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Article published In: Journal of Second Language Pronunciation
Vol. 8:3 (2022) ► pp.328–362

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Comprehensibility improvements in integrated pronunciation instruction

A comparison of instructional methods and task effects

ORCiD logo with link | Indiana University
ORCiD logo with link | Indiana University
Published online: 20 January 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jslp.21035.dar
Abstract
Integration of pronunciation into content courses is appealing because of its potential in helping learners apply their developing pronunciation skills in spontaneous speech. However, the effectiveness of pronunciation instruction (PI) when it is integrated still needs to be demonstrated. This study evaluates whether a group receiving integrated PI (targeting suprasegmentals) improved in controlled and spontaneous speech tasks, compared to a group who did not receive any specific PI. We measured improvements as comprehensibility ratings and proportion of perceived word stress and vowel reduction errors. The results show that integration appears to be beneficial overall, including in spontaneous speech tasks when comprehensibility is measured. We interpret these findings considering the different tasks used and examine the contribution of the specific instructional approach (form-focused with communicative contextualization) to the observed changes between pre- and post-test.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Integrated pronunciation instruction
    • 2.1The effect of tasks used to measure pronunciation improvements
    • 2.2Suprasegmental dimensions and comprehensibility
  • 3.The Current Study
  • 4.Methods
    • 4.1Participants
    • 4.2Instructional targets
    • 4.3Teaching and feedback implementation
      • 4.3.1Dedicated pronunciation lessons
      • 4.3.2Integrated instruction
    • 4.4Speech samples
    • 4.5Rating of speech samples
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1Data preparation
    • 5.2Comprehensibility Ratings for Integrated and Control groups
    • 5.3Comprehensibility Ratings for Integrated Subgroups
    • 5.4Word stress and vowel reduction ratings
  • 6.General discussion
    • 6.1Effects of type of instruction
    • 6.2Effects of tasks
    • 6.3Global and specific ratings
  • 7.Conclusion and open questions
  • Acknowledgments
  • Note
  • References
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