Theoretical approaches to the principles governing the coordination of speech gestures differ in their assessment of the contributions of biomechanical and perceptual pressures on this coordination. Perceptually-oriented accounts postulate that, for consonant-consonant (C1-C2) sequences, gestural timing patterns arise from speakers' sensitivity to…

The problem highlighted in this research is the low pronunciation ability of Kindergarten students in Al-Irsyad Madiun that is caused by (1) the uninteresting activities in learning English; (2) the students' difficulties of English pronunciation; (3) the students' low motivation in learning. The theoretical review includes the young learners…

We investigated the second language (L2) acquisition of pragmatic categories that are not as consistently and frequently encoded in the L2 than in the first language (L1). Experiment 1 showed that Italian speakers linguistically highlighted affirmative polarity contrast (e.g. "The child ate the candies" following after "The child…

This study was designed to investigate the benefit of inclusion of various verbal elements in 3D talking-head on pronunciation learning among non-native speakers. In particular, the study examines the effects of three different multimedia presentation strategies in 3D talking-head Mobile-Assisted-Language-Learning (MALL) on the learning…

To fully acquire a language, especially its phonology, children need linguistic input from native speakers early on. When interaction with native speakers is not always possible--e.g. for children learning a second language that is not the societal language--audios are commonly used as an affordable substitute. But does such non-interactive input…

Listening is clearly the weakest skill of EFL students who encounter different kinds of listening problems. It is the most underestimated skill in EFL context, though. This study seeks to examine the listening problems faced by a group of first year university students whose English proficiency level is elementary. 50 EFL students from three…

Every language has its own rhythm. Unlike many other languages in the world, English depends on the correct pronunciation of stressed and unstressed or weakened syllables recurring in the same phrase or sentence. Mastering the rhythm of English makes speaking more effective. Experiments have shown that we tend to hear speech as more rhythmical…

Traditional pronunciation instruction and instruction in second language (L2) phonetics have been shown to improve learners' L2 accent in some, though certainly not all, cases. Learners in intermediate and advanced Spanish FL courses have shown modest improvement in the pronunciation of some L2 phones after receiving such instruction.…

The conventional way of using letter-to-sound approach to acquire English pronunciation competence is limited to simple and regular English words in elementary level. This limitation signifies the potentialities of phonetic symbols that are applicable to the pronunciation of all the words of human languages. The researchers are exploring the…

In the business world, English language is considered as an important language for communication among people. According to the Act of Thai Education during B.E. (2008-2015:39), the sustainable development for Thai people has become the main focus in this era. To transform the education especially in the 21st century is needed to be integrated the…

This study investigates infants' discrimination abilities for familiar and unfamiliar regional English accents. Using a variation of the head-turn preference procedure, 5-month-old infants demonstrated that they were able to distinguish between their own South-West English accent and an unfamiliar Welsh English accent. However, this distinction…

In this study, using ADDIE instructional design model, it is aimed to prepare English language educational material for 4th grade primary students to teach them numbers. At the same time, ARCS model of motivation's attention, relevance and satisfaction phases are also taken into consideration. This study also comprises of Design Based Research…

The relevance of the investigated problem is caused by the fact that most children who start to study do not have a good level of higher mental functions. It leads to difficulties at school and health problems. The article aims at estimating the level of higher mental functions and the degree of educational motivation development among…

Without proper linguistic competence in English language, academic writing is one of the most challenging tasks, especially, in various genre specific disciplines by L2 novice writers. This paper examines the role of diction and expression through error analysis in English language of L2 novice writers' academic writing in interdisciplinary texts…

This research study analyzes the target needs of EFL female Saudi students to choose EFL as their specialization. The population of the research is the female students enrolled in Bachelors in English program, at the Department of English Language and Translation, Qassim University Saudi Arabia. Adapting the Hutchinson and Waters model of Needs…