Cover not available

Article published In: Journal of Second Language Pronunciation
Vol. 2:1 (2016) ► pp.108–142

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Listening to learners’ voices

Qualitative aspects of pronunciation learning during study abroad

 | Virginia Commonwealth University
Published online: 31 March 2016
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jslp.2.1.05mul
This article investigates learners’ perceptions on pronunciation learning in study-abroad contexts from a qualitative perspective. While previous research focused mainly on quantitative measurements of pronunciation gains with mixed results, this study takes a more learner-centered approach and examines the impact of socio-psychological factors on learning foreign pronunciation, which appears to be a highly individual and at times conflict-prone process with which sojourners are confronted. The study draws on the cases of five Canadian students who studied abroad at German universities for one or two semesters. The data collection involved a learning history questionnaire; semi-structured interviews pre-, mid-, and post-sojourn; and bi-weekly e-journals. The data was analyzed and interpreted within the framework of narrative analysis. The results show how sojourners’ beliefs about the importance of pronunciation, community participation, identity-related challenges, and obstacles to pronunciation learning influence and help explain individually different learning behaviors and results.
References (50)
Barcelos, A.M.F. (2003). Researching beliefs about SLA: A critical review. In P. Kalaja & A.M.F. Barcelos (Eds.), Beliefs about SLA: New research approaches (pp. 7–33). Dordrecht, NL: Kluwer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Derwing, T.M. (2003). What do ESL students say about their accents? Canadian Modern Language Review, 591, 547–566. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Díaz-Campos, M. (2004). Context of learning in the acquisition of Spanish second language phonology. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 261, 249–273. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dörnyei, Z. (2003). Attitudes, orientations, and motivations in language learning: Advances in theory, research, and applications. In Z. Dörnyei (Ed.), Attitudes, orientations and motivations in language learning (pp. 3–32). Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Duff, P.A. (2008). Case study research in applied linguistics. New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Eckman, F. (1987). Markedness and the contrastive analysis hypothesis. In G. Ioup & S. Weinberger (Eds.), Interlanguage phonology (pp. 55–69). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Firth, A., & Wagner, J. (1997). On discourse, communication, and (some) fundamental concepts in SLA research. The Modern Language Journal, 81(3), 285–300. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Flick, U., von Kardorff, E., & Steinke, I. (2004). What is qualitative research? An introduction to the field. In U. Flick, E. von Kardorff, & I. Steinke (Eds.), A companion to qualitative research (pp. 3–11). London: Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Furman, N., Goldberg, D., & Lusin, N. (2010). Enrollments in languages other than English in United States institutions of higher education, fall 2009. Modern Language Association. Retrieved April 24, 2015.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gatbonton, E., Trofimovich, P., & Magid, M. (2005). Learners’ ethnic group affiliation and L2 pronunciation accuracy: A sociolinguistic investigation. TESOL Quarterly, 39(3), 489–511. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Geeslin, K.L., & Gudmestad, A. (2008). The acquisition of variation in second-language Spanish: An agenda for integrating the studies of the L2 sound system. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 5(2), 137–157.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
George, A. (2014). Study abroad in central Spain: The development of regional phonological features. Foreign Language Annals, 47(1), 97–114. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hansen Edwards, J.G. (2008). Social factors and variation in production in L2 phonology. In J.G. Hansen Edwards & M.L. Zampini (Eds.), Phonology and second language acquisition (pp. 251–279). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hansen Edwards, J.G., & Zampini, M.L. (2008). Introduction. In J.G. Hansen Edwards & M.L. Zampini (Eds.), Phonology and second language acquisition (pp. 1–11). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Institute of International Education. (2014). Top 25 destinations of U.S. study abroad students, 2011/12 -2012/13. Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. Retrieved April 24, 2015.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jackson, J. (2008). Language, identity and study abroad: Sociocultural perspectives. London: Equinox.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kennedy, S., Blanchet, J., & Trofimovich, P. (2014). Learner pronunciation, awareness, and instruction in French as a second language. Foreign Language Annals, 47(1), 79–96. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kinginger, C. (2009). Language learning and study abroad: A critical reading of research. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillian. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Knouse, S.M. (2012). The acquisition of dialectal phonemes in a study abroad context: The case of the Castilian theta. Foreign Language Annals, 45(4), 512–542. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kramsch, C. (2009). The multilingual subject. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levis, J.M. (2005). Changing contexts and shifting paradigms in pronunciation teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 39(3), 369–377. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lieblich, A., Tuval-Mashiach, R., & Zilber, T. (1998). Narrative research: Reading, analysis, and interpretation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lord, G. (2010). The combined effects of immersion and instruction on second language pronunciation. Foreign Language Annals, 43(3), 488–503. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lybeck, K. (2002). Cultural identification and second language pronunciation of Americans in Norway. The Modern Language Journal, 86(2), 174–191. