFL Course: Impacts on Perception, Knowledge, and Practices

Most research that has explored integrating the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework into teacher education programs primarily utilized context-unspecific self-report instruments. This mixed-methods study explored the efficacy of integrating four domains of the TPACK framework in an EFL course on the perception and knowledge of (30) pre-service teachers in an Egyptian university. The study also investigated the effect of the TPACK-based course on participants’ lesson plans and teaching practices. Data collection instruments included a test, a questionnaire, observation checklists, lesson plans, and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative analysis showed that pre-service teachers’ knowledge and perception of PCK, TCK, TPK, and TPCK have significantly improved after the course. Qualitative analysis of participants’ lesson plans, observation, and interviews revealed that participants moderately integrated technologies in their instruction and PCK was the most dominant in their teaching. The study provided implications for implementing TPACK in teachers’ education programs

Improving Listening and Speaking Achievements of the Eighth Grade Students of SMP Negeri 6 Metro by Using Videos Plus Discussion Method

Listening and speaking are the important skills that have to be mastered by the students. By having these skills, the students can communicate with others easily. However, the teaching and learning of listening and speaking skills are still problematical. The objectives of this study were to find out whether or not videos plus discussion method was effective in improving the students\u27 listening and speaking achievements.  This study involved one hundred and ninety six of the eighth grade students of SMP Negeri 6 Metro and forty of them were selected as the sample by using purposive sampling technique. The results of this study showed that the videos plus discussion method was considered as one of the effective ways to improve the students\u27 listening and speaking achievements

Learner autonomy and awareness through distance collaborative group work in English for Academic Purposes

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40956-6_13Learner autonomy is considered to be both an important skill and attitude of learners, which involves responsibility for and control of the learning process. A key notion in autonomy is interdependence, developed through collaboration and which results in heightened awareness. Precisely, this concept lies at the core of technology applications, which facilitate interaction and collaboration at a distance. With a growing number of online ESP situations, more attention needs to be paid to virtual classrooms and the development of learner autonomy through collaboration. In the context of a distance EAP course, this chapter examines how students carry out a collaborative language awareness task, considering that peer interaction can be an appropriate setting to develop language awareness, whether in face-to-face or online situations. Based on the framework of 'community of inquiry' (Garrison et al. 2000), this study looks at how group members interact through forum posts and wiki edits, showing how students initiate, manage and carry out the task, together with the social, cognitive, and meta-cognitive processes that are generated. Given the nature of the task, creating a language learning activity, special attention is paid to students’ focus on and discussion of topics related to language and learning. From these observations we can derive implications for online language teaching and materials design.Peer ReviewedPreprin

A New Trend in Pronunciation Teaching

English pronunciation training helps learners speak more clearly and communicate more smoothly. Online pronunciation learning, which helps connect teachers and students from all parts of the world, has been well-supported by the rapid development of technology. However, teachers need to apply appropriate pedagogical methods to ensure the effectiveness of online pronunciation instruction. This paper overviews specific strategies which could be employed for teaching English pronunciation in a video-based virtual classroom