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“That was a berry funny yolk”

Extramural English practices and their relation to Spanish learners’ pronunciation of the phonemes /b/, /v/, /j/ and /dʒ/

ORCiD logo with link | University of Alicante
Published online: 24 March 2026
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/itl.25013.sin
Abstract
This study examines the effect of extramural activities in English on Spanish university students’ acquisition of the English phonemes /b/, /v/, /j/, and /dʒ/, using data collected via a questionnaire and a reading-aloud test administered to 58 students aged 18–20. The AI-powered software Phonexia and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. Listening to music and watching videos were the most frequently practiced activities, while gaming was the least. Although the target sounds were largely accurately pronounced, some typical errors for Spanish learners were observed. No significant correlation was found between exposure to extramural activities and the pronunciation outcomes. The practical nature of pronunciation, the most frequently practiced extramural activities, and other variables are considered when interpreting the results.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • English and Spanish phonemes
  • Extramural language and pronunciation learning
  • The study
    • Research questions
    • Participants
    • Materials: Questionnaire
    • Materials: Reading-aloud test
  • Procedure
  • Data analysis
  • Results
    • Results RQ 1: Accuracy of pronunciation
    • Results RQ 2: Relationship between exposure and articulatory accuracy
  • Discussion
  • Conclusions and further research
  • Acknowledgements
  • Note
  • References
References (78)
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