Event Title
The Effects of English Pronunciation Training on Listening Skills Among Vietnamese Learners
Location
Hager-Lubbers Exhibition Hall
Description
PURPOSE: Listening has been a neglected skill in both second language research and teaching practice (e.g., Khaghaninejad & Maleki, 2015) and recent research has shown that L2 listening difficulties might relate to phonological problems (e.g., Suristro, 2018). This study investigates the impacts of English pronunciation instruction on listening skills among Vietnamese learners, targeting four English phonemes: word-final stop consonants /t/-/d/, the lax vowel /ɪ/ and the tense vowel /i/. Particularly, it examines whether pronunciation instruction would have effects on students’ (a) abilities to listen to and distinguish the target phonemes, (b) abilities to listen to and dictate monosyllabic words containing the target sounds, and (c) perceived improvement on receptive and productive skills after the instruction. SUBJECTS: Sixteen Vietnamese learners were recruited and divided into two groups: an experimental group (n=10) and a control group (n=6). METHODS AND MATERIALS: Only the experimental group received a five-hour online phonetic instruction. A pre-test and a post-test in listening skills measured the difference between and within groups. In addition, a post-instructional survey was administered to investigate students’ perceptions on productive and perceptual gains after the training. ANALYSES: The Wilcoxon rank sum and Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used to analyze the quantitative data. RESULTS: The study results revealed that there was no difference in listening performance between the groups, and within each group, which might suggest unclear impact of pronunciation instruction on perceptual skills. CONCLUSIONS: Perceptual training, which has often been used in research on pronunciation instruction, is discussed and suggestions for future studies are made.
The Effects of English Pronunciation Training on Listening Skills Among Vietnamese Learners
Hager-Lubbers Exhibition Hall
PURPOSE: Listening has been a neglected skill in both second language research and teaching practice (e.g., Khaghaninejad & Maleki, 2015) and recent research has shown that L2 listening difficulties might relate to phonological problems (e.g., Suristro, 2018). This study investigates the impacts of English pronunciation instruction on listening skills among Vietnamese learners, targeting four English phonemes: word-final stop consonants /t/-/d/, the lax vowel /ɪ/ and the tense vowel /i/. Particularly, it examines whether pronunciation instruction would have effects on students’ (a) abilities to listen to and distinguish the target phonemes, (b) abilities to listen to and dictate monosyllabic words containing the target sounds, and (c) perceived improvement on receptive and productive skills after the instruction. SUBJECTS: Sixteen Vietnamese learners were recruited and divided into two groups: an experimental group (n=10) and a control group (n=6). METHODS AND MATERIALS: Only the experimental group received a five-hour online phonetic instruction. A pre-test and a post-test in listening skills measured the difference between and within groups. In addition, a post-instructional survey was administered to investigate students’ perceptions on productive and perceptual gains after the training. ANALYSES: The Wilcoxon rank sum and Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used to analyze the quantitative data. RESULTS: The study results revealed that there was no difference in listening performance between the groups, and within each group, which might suggest unclear impact of pronunciation instruction on perceptual skills. CONCLUSIONS: Perceptual training, which has often been used in research on pronunciation instruction, is discussed and suggestions for future studies are made.