Journal of Second Language Pronunciation - Current Issue

Abstract

Understanding how production and perception interact in second language (L2) phonetic learning remains an open question, with conflicting evidence about the role of production in perceptual training. This study investigates the effects of the timing of production during discrimination training on learning the English /l/–/r/ contrast. Forty-six Japanese learners of English were assigned to one of three training groups: Production-first group, where participants repeated a stimulus before answering a perceptual question; Production-last group, where participants repeated a stimulus after answering a perceptual question; and Perception-only group, where no production was involved. All groups completed a discrimination task before and after training. Results revealed that the Perception-only and Production-first groups significantly improved discrimination accuracy while the Production-last group did not. These findings suggest that although repeating a stimulus during discrimination training does not always disrupt learning, perception-only training consistently brings about better learning outcomes in L2 perception.

Abstract

The present study investigates the effects of explicit and implicit pronunciation instruction on the production and perceived accentedness of three German fricatives — [ç], [ʃ], [x] — by English-speaking learners of German. Speech samples, collected following a pre-test/post-test/delayed-post-test design, were analyzed through acoustic analysis and listener-based accentedness ratings. Center of gravity was used to assess place of articulation, and perceived accentedness was rated on a nine-point Likert scale. Results indicate that learners who received explicit instruction produced fricatives with spectral characteristics more closely aligned with target articulations and were rated as less accented compared to learners who received implicit instruction. Findings also highlight how English orthography and learners’ first-language phonetic inventory can interfere with L2 pronunciation.

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss a set of 60 listening quizzes, created to support adult learners of Hul’q’umi’num’ (Coast Salish) in fine-tuning their listening and speaking skills. Hul’q’umi’num’ has a rich consonant inventory, including many sounds not found in learners’ L1 (English). The goal of the quizzes was twofold: provide learners with opportunities to practice hearing these sounds and, at the same time, inform us about the features of Hul’q’umi’num’ L2 speech perception. Findings showed which sounds were particularly easy or challenging, laying the foundation for creating more targeted resources to better aid sound acquisition among Hul’q’umi’num’ learners. Evidence of improvement in perceptual ability after taking the quizzes was also found. This work contributes to diversifying scientific approaches to second language acquisition by showing how speech perception research and pedagogy can be combined in an Indigenous language revitalization context.

Abstract

This study examines the validity of WER as a proxy for pronunciation quality in EFL contexts. Human ratings of comprehensibility and accentedness were compared with WER and automated pronunciation scores from six ASR systems — Kaldi, wav2vec 2.0, HuBERT, Whisper (Base and Large-v3), and Microsoft Azure — using 190 read-aloud recordings by Korean elementary learners. With respect to pronunciation scoring, Azure’s phoneme-level accuracy scores demonstrated moderate correlations with human judgments, while Kaldi’s GOP scores showed no meaningful association. Analysis of WER revealed a critical trade-off between ASR accuracy and perceptual sensitivity: high-performing systems such as Whisper Large-v3 and Azure produced near-zero WERs but weakly correlated with human ratings. In contrast, mid-performing systems such as Whisper Base and HuBERT showed stronger correlations, indicating that moderate WER values may better reflect pronunciation variation. These results underscore the limitations of WER in advanced ASR systems and the need for perceptually grounded, interpretable metrics.

Abstract

The role of age in second-language acquisition has provoked much debate and research, especially with respect to pronunciation. However, little emphasis has been placed on acquisition between early adulthood and middle age. We examined combined speaking and listening proficiency scores from 1,992 immigrants to Canada with ages of arrival (AOA) ranging from 15 to 50 and a mean of 5 years of Canadian residence. Eleven diverse L1 groups were represented, and proficiency was measured via the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) assessment tool. Mixed-effects statistical modelling indicated a strong negative relationship between AOA and CLB test scores. In general, older learners were less likely to obtain higher test scores, with the effect varying across L1 groups. In contrast, no evidence emerged of a meaningful relationship between length of residence and proficiency scores.

This article reviews A Guide to Quantitative Research Methods in Second Language Pronunciation

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