Good English Pronunciation Users and their Pronunciation Learning Strategies

The study investigates pronunciation learning strategies (PLS) deployed by those with good English pronunciation, as well as their beliefs concerning the variables that affect pronunciation competence. In order to collect data for analysis this study surveyed 61 participants who had learned English as a foreign language. They comprised 28 higher education teachers and scholars specialising in English phonetics and phonology, who were defined as good pronunciation users (GPU), and 33 EFL teacher training students, viewed as average pronunciation learners (APL). This cohort responded to a survey on pronunciation learning strategies and expressed their views on several aspects affecting the L2 pronunciation learning process. These aspects were: age of the first contact with L2 (age of onset), motivation, exposure to the target language, the teacher’s pronunciation model, and learning strategies. The study used both open- and close-ended question formats to collect data from both GPU and APL. The analyses of the data helped to create a tentative profile of a successful L2 pronunciation learner

Learner Perspective on English Pronunciation Teaching in an EFL Context

On the basis of the findings, the learners do not seem to have aspirations to native-like pronunciation, but rather aim at achieving intelligible and fluent speech. Only few reported an accent preference (British or American). The primary level learners expressed satisfaction with the amount of pronunciation teaching, whereas most of the lower and upper secondary level learners claimed that pronunciation teaching was insufficient. Despite their criticisms of their pronunciation teaching, the learners reported that they had learnt English pronunciation at school. In addition, many of the learners described learning pronunciation outside school, e.g. through media and personal encounters

Exploring the Relationship between Pronunciation Training and Listening Ability

This study was an attempt to examine the effect of pronunciation training on students’ listening ability. TOEIC listening scores of students who took a pronunciation training class for one-semester or two-semesters were compared with students who did not take any pronunciation training. In the first data set, one-semester pronunciation training, both the experimental group and the control group TOEIC listening scores decreased. In the second data set, two-semester pronunciation training, both the experimental group and the control group TOEIC listening scores improved somewhat, but the improvement was not statistically significant

Challenges in Teaching Pronunciation at Tertiary Level in Bangladesh

Teaching pronunciation is one the most challenging parts of ELT in Bangladesh. Very few research and least attention on pronunciation teaching has instigated those challenges more. Moreover, setting an ambitious target to achieve native like pronunciation and teaching without considering the Bangladeshi context are more specific reasons for creating those problems. Therefore, this paper concentrates on the discussion of the existing condition of teaching pronunciation in Bangladesh. Consequently, it starts with presenting existing circumstances of pronunciation teaching in Bangladesh, and showing what the achievable and realistic goal should be for this situation. Then, it talks about the challenges that the teachers face while teaching pronunciation in ELT classroom. This discussion provides deep insight into those challenges which are only applicable to Bangladeshi students. Finally, the paper suggests some contextual and practical solutions to those specific problems

Questionnaire-based pronunciation studies: Italian, Spanish and polish students’ views on their English pronunciation

Rather than casting new light on teaching pronunciation, the outcome of this study is consistent with the findings of other research on foreign students’ choice of preferred pronunciation model, which is undeniably native rather than foreign-accented

AWARENESS AND PHONOLOGICAL WORKING MEMORY IN THE ADULTACQUISITION OF SECOND LANGUAGE PRONUNCIATION: A CASE STUDY

As one of the micro skills of speaking ability, the role of pronunciation is quite essentialfor it differentiates one meaning to another. The early childhood acquisition of a secondlanguage pronunciation is found to have fewer constraints than those who learn the second language in their adolescence or adult time. The aim of this study is to answer this inquiry:What is the role of awareness and phonological working memory in the adult acquisition ofsecond language?(2) How are awareness and phonological working memory taken into accountin teaching pronunciation for adult? The data collected is in the form of autonomousacquisition cases (depicted in the life story of two postgraduate students of Sanata DharmaUniversity who possess native-like speaking performance: Marschall Eirence Metekohy andDita Anissa Johar) as well as guided acquisition (portrayed in the result of the implementationof Oral Diary as a teaching pronunciation technique for EFL students of grade XI SMA N 2 Bantul). The participants of this study had completed an awareness information questionnaire,and a learning outcomes questionnaire. In terms of validity and reliability, triangulationscaffolds the validation using Pearson’s Coefficient Correlation. It employs the journalistic andstatistical analysis. The result shows that awareness is in line with the activation of long-termmemory and thus becomes one salient factor to improve and to robustly strengthen theremembrance of the correct pronunciation. Henceforth, a further research in designing atechnique for teaching pronunciation which stimulates preponderance awareness is ardentlysuggested

