Developing L2 learners' productive mastery of vocabulary is a challenging task. Recent research has called for greater attention to understanding how receptive vocabulary may be transformed for productive use (Schmitt, 2019). Using a design-based research methodology, this study investigated adult ESL learners' productive oral vocabulary…

Our study proposes the use of a free classification task for investigating the dimensions used by listeners in their perception of nonnative sounds and for predicting the perceptual discriminability of nonnative contrasts. In a free classification task, participants freely group auditory stimuli based on their perceived similarity. The results can…

Can children tell how different a speaker's accent is from their own? In Experiment 1 (N = 84), four- and five-year-olds heard speakers with different accents and indicated where they thought each speaker lived relative to a reference point on a map that represented their current location. Five-year-olds generally placed speakers with stronger…

This study examined low-proficiency Iranian EFL students' affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement with oral corrective feedback (OCF) on interdental fricative errors: /?/and/ð/. The data were collected from 27 learners with favorable and unfavorable perceptions about OCF. After receiving OCF on 30 tested and 30 untested lexical items in…

Adult second language (L2) learning often exhibits great variability in its rate and outcome. Although research shows that learning trajectories are partly shaped by social and contextual factors (e.g. Larson-Hall, 2008), certain learner factors play an important role in enhancing L2 pronunciation learning by helping L2 learners notice and process…

This project analyzes teacher behavior using a corpus of 110 hours of recorded instruction in order to document the realities of second-language pronunciation instruction. Teachers of six intact classes were recorded during a seven-week oral communication course. Four classes implemented a focus on pronunciation that was integrated into the…

Building up on Munro and Derwing, the current study set out to re-examine and generalize the Functional Load (FL) principle (Brown, 1988) as a tool to identify a set of relatively crucial segmental features for successful understanding in L2 communication. In Experiment 1, 40 Japanese learners of English in English-as-Foreign-Language settings…

Phonetic imitation is a ubiquitous process in speech production. Speakers have a strong tendency to imitate their interlocutors both in a native and a non-native language. It is especially important in acquiring non-native speech, because it allows forming new sound categories. In the current study we investigated whether and to what extent Polish…

The study aims to examine how PRAAT visual feedback can improve pronouncing English lexical stress and support self-directed learning based on the conceptual framework of self-determination theory. The study involved a total of 80 EFL learners aged 18 to 22 years from Saudi Arabia and Yemen, with varying levels of English proficiency. Pre- and…

This study aims at developing students' pronunciation skills by using English movies as a teaching media and investigating the students' perception of the use English movie in learning pronunciation. To attain the objectives, a two-cycled action research was conducted to 35 tenth graders at SMA Angkasa 2, East Jakarta in March to May 2017. Data…

This research was aimed at investigating L1 Thai learners' English word stress production in two aspects of English words -- 1) English words with different suffixes: suffixes affecting stress shift, i.e. '-ic' (e.g. 'fantástic'), '-ity' (e.g. 'idéntity') and '-tion / -sion' (e.g. 'eléction') and suffixes demanding stress, i.e. '-oon' (e.g.…

Upon hearing someone's speech, a listener can access information such as the speaker's age, gender identity, socioeconomic status, and their linguistic background. However, an open question is whether living in different locales modulates how listeners use these factors to assess speakers' speech. Here, an audio-visual test was used to measure…

Pronunciation instruction has historically been notorious for its intense reliance on repetition practice and mechanical drilling across most foreign and second language settings. However, research indicates that form-focused instruction can be substantially