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Martinsen, R.A., Alvord, S.M., & Tanner, J. (2014). Perceived foreign accent: Extended stays abroad, level of instruction, and motivation. Foreign Language Annals, 47(1), 66–78. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marx, N. (2002). Never quite a ‘native speaker’: Accent and identity in the L2 – and the L1. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 59(2), 264–281. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moyer, A. (2004). Age, accent and experience in second language acquisition: An integrated approach to critical period inquiry. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2013). Foreign accent: The phenomenon of non-native speech. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Müller, M. (2013). Conceptualizing pronunciation as part of translingual/transcultural competence: New impulses for SLA research and the L2 classroom. Foreign Language Annals, 46(2), 213–229. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Müller, M., & Schmenk, B. (in press). Narrating the sound of self: The role of pronunciation in learners’ self-constructions in study-abroad contexts. International Journal of Applied Linguistics.
Muñoz, C., & Llanes, A. (2014). Study abroad and changes in degree of foreign accent in children and adults. The Modern Language Journal, 98(1), 432–449. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Munro, M.J. (2008). Foreign accent and speech intelligibility. In J.G. Hansen Edwards & M.L. Zampini (Eds.), Phonology and second language acquisition (pp. 193–218). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Brien, M.G. (2003). Longitudinal development of second language German vowels. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Wisconsin, Madison.
. (2004). Pronunciation matters. Unterrichtspraxis, 37(1), 1–9. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Donnell, K. (2004). Student perceptions of language learning in two contexts: At home and study abroad. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Pittsburgh.
Pellegrino, V.A. (1998). Student perspective on language learning in a study abroad context. Frontiers, 101, 91–120. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Piller, I. (2002). Passing for a native speaker: Identity and success in second language learning. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 6(2), 179–206. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Plews, J.L. (2015). Intercultural identity-alignment in second language study abroad, or the more-or-less Canadians. In R. Mitchell, N. Tracy-Ventura, & K. McManus (Eds.), Social interaction, identity and language learning during residence abroad. (pp. 281–304) EUROSLA monograph series 4. http://www.eurosla.org/monographs/EM04/Plews.pdf
Polkinghorne, D.E. (1995). Narrative configuration in qualitative analysis. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 8(1), 5–23. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Riessman, C.K. (1993). Narrative analysis. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2003). Analysis of personal narratives. In J.A. Holstein & J.F. Gubrium (Eds.), Inside interviewing: New lenses, new concerns (pp. 331–346). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2008). Narrative methods for the human sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ringer-Hilfinger, K. (2012). Learner acquisition of dialect variation in a study abroad context: The case of the Spanish [q]. Foreign Language Annals, 45(3), 1–17. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Saito, K. (2012). Effects of instruction on L2 pronunciation development: A synthesis of 15 quasi-experimental intervention studies. TESOL Quarterly, 46(4), 842–854. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shoaib, A., & Dörnyei, Z. (2005). Affect in lifelong learning: Exploring L2 motivation as a dynamic process. In P. Benson & D. Nunan (Eds.), Learners’ stories: Difference and diversity in language learning (pp. 22–41). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Simões, A.R.M. (1996). Phonetics in second language acquisition: An acoustic study of fluency in adult learners of Spanish. Hispania, 79(1), 87–95. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stevens, J.J. (2000). The acquisition of L2 Spanish pronunciation in a study abroad context. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Southern California.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Timmis, I. (2002). Native-speaker norms and International English: A classroom view. ELT Journal, 56(3), 240–249. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wilkerson, M.E. (2007). (In)variability in accent perception: A comparison of native and non-native speakers of German of varying proficiency on what constitutes “nativeness” of accent in German. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Wisconsin, Madison.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zuengler, J. (1988). Identity markers and L2 pronunciation. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 101, 33–49. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (6)

Cited by six other publications

Hansen Edwards, Jette G.
2024. Social Factors and L2 Phonetics and Phonology, DOI logo
Levis, John M.
2024. Key issues in L2 pronunciation research. Journal of Second Language Pronunciation 10:3 ► pp. 293 ff. DOI logo
Pope, Joshua
2023. Individual differences in the adoption of dialectal features during study abroad. In Study Abroad and the Second Language Acquisition of Sociolinguistic Variation in Spanish [Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 37], ► pp. 147 ff. DOI logo
Tsunemoto, Aki, Pavel Trofimovich & Sara Kennedy
2023. Pre-service teachers’ beliefs about second language pronunciation teaching, their experience, and speech assessments. Language Teaching Research 27:1 ► pp. 115 ff. DOI logo
Hansen Edwards, Jette, Ka Long Roy Chan, Toni Lam & Qian Wang
2021. Social Factors and the Teaching of Pronunciation: What the Research Tells Us. RELC Journal 52:1 ► pp. 35 ff. DOI logo
Isabelli-García, Christina, Jennifer Bown, John L. Plews & Dan P. Dewey
2018. Language learning and study abroad. Language Teaching 51:4 ► pp. 439 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 13 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue