This study examines the pronunciation of the first vowel in decoding disyllabic pseudowords derived from Portuguese words. Participants were 96 Portuguese monolinguals and 52 Portuguese-English bilinguals of equivalent Portuguese reading levels. The results indicate that sensitivity to vowel context emerges early, both in monolinguals and in…

According to previous studies, Japanese EFL learners who wish to acquire American or British English pronunciation are reluctant to speak their L1-accented English. In view of this tendency, the present study examined the attitudes of Asian learners toward their L1-accented English. University students from Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia…

Children look longer at a familiar object when presented with either correct pronunciations or small mispronunciations of consonants in the object's label, but not following larger mispronunciations. The current article examines whether children display a similar graded sensitivity to different degrees of mispronunciations of the vowels in…

To highlight relevant information in dialogues, both wh-question context and pitch accent in answers can be used, such that focused information gains more attention and is processed more elaborately. To evaluate the relative influence of context and pitch accent on the depth of semantic processing, we measured event-related potentials (ERPs) to…

An ESL instructor describes her experience of using pronunciation pegs, a method to foster the self-monitoring and self-correction of pronunciation mistakes with a view to helping university-level students deal with the ongoing challenge of producing target-like pronunciation. The appeal of pegs to students led the instructor to reflect on what…

The 25th European Association of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (EUROCALL) conference was hosted by Modern Languages and Linguistics at the University of Southampton, in the United Kingdom, from the 23rd to the 26th of August 2017. The theme of the conference was "CALL in a climate of change." The theme encompassed the notion of how…

This book offers a collection of original papers showing how Higher education institutions have coped with changing the language of instruction. It points out that Higher education institutions have undergone radical change in the past decades; of which the shift to English-medium instruction, as well as bi- or plurilingual programmes, is one…

Previous language attitude studies indicated that in many countries all over the world, English language learners perceived native accents, either American or British, more positively than the non-native accents such as the Japanese, Korean, and Austrian accents. However, in Malaysia it is still unclear which accent Malaysian learners of English…

While a growing body of research has established the benefits of pronunciation training on second language (L2) production, these benefits have yet to be incorporated into the general skills language classroom in a systematic manner. Furthermore, although relatively new speech analysis software has been shown to be useful in providing visual…

Chinese EFL learners may have difficulty in speaking fluent and accurate English, for their speaking competence are likely to be influenced by cognitive, linguistic and affective factors. With the aim to enhance those learners' oral proficiency, this paper first discusses three effective models of teaching English speaking, and then proposes a…

The purpose of this study is to find out whether children learning English by music can improve their ability in segmental and suprasegmental pronunciation or not. In this regard, three hypotheses were proposed. A total of 30 female elementary students with the age between 9 to 12 years old were chosen. They were learning English in a private…

One of the most prevailing difficulties I have faced as an English instructor is students' dependence on teachers even though many language classes have been shifting from teacher-centered to student-centered influenced by the communicative language teaching (CLT) approach. Class evaluations and needs analyses often reveal that many students…

Many instructors are reluctant to teach pronunciation in adult ESL classrooms, often because of lack of formal training. However, significant numbers of ESL students want pronunciation instruction. Although stand-alone pronunciation courses for second-language (L2) learners exist, many students cannot gain access to them. One approach to meeting…

This study examines a major linguistic event underway in New York City. Of its 10 million inhabitants, nearly a third are speakers of Spanish. This community is socially and linguistically diverse: Some speakers are recent arrivals from Latin America while others are lifelong New Yorkers. Some have origins in the Caribbean, the historic source of…

This study investigated English speakers' perception of Mandarin sounds, aiming to answer three major questions. First, does the perceived similarity between Mandarin and English sounds affect learners' acquisition of Mandarin sounds? Second, do the groups with different amounts of Mandarin experience differ in their perception of…