Article published In: Journal of Second Language Pronunciation
Vol. 10:1 (2024) ► pp.110–125
Pedagogical decisions in the teaching of segmentals and suprasegmentals
Published online: 19 January 2024
https://doi.org/10.1075/jslp.23046.gor
https://doi.org/10.1075/jslp.23046.gor
Abstract
This short article summarizes the pedagogical decisions behind the implementation of treatment in our 2022 study
( (2022). Teaching segmentals and suprasegmentals: Effects of explicit pronunciation instruction on comprehensibility, fluency, and foreign accent. Journal of Second Language Pronunciation, 8(2), 168–195. ). In this study, we provided explicit pronunciation
instruction to three groups of first-semester English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classes at a small university in Costa Rica. We
included a group trained on suprasegmental features and connected speech (Suprasegmental Group), a second group that received
instruction on vowels and consonants (Segmental Group), and a third group that received a combination of segmentals and
suprasegmentals as in the other two groups (Mixed Group). We collected speech samples in a pretest and a posttest, which were
rated by a group of L1-English speakers for comprehensibility, fluency, and accentedness. In this article, we provide details
about the selection of content, materials development, and the implementation of instruction in the three experimental groups in
our study.
Article outline
- Background
- Pedagogical approach of the 2022 study
- Segmental group
- Suprasegmental group
- Mixed group
- Evaluation
References
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