Improving L2 pronunciation inside and outside the classroom

Spanish/Catalan learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) attended a formal instruction (FI) period combined with explicit pronunciation instruction, which consisted of theoretical and practical approaches to English segmental phonetics as well as a contrastive analysis between the participan...

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Main Authors: Angélica Carlet, Hanna Kivistö-de Souza
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina 2018-09-01
Series:Ilha do Desterro
Online Access:https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/54019
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author Angélica Carlet
Hanna Kivistö-de Souza
author_facet Angélica Carlet
Hanna Kivistö-de Souza
author_sort Angélica Carlet
collection DOAJ
description Spanish/Catalan learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) attended a formal instruction (FI) period combined with explicit pronunciation instruction, which consisted of theoretical and practical approaches to English segmental phonetics as well as a contrastive analysis between the participants’ first languages and the target language, English. The EFL learners’ ability to perceive and produce L2 vowels was assessed before and after the 8-week instructional treatment. Results show that the EFL learners significantly improved their perception of vowel sounds embedded in real and non-words. However, no improvement in production was found as a result of the instruction received. While these results suggest that learners’ perceptual skills can be improved with teacher-led instruction, the quantity and availability of explicit pronunciation instruction is not sufficient to modify learners’ speech production. Thus, optimal results require learners to continue learning outside the classroom context. With this aim, this paper presents two autonomous activities developed to increase learners’ awareness about phonology: L1-L2 Pronunciation Comparison Task and a Phonological Self-awareness Questionnaire.
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publisher Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
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spelling doaj-art-39bb79e8551441ccbc2c8da86d2c017e2025-08-20T02:42:56ZengUniversidade Federal de Santa CatarinaIlha do Desterro0101-48462175-80262018-09-0171310.5007/2175-8026.2018v71n3p9929272Improving L2 pronunciation inside and outside the classroomAngélica Carlet0Hanna Kivistö-de Souza1UICUFSC Spanish/Catalan learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) attended a formal instruction (FI) period combined with explicit pronunciation instruction, which consisted of theoretical and practical approaches to English segmental phonetics as well as a contrastive analysis between the participants’ first languages and the target language, English. The EFL learners’ ability to perceive and produce L2 vowels was assessed before and after the 8-week instructional treatment. Results show that the EFL learners significantly improved their perception of vowel sounds embedded in real and non-words. However, no improvement in production was found as a result of the instruction received. While these results suggest that learners’ perceptual skills can be improved with teacher-led instruction, the quantity and availability of explicit pronunciation instruction is not sufficient to modify learners’ speech production. Thus, optimal results require learners to continue learning outside the classroom context. With this aim, this paper presents two autonomous activities developed to increase learners’ awareness about phonology: L1-L2 Pronunciation Comparison Task and a Phonological Self-awareness Questionnaire. https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/54019
spellingShingle Angélica Carlet
Hanna Kivistö-de Souza
Improving L2 pronunciation inside and outside the classroom
Ilha do Desterro
title Improving L2 pronunciation inside and outside the classroom
title_full Improving L2 pronunciation inside and outside the classroom
title_fullStr Improving L2 pronunciation inside and outside the classroom
title_full_unstemmed Improving L2 pronunciation inside and outside the classroom
title_short Improving L2 pronunciation inside and outside the classroom
title_sort improving l2 pronunciation inside and outside the classroom
url https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/54019
work_keys_str_mv AT angelicacarlet improvingl2pronunciationinsideandoutsidetheclassroom
AT hannakivistodesouza improvingl2pronunciationinsideandoutsidetheclassroom