Explicit pronunciation instruction enhances production of intelligible, comprehensible, and fluent second language (L2) speech. Additionally, task-based instruction (TBI) enhances the production of segmentals and suprasegmentals, and promotes awareness of L2 forms in pronunciation. Since most previous research on TBI in L2 pronunciation learning has been carried out in laboratory settings, it is necessary to investigate how the implementation of tasks that differ in complexity in actual classroom settings could benefit L2 pronunciation learners. This classroom-based study investigated the effects of combining focus on form and TBI in L2 pronunciation instruction in the production of comprehensible, fluent, and L2-accented speech in English-as-a-foreign-language learners. Although the results of the study present modest gains, they make a case for the inclusion of explicit pronunciation instruction and tasks that differ in complexity to help learners develop pronunciation skills. Responding to recent calls for more classroom-based research that demonstrates how pronunciation can be implemented in systematic and principled ways, the results of this study are discussed in terms of implications and pedagogical recommendations for L2 pronunciation teaching and learning.
Celce-MurciaMBrintonDMGoodwinJM, et al. (2010) Teaching Pronunciation: A Reference for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. 2nd ed.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2.
DarcyIHancockZLeeJ, et al. (2019) Improving pronunciation in spontaneous speech? A comparison of two instructional methods. In: L2 pronunciation research workshop 2019: Bridging the gap between research and practice, Barcelona, Spain, 6–7 June 2019.
3.
DerwingTMunroM (2009) Putting accent in its place: Rethinking obstacles to communication. Language Teaching42(4): 476–490.
4.
DerwingTMunroM (2015) Pronunciation Fundamentals: Evidence-Based Perspectives for L2 Teaching and Research. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
5.
DerwingTMunroMWiebeG (1998) Evidence in favor of a broad framework for pronunciation instruction. Language Learning48(3): 393–410.
6.
DerwingTRossiterMMunroM, et al. (2004) Second language fluency: Judgments on different tasks. Language Learning54(4): 655–679.
7.
DoughtyCWilliamsJ (1998) Pedagogical choices in focus on form. In: DoughtyCWilliamsJ (eds) Focus on Form in Classroom Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 197–285.
8.
EllisR (2003) Task-Based Language Learning and Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
9.
EllisRShintaniN (2014) Exploring Language Pedagogy through Second Language Acquisition Research. London: Routledge.
10.
FieldJ (2005) Intelligibility and the listener: The role of lexical stress. TESOL Quarterly39(3): 399–423.
11.
FlegeJMunroMMacKayIRA (1995) Factors affecting strength of perceived foreign accent in a second language. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America97(5): 3125–3134.
12.
GatbontonESegalowitzN (2005) Rethinking communicative language teaching: A focus on access to fluency. Canadian Modern Language Review61(3): 325–353.
13.
GordonJDarcyI (2016) The development of comprehensible speech in L2 learners: A classroom study on the effects of short-term pronunciation instruction. Journal of Second Language Pronunciation2(1): 56–92.
14.
Gurzynski-WeissLLongAYSolonM (2017) TBLT and L2 pronunciation: Do the benefits of tasks extend beyond grammar and lexis?Studies in Second Language Acquisition39(2): 213–224.
15.
HahnL (2004) Primary stress and intelligibility: Research to motivate the teaching of suprasegmentals. TESOL Quarterly38(2): 201–223.
16.
HewingsM (2004) Pronunciation Practice Activities: A Resource Book for Teaching English Pronunciation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
17.
IsaacsTTrofimovichP (2012) Deconstructing comprehensibility: Identifying the linguistic influences on listeners’ L2 comprehensibility ratings. Studies in Second Language Acquisition34(3): 475–505.
18.
JungYKimYMurphyJ (2017) The role of task repetition in learning word-stress patterns through auditory priming tasks. Studies in Second Language Acquisition39(2): 319–346.
19.
KennedySTrofimovichP (2010) Language awareness and second language pronunciation: A classroom study. Language Awareness19(3): 171–185.
20.
LahmannCSteinkraussRSchmidM (2017) Speed, breakdown, and repair: An investigation of fluency in long-term second-language speakers of English. International Journal of Bilingualism21(2): 228–242.
21.
LeeJJangJPlonskyL (2015) The effectiveness of second language pronunciation instruction: A meta-analysis. Applied Linguistics36(3): 345–366.
22.
LevisJ (2005) Changing contexts and shifting paradigms in pronunciation teaching. TESOL Quarterly39(3): 369–377.
23.
LevisJMuller LevisG (2018) Teaching high-value pronunciation features: Contrastive stress for intermediate learners. The CATESOL Journal30(1): 139–160.
24.
LoewenSIsbellDR (2017) Pronunciation in face-to-face and audio-only synchronous computer-mediated learner interactions. Studies in Second Language Acquisition39(2): 225–256.
25.
LongM (1991) Focus on form: A design feature in language teaching methodology. In: De BotKGinsbergRBKramschC (eds) Foreign Language Research in Cross-Cultural PerspectiveAmsterdam: Benjamins, 39–52.
