This article aims to reconceptualize pronunciation teaching and learning according to the tenets of the 2007 MLA Report and its call for translingual/transcultural competence. The critical discussion of current teaching and research practices shows that the realm of pronunciation has benefitted little from debates on intercultural language learning. In order to link the teaching of pronunciation with learner needs in intercultural encounters, this article develops the concept of pronunciation‐as‐language. The theoretical exploration of this concept is supported by a narrative analysis of study‐abroad learners' accounts, contrasting learners' perceptions of teaching practices with the complex role pronunciation plays in second language‐mediated interactions. The results underline the importance of pedagogical approaches that encourage the critical reflection on and creative use of pronunciation beyond structural elements and native‐speaker norms.
This paper discusses the findings of an empirical study that explores the relationship between study-abroad experiences, learner identity, and pronunciation. We argue that the role of pronunciation as a personal domain of meaning-making warrants more attention than it has hitherto received. To this end, we investigate the narratives of Canadian learners, studying abroad in Germany, in relation to discourses of language learning, culture, and identity, using a Critical Discourse Analysis approach. Our data, which we gained from semi-structured interviews and e-journals, shows that learners' perceptions of pronunciation are closely linked to their views of the native-speaker ideal, impacting their self-constructions and interpretations of learning experience. In conclusion, we argue for a more differentiated understanding of pronunciation and its implications for language teaching and study abroad.
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.
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