On the relationship between L2 pronunciation and culture

Martinsen, Rob A.; Alvord, Scott M.

doi:10.1075/sic.9.3.04mar

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Intercultural development prior to students' departure for their experiences abroad also predicted gains in their L2 skills. This finding corroborates evidence from other recent studies that have also uncovered a relationship between L2 acquisition and culture learning while abroad (Martinsen, 2010;Martinsen & Alvord, 2012;Vande Berg et al, 2009). This suggests that students' abilities to deal effectively with other cultures affects their L2 learning, at least in the study abroad context.…”

Section: Intercultural Sensitivitysupporting

confidence: 92%

Variables Affecting L2 Gains During Study Abroad

Baker-Smemoe

Dewey

Bown

et al. 2014

Foreign Language Annals

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151

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Second language (L2) gains during study abroad have been related to several variables including length of stay (Llanes, 2011), language use (Martinsen, Baker, Dewey, Bown, & Johnson, 2010), and social network development (Isabelli‐García, 2006), among others. However, most studies have investigated only a few predictors in single study abroad programs. While these findings are helpful, larger scale studies are needed to better understand the variables that contribute to L2 gains across several different cultures and learner groups. The current study examines predictors of L2 gain of more than 100 native English speakers who participated in study abroad in Mexico, Spain, France, Egypt, Russia, and China. Participants were asked to complete an ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview at the beginning and end of their study abroad program. Participants were then divided into “gainers” and “non‐gainers,” or those who did or did not make significant language gains from pre‐ to posttest. Their language gains from pre to posttest were compared to several predictors: personality (measured by the NEO Five‐Factor Inventory), social networks (size, dispersion, density, etc.), intercultural sensitivity (measured by the Intercultural Development Inventory), amount of second language use, gender, and age. Results suggest that many students were able to make gains in language, in each of the programs, and that the strongest predictors of L2 gains were cultural sensitivity and social network variables.

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Section: Intercultural Sensitivitysupporting

confidence: 92%

Variables Affecting L2 Gains During Study Abroad

Baker-Smemoe

Dewey

Bown

et al. 2014

Foreign Language Annals

Self Cite

151

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The findings also supported the general concept of the effectiveness of attitude in language learning process as reported previously in many studies (Rukh, 2014;Martinsen & Alvord, 2012). The results of the study further confirmed Elliot's (1995) findings, where positive attitude was found to be the main variable in relation to language pronunciation, implying that students who were more concerned about their pronunciation, had more positive attitude towards target language and; therefore, were more successful in imitating correct pronunciation.…”

Section: Research Question 3: Testing the Correlation Between Attitudsupporting

confidence: 80%

Relationship Among Brain Hemispheric Dominance, Attitude Towards L1 and L2, Gender, and Learning Suprasegmental Features

Mahmoodi

Zekrati

2016

Indonesian J. Appl. Linguist

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Oral skills are important components of language competence. To have good and acceptable listening and speaking, one must have good pronunciation, which encompasses segmental and suprasegmental features. Despite extensive studies on the role of segmental features and related issues in listening and speaking, there is paucity of research on the role of suprasegmental features in the same domain. Conducting studies which aim at shedding light on the issues related to learning suprasegmental features can help language teachers and learners in the process of teaching/learning English as a foreign language. To this end, this study was designed to investigate the relationship among brain hemispheric dominance, gender, attitudes towards L1 and L2, and learning suprasegmental features in Iranian EFL learners. First, 200 Intermediate EFL learners were selected from different English language teaching institutes in Hamedan and Isfahan, two provinces in Iran, as the sample. Prior to the main stage of the study, Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was used to homogenize the proficiency level of all the participants. Then, the participants were asked to complete the Edinburgh Handedness Questionnaire to determine their dominant hemisphere. They were also required to answer two questionnaires regarding their attitudes towards L1 and L2. Finally, the participants took suprasegmental features test. The results of the independent samples t-tests indicated left-brained language learners' superiority in observing and learning suprasegmental features. It was also found that females are better than males in producing suprasegmental features. Furthermore, the results of Pearson Product Moment Correlations indicated that there is significant relationship between attitude towards L2 and learning suprasegmental features. However, no significant relationship was found between attitude towards L1 and learning English suprasegmental features. The findings of this study can provide English learners, teachers and developers of instructional materials with some theoretical and pedagogical implications which are discussed in the paper.

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“…Perhaps other individual differences were better predictors of learning than any of those collected in this study. Other individual difference factors not considered but potentially predictive of learning are phonological awareness (Venkatagiri & Levis, 2007), cross-cultural sensitivity (Martinsen & Alvord, 2012), and musical ability (Morgan, 2005), among others.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Predicts the Effectiveness of Foreign-Language Pronunciation Instruction? Investigating the Role of Perception and Other Individual Differences

Kissling¹

2014

The Canadian Modern Language Review

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This study investigated second language (L2) learners' perception of L2 sounds as an individual difference that predicted their improvement in pronunciation after receiving instruction. Learners were given explicit pronunciation instruction in a series of modules added to their Spanish as a foreign language curriculum and were then tested on their pronunciation accuracy. Their perception of the target sounds was measured with an AX discrimination task. Though the best predictor of pronunciation post-test score was pre-test score, perception made a unique and significant contribution. The other factors associated with better pronunciation of some L2 sounds were age, attitude, and time spent using Spanish outside the classroom. The results suggest that instructors should give adequate time for learners to hone their perception of target sounds at the outset of pronunciation instruction, because their initial ability to perceive the target sounds will, in part, determine how much they learn from such instruction. The results support models of L2 speech acquisition that claim that target-like perception is a precursor to target-like production, in this case in a formal learning context.Résumé : Cette étude a investigué la perception des apprenants de langue seconde en ce qui concerne les sons de celle-ci comme différence individuelle qui prévoyait une amélioration de leur prononciation après enseignement. On a donné aux apprenants un enseignement explicit sur la prononciation dans une série de modules ajoutée à leur curriculum d'enseignement d'espagnol comme langue étrangère, et on les a testés sur la précision de leur prononciation. Leur perception des sons en espagnol était mesurée avec une tâche de discrimination AX. Quoique le meilleur indice des résultats post-test soit les résultat pré-test, la perception a fait une contribution unique et significative. Les autres éléments associés à une meilleure prononciation de certains sons dans la langue-cible étaient le temps dévoué à l'utilisation de l'espagnol en

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On the relationship between L2 pronunciation and culture

Cited by 13 publications

References 23 publications

Variables Affecting L2 Gains During Study Abroad

Variables Affecting L2 Gains During Study Abroad

Relationship Among Brain Hemispheric Dominance, Attitude Towards L1 and L2, Gender, and Learning Suprasegmental Features

What Predicts the Effectiveness of Foreign-Language Pronunciation Instruction? Investigating the Role of Perception and Other Individual Differences

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