Training novel phonemic contrasts: a comparison of identification and oddity discrimination training

High Variability Pronunciation Training (HVPT) is a highly successful alternative to ASR-based pronunciation training. It has been demonstrated that HVPT is effective in teaching the perception of non-native phonemic contrasts, and that this skill generalizes to the perception of unfamiliar words and talkers, transfers to pronunciation, and is retained long-term. HVPT is, however, not efficient and hence not motivating for the learner. In this study, we therefore compare HVPT with an alternative, namely oddity discrimination training. This comparison, in which Mandarin-Chinese speakers were trained to pronounce the English /r/-/l/ phonemic contrast, provides preliminary evidence to support the use of discrimination tasks in addition to identification tasks to add variety to HVPT

Perception of Fa by non-native listeners in a study abroad context

The present study aims at exploring the under-investigated interface between SA and L2 phonological development by assessing the impact of a 3-month SA programme on the pronunciation of a group of 23 Catalan/Spanish learners of English (NNSs) by means of phonetic measures and perceived FA measures. 6 native speakers (NS) in an exchange programme in Spain provided baseline data for comparison purposes. The participants were recorded performing a reading aloud task before (pre-test) and immediately after (post-test) the SA. Another group of 37 proficient non-native listeners, also bilingual in Catalan/Spanish and trained in English phonetics, assessed the NNS' speech samples for degree of FA. Phonetic measures consisted of pronunciation accuracy scores computed by counting pronunciation errors (phonemic deletions, insertions and substitutions, and stress misplacement). Measures of perceived FA were obtained with two experiments. In experiment 1, the listeners heard a random presentation of the sentences produced by the NSs and by the NNSs at pre-test and post-test and rated them on a 7-point Likert scale for degree of FA (1 = “native” , 7 = “heavy foreign accent”). In experiment 2, they heard paired pre-test/post-test sentences (i.e. produced by the same NNS at pre-test and posttest) and indicated which of the two sounded more native-like. Then, they stated their judgment confidence level on a 7-point scale (1 = “unsure”, 7 = “sure”). Results indicated a slight, non-significant improvement in perceived FA after SA. However, a significant decrease was found in pronunciation accuracy scores after SA. Measures of pronunciation accuracy and FA ratings were also found to be strongly correlated. These findings are discussed in light of the often reported mixed results as regards pronunciation improvement during short-term immersion

The Bold and the Beautiful: How Aspects of Personality Affect Foreign Language Pronunciation

In the main study, a group of Polish learners of English completed a number of mimicry tasks in three languages: Italian, Dutch and Chinese, as well as a narration task in English. Mimicry performance and English pronunciation were then assessed by native speakers and compared. Participants also completed a questionnaire concerning their feelings about the languages they were to mimic and a second questionnaire designed to detect affective factors such as language learning anxiety, as well as attitudes towards the pronunciation of Polish and English. The pilot study suggested that the perceived attractiveness of the foreign language to be mimicked did not affect the performance of most participants, and that mimicry skill was fairly constant across languages. However, those who were particularly concerned about their personal appearance showed greater fluctuation in their ability to mimic and their performance appeared to be influenced by their attitude towards the language. This is referred to by the author as the Cecily effect. That study also confirmed the results of my previous experimental work showing that mimicry skill is correlated to some degree with English language pronunciation and that both pronunciation and mimicry are negatively affected by high levels of anxiety. The main study sets out to investigate whether or not these conclusions hold true for a larger sample population and also seeks to determine the effect of confidence and willingness to take risks on scores for both foreign language pronunciation and mimicry exercises