No abstract

A body of previous work in second‐ and foreign language pronunciation instruction (e.g., Lord, ; Miller, ) has shown that explicit phonetic and pronunciation instruction is beneficial. However, Olson () noted that just a few minutes per week of instruction are devoted to pronunciation in most classrooms. What is the effect of such limited, sporadic attention to this critical aspect of language? This study traced the longitudinal development of four students over the first four semesters of French language study at a large Midwestern university. Analyses focused on a global measure of pronunciation accuracy—the number of incorrectly pronounced syllables (Lappin‐Fortin, ; Sturm, )—and included qualitative analyses of the types of errors participants continued to make. Results indicate that students’ pronunciation does improve to a certain extent but that progress is inconsistent both across phonemes and across students. This baseline study sets the stage for future studies of the impact of systematic, explicit instruction.

This article is a description of a graduate pedagogy course on using film in language courses at the university level; the principles and methods taught are adaptable to any level and any second (L2) or foreign language course. The focus is the methodology, or topics and themes covered by the course, and results of the implemented method: student reactions, based on course evaluations and correspondence received by the author. Students in the course were enthusiastic and receptive to the course, and their coursework became part of a repository for other teaching assistants at their university. Long‐range implications are further implementation of film‐based pedagogy in L2 courses, providing a contextualized methodology and opportunities for communication in the L2.

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether integrating online audiovisual materials into the listening instruction of L2 French learners would have a measurable impact on their listening comprehension development. Students from two intact sections of second-semester French were tested on their listening comprehension before and after a four-week learning phase during which the treatment group received listening instruction via audiovisual materials while the control group completed a different listening task that did not involve audiovisual materials. Results from the pretest indicated that the two groups began the study at a nearly identical level of listening ability. The experimental group subsequently increased its listening proficiency in the immediate and delayed posttests, achieving considerably higher scores when compared to the control group. While the difference in scores on the posttests was not significant, effect sizes suggested a positive outcome for the experimental group. This study represents a preliminary indication that activities using online audiovisual materials may have a positive impact on the acquisition of listening comprehension skills.

While considerable research has been conducted on the acquisition of vocabulary in L2 learning, less attention has been paid to the acquisition of L2 orthography. The present research looks at the acquisition of one aspect of L2 orthography*accent marks in L2 French*for learners whose L1, English, does not feature accent marks. Specifically, this study investigates the effects of the knowledge of a word's meaning, or lack thereof, on learners' ability to place accent marks on target items as well as to recognise accented versions of the same target items. Results suggest that exposure to a word's meaning increases learners' ability to recognise the correctly accented version, but not the ability to place the missing accent.