Differential effects of instruction on the development of second language comprehensibility, word stress, rhythm, and intonation: The case of inexperienced Japanese EFL learners

Abstract

The current study examined in depth the effects of suprasegmental-based instruction on the global (comprehensibility) and suprasegmental (word stress, rhythm, and intonation) development of 10 Japanese English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) learners. Students in the experimental group (n = 10) received a total of three hours of instruction over six weeks, while those in the control group (n = 10) were provided with meaning-oriented instruction without any focus on suprasegmentals. Speech samples elicited from read-aloud tasks were assessed via native-speaking listeners' intuitive judgments and acoustic analyses. Overall, the pre-/post-test data showed significant gains in the overall comprehensibility, word stress, rhythm, and intonation of the experimental group in both trained and untrained lexical contexts. In particular, by virtue of explicitly addressing L1-L2 linguistic differences, the instruction was able to help learners mark stressed syllables with longer and clearer vowels; reduce vowels in unstressed syllables; and use appropriate intonation patterns for yes/no and wh-questions. The findings provide empirical support for the value of suprasegmental-based instruction in phonological development, even with beginner-level EFL learners with a limited amount of L2 conversational experience.

The Effectiveness of Video‐Based Shadowing and Tracking Pronunciation Exercises for Foreign Language Learners

“…In addition, many findings may not be applicable to K–12 contexts as a large majority of the studies have used controlled measures with adult learners of English as a foreign or second language (ESL) to ascertain improvements in pronunciation (Lee et al, ). Such measures allow researchers to control what sounds the learner produces and in what contexts, and often include simply reading aloud a set of words or sentences from a preselected text (e.g., Saito & Saito, ). In fact, a narrative literature review found that nearly 60% of studies had examined the degree to which explicit instruction in pronunciation improved learners’ performance on such discrete measures (Thomson & Derwing, ), while only 20% employed tests of spontaneous speech (e.g., Eckstein, ), with improvement on the read‐aloud tasks being easier to achieve because the context was controlled (Thomson & Derwing, , p. 331).…”

Effects of Second Language Pronunciation Teaching Revisited: A Proposed Measurement Framework and Meta‐Analysis

“…Following Spada and Tomita's () task taxonomy, we first coded for controlled production tasks in which L2 learners were allowed to focus solely on accurate and fluent use of language, as in word, sentence, and paragraph reading (Saito & Saito, ) and delayed repetition tasks (Lee & Lyster, ). Our second coded category was spontaneous production tasks in which L2 learners were guided to use language accurately and fluently while at the same time using language for meaning as a primary focus, as in picture naming (Offerman & Olson, ), picture narratives (Trofimovich et al., ), timed picture descriptions (Saito, ), and interviews (Parlak & Ziegler, 2016).…”

Non-Native Raters and Native Speech: Other Perspective for the Research on Comprehensibility of Second Language Input

“…Further research should test this principle in larger samples because one limitation of our study is related to the small number of learners who were effectively assessed by school to identify a proficiency level. Additionally, effects of instruction should be revisited in order to understand the weaknesses for the L2 learners [30]. The SES variable showed to have influence for comprehensibility in these L2 learners, as shown in the children with unemployed parents, which were in the lowest position.…”