Journal of Second Language Pronunciation - Current Issue

Abstract

This editorial provides an overview of how language use has been measured in second language acquisition (SLA) research and how it can be implemented in studies on pronunciation. The use of surveys and questionnaires, self-reports, and other methods is discussed along with the limitations of these current methods and recommendations. Measuring language use reliably can be challenging, but implementing and adapting current methods can help make it easier.

Abstract

Language institutions need efficient and reliable placement tests to ensure students are placed in appropriate classes. This can be achieved by automating the scoring of pronunciation tests via the use of speech recognition, as its reliability has been shown to be comparable to that of human raters. However, this technology can be costly as it requires development and maintenance, placing it beyond the means of many institutions. This study investigates the feasibility of assessing English second language pronunciation in placement tests through the use of a free automatic speech recognition tool, Google Voice Typing (GVT). We compared human-rated and GVT-rated scores of 56 pronunciation placement tests. Our results indicate a strong correlation between scores for the final rating and for each criterion on the rubric used by human raters. We conclude that leveraging this free speech technology could increase the test usefulness of language placement tests.

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of listeners’ dialectal variations within the same L1 on perceptions of L2 speech comprehensibility and accentedness. Thirty untrained British and American English-L1 raters assessed recorded L2 speech samples from 29 Finnish learners of English and provided scalar judgments for their comprehensibility and accentedness. Four linguistically trained graduate students evaluated the samples for segmental accuracy, speech rate, word stress and intonation. Results of linear mixed models indicated no significant effect of raters’ L1 variety on global comprehensibility and accentedness ratings. While American and British raters relied on same pronunciation features in their comprehensibility judgments, they placed different levels of importance on pronunciation features when making accentedness judgments. Particularly, both groups primarily exhibited sensitivity towards segmental errors in their assessments of accentedness, whereas American raters demonstrated an additional sensitivity to intonation. The findings underscore the complexity of accent perception based on the L1 variety of listeners.

Abstract

Addressing the lack of research examining the use of discourse-level speech input in beginning L2 learners’ Mandarin tone production in spontaneous speech, this study compares the effects of authentic videos and textbook audios as shadowing materials on beginners’ multisyllabic tone production in spontaneous speech and learner attitudes. Fourteen college students, randomly divided into the “authentic” and “textbook” groups, shadowed for four weeks. From the pretest to the posttest, both groups significantly improved tone accuracy in sentence-level spontaneous speech with no significant differences between groups. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of learners’ responses show that (1) both groups had positive attitudes toward the materials, (2) authentic materials generated greater interest, and learners appreciated shadowing authentic conversations or conversations that mimic natural discourse, and (3) the learners primarily cared about whether the materials were comprehensible, interesting, and accessible. The findings shed light on using authentic materials to teach L2 pronunciation.

Abstract

Listen-and-repeat training has previously been successfully used to train the perception and production of non-native vowel quality and duration contrasts. This study used a one-day listen-and-repeat training paradigm for the production of a non-native vowel duration contrast, /tite – tiːte/ with no feedback or other instructions. Learning results were assessed by acoustic analysis of the produced durations, and identification of the productions by listeners with quantity contrasts in their native Finnish language. Training participants were 18 Namibian speakers of various Bantu and Khoe languages. The results showed that the majority of the speakers did not produce a consistent acoustic duration contrast between the target words. In the identification task, the listeners’ performance was at essentially chance level for almost all of the speakers. The results are discussed in terms of earlier results using the same stimuli, training design and language background.

Abstract

This short article summarizes the pedagogical decisions behind the implementation of treatment in our 2022 study (Gordon & Darcy, 2022). In this study, we provided explicit pronunciation instruction to three groups of first-semester English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classes at a small university in Costa Rica. We included a group trained on suprasegmental features and connected speech (Suprasegmental Group), a second group that received instruction on vowels and consonants (Segmental Group), and a third group that received a combination of segmentals and suprasegmentals as in the other two groups (Mixed Group). We collected speech samples in a pretest and a posttest, which were rated by a group of L1-English speakers for comprehensibility, fluency, and accentedness. In this article, we provide details about the selection of content, materials development, and the implementation of instruction in the three experimental groups in our study.

Abstract

This paper reports on the decisions made in the development and delivery of the training outlined in Maczuga, O’Brien and Knaus (2017). Framed within a Processing Instruction framework, this contribution considers previous input-based training research, which has primarily focused on the training of second language segments. In addition to providing a brief summary of the results, the paper also includes relevant recent research and provides a discussion of the limitations and recommendations for future work in the area.

This article reviews Teaching English Pronunciation for a Global World978-0-19-408898-5