26.
MackeyAGassS (2016) Second Language Research: Methodology and Design. 2nd ed.New York: Routledge.
27.
McKinnonS (2017) TBLT instructional effects on tonal alignment and pitch range in L2 Spanish imperatives versus declaratives. Studies in Second Language Acquisition39(2): 287–317.
28.
MoraJCLevkinaM (2017) Task-based pronunciation teaching and research: Key issues and future directions. Studies in Second Language Acquisition39(2): 381–399.
29.
MoraJCLevkinaM (2018) Training vowel perception through map tasks: The role of linguistic and cognitive complexity. In: Proceedings of the 9th pronunciation in second language learning and teaching conference (ed JLevis), University of Utah, USA, 1–2 September 2017, pp.151–162. Ames, IA: Iowa State University.
30.
Mora-PlazaIMoraJCGilabertR (2018) Learning L2 pronunciation through communicative tasks. In: Proceedings of the 9th pronunciation in second language learning and teaching conference (ed JLevis), University of Utah, USA, 1–2 September 2017, pp.174–184. Ames, IA: Iowa State University.
31.
MunroMDerwingT (1995) Foreign accent, comprehensibility, and intelligibility in the speech of second language learners. Language Learning45(1): 73–97.
32.
MunroMDerwingT (2001) Modeling perceptions of the accentedness and comprehensibility of L2 speech: The role of speaking rate. Studies in Second Language Acquisition23(4): 451–468.
33.
MunroMDerwingT (2006) The functional load principle in ESL pronunciation instruction: An exploratory study. System34(4): 520–531.
34.
Programa Estado de la Nación (2017) Sexto informe del estado de la educación costarricense. Consejo Nacional de Rectores. San José, Costa Rica. Available at: www.estadonacion.or.cr (accessed 1 December 2018).
35.
RobinsonP (2001) Task complexity, task difficulty and task production: Exploring interactions in a componential framework. Applied Linguistics22(1): 27–57.
36.
RobinsonP (2005) Cognitive abilities, chunk-strength, and frequency effects in implicit artificial grammar and incidental L2 learning: Replications of Reber, Walkenfeld, and Hernstadt (1991) and Knowlton and Squire (1996) and their relevance for SLA. Studies in Second Language Acquisition27(2): 235–268.
37.
RobinsonP (2007) Criteria for classifying and sequencing pedagogic tasks. In: García-MayoMDP (ed) Investigating Tasks in Formal Language Learning. New York: Multilingual Matters, 7–26.
38.
SaitoK (2013) Reexamining effects of form-focused instruction on L2 pronunciation development: The role of explicit phonetic information. Studies in Second Language Acquisition35(1): 1–29.
39.
SaitoKLysterR (2012) Effects of form-focused instruction and corrective feedback on L2 pronunciation development: The case of English /r/ by Japanese learners of English. Language Learning62(2): 595–683.
40.
SaitoKSuzukidaYSunH (2019) Aptitude, experience, and second language pronunciation proficiency development in classroom settings: A longitudinal study. Studies in Second Language Acquisition41(1): 201–225.
41.
SaitoYSaitoK (2017) Differential effects of instruction on the development of comprehensibility, word stress, rhythm, and intonation: The case of inexperienced Japanese EFL learners. Language Teaching Research21(5): 589–608.
42.
SardegnaVChiangFHGhoshM (2016) Integrating pronunciation with presentation skills. In: JonesT (ed) Pronunciation in the Classroom: The Overlooked Essentials. Alexandria, VA: TESOL Press, 43–56.
43.
SchmidtR (2001) Attention. In: RobinsonP (ed) Cognition and Second Language Instruction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 3–32.
44.
SegalowitzNHulstijnJ (2005) Automaticity in bilingualism and second language learning. In: KrollFJDe GrootA (eds) Handbook of Bilingualism: Psycholinguistic Approaches. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 371–388.
SolonMLongAYGurzynski-WeissL (2017) Task complexity, language-related episodes, and production of L2 Spanish vowels. Studies in Second Language Acquisition39(2): 347–380.
48.
SwainMLapkinS (2001) Focus on form through collaborative dialogue: Exploring task effects. In: BygateMSkehanPSwainM (eds) Researching Pedagogic Tasks: Second Language Learning, Teaching and Testing. New York: Longman, 99–118.
49.
ThomsonRDerwingT (2015) The effectiveness of L2 pronunciation instruction: A narrative review. Applied Linguistics36(3): 326–344.
50.
TrofimovichPGatbontonE (2006) Repetition and focus on form in processing L2 Spanish words: Implications for pronunciation instruction. Modern Language Journal90(4): 519–535.
51.
VenkatagiriHLevisJ (2007) Phonological awareness and speech comprehensibility: An exploratory study. Language Awareness16(4): 263–277.
52.
ZielinskiB (2008) The listener: No longer the silent partner in reduced intelligibility. System36(1): 69–84.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
