Journal of Second Language Pronunciation - Online First

It has been suggested that learners can use their phonological knowledge receptively in other linguistic domains, for instance to support lexical acquisition, a process referred to as “phonological bootstrapping” ( Christophe et al., 1997 ). However, research on productive phonological processes in early foreign language acquisition has been rare. The present study addresses this gap and shows that phonology functions as a deliberate productive resource to compensate for lexical limitations in early foreign language acquisition. 184 4th grade students learning English at German primary schools were asked to tell a picture story in English. Findings show that the majority of learners use a strategy we name “productive phonological bootstrapping” to fill lexical gaps by adapting German items to the English sound system. Similar phonological phenomena as in other language contact domains occur in a combination with manipulations based on differences between German and English, suggesting an interplay of universal and language-specific processes.

Visual feedback, in which learners visually analyze acoustic speech characteristics, has been shown to significantly improve pronunciation, but extant research has varied widely with respect to the target feature, length of the intervention, and type of intervention. This study presents a comparative analysis of three methods of visual feedback for L2 segmental pronunciation instruction. These methods, all focused on training voice onset time for English-speaking learners of Spanish, differed in duration of instruction (i.e., short and long) and the nature of each intervention (i.e., phonemes presented simultaneously or sequentially). Results show that while all forms of visual feedback significantly improve L2 Spanish pronunciation, evidenced by a reduction in voice onset time, the greatest improvement was found following both longer treatments and a sequential approach. Theoretical and pedagogical implications are discussed.

This study explored the potential impact of pronunciation instruction on L2 listening comprehension. Seventy-two intermediate Vietnamese EFL university learners formed two groups. The pronunciation group (n = 35) received seven weekly 45-minute pronunciation instruction sessions targeting segmental and suprasegmental features of English. The control group (n = 37) did not receive any pronunciation instruction. Weekly reflections, an exit questionnaire and focus group interviews were used to investigate learners’ perceptions of the impact of the pronunciation instruction. Results showed that the two groups’ immediate listening post-test scores did not differ significantly after the first two sessions on syllables and consonants/vowels. However, the pronunciation group outperformed the control group after three further pronunciation sessions on word stress, thought groups and sentence focus, but these differences disappeared on subsequent immediate and delayed post-tests. Self-report data indicated learners’ positive perceptions of the helpfulness of the pronunciation instruction and how the gained pronunciation knowledge helped improve their listening comprehension.