Despite the fact that pronunciation is a vital aspect of language learning, previous research has shown that its instruction is limited in the classroom in terms of time and attention, due in part to the time constraints inherent in any curriculum. It then becomes essential for instructors to be strategic about the pronunciation features they…

This study aims to investigate the VOT values of English wordinitial plosive consonants produced by young Thai learners to understand current trends in English pronunciation among Thai speakers and its future direction. The study analyzes how phonological mismatches between Thai and English affect the pronunciation of Thai learners, using a speech…

Persuasiveness in oral communication in English can be expressed with various vocal phonetic cues that may not be readily accessible to English second language (L2) learners whose native language may employ a different set of cues. With a goal to increase L2 learners' perceived spoken confidence and persuasiveness, and obtain empirical evidence…

"Accent work" is a term used to describe the preparatory work that professional actors undergo to attain a speech accent for a role. However, this article presents international teaching assistants (ITAs) as another set of workers who engage in their own type of accent work. Since the accents of ITAs are constructed as…

The study was conducted to identify students' difficulties in speaking English and recommend strategies to cope with these difficulties so that their ability to speak English can be improved. The era of globalization requires students to be able to master English to keep up with current developments. Entering the era of free markets requires…

This study explores the effects of embodied prosodic training on the production of non-native French front rounded vowels (i.e. /y, ø, oe/) and the overall pronunciation proficiency. Fifty-seven Catalan learners of French practiced pronunciation in one of two conditions: one group observed hand gestures embodying prosodic features of the sentences…

Purpose: This study examines the effectiveness of automatic speech recognition (ASR) for individuals with speech disorders, addressing the gap in performance between read and conversational ASR. We analyze the factors influencing this disparity and the effect of speech mode--specific training on ASR accuracy. Method: Recordings of read and…

The current study investigated the effects of repetition on the learning of second language (L2) spoken word forms. Japanese university students learning L2 English were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions (one, three, and six exposures) and learned 40 words while hearing them and viewing their corresponding pictures. A…

The overarching goal of this design-based research was to explore WhatsApp's potential for facilitating and supporting speaking and pronunciation instruction in an EFL large-class speaking course. More specifically, this paper explored the perceived learning outcomes of WhatsApp-supported pedagogy in large English-speaking classes. Ninety-nine…

The expansion of the English language produced by non-native speakers has, in recent decades, been discussed by applied linguists from various theoretical perspectives. The discussion has highlighted evidence showing that the multiplicity and diversity of English uses have given rise to an acceleration in the rate of inter-variety contacts where…

Teacher cognition has attracted increased attention among second language (L2) researchers and practitioners, likely because of its potential consequences for classroom practices, such as teaching and assessment. Prior research has revealed links between teacher beliefs about pronunciation teaching and teachers' own experience (e.g. amount of…

Children are known to be fast learners due to their neural plasticity. Learning a non-native language (L2) requires the mastering of new production patterns. In classroom settings, learners are not only exposed to the acoustic input, but also to the unfamiliar grapheme-phoneme correspondences of the L2 orthography. We tested how 9-10-year-old…

This research was aimed at assessing the implementation of ZHA approach and students' opinion of the strategy. ZHA was carried out at the end of every "Konversation 2"(speaking) course class at the German Language Education Study Program at State University of Malang (PSPBJ UM). This research utilized the descriptive, qualitative…

Developing spoken English abilities is of utmost importance for students of Damphu Central School (DCS). By researching the current curriculum, its effectiveness in improving spoken English, and the primary factors of the students' proficiency, the goals of this study were to provide significant recommendations for developing the English language…

This dissertation explores clear speech which is defined as a specific speaking style people adopt when fluent communication could be compromised for various reasons. Although acoustic properties and their perceptual benefits of clear speech produced by monolingual speakers of English are well documented, there has only been a small body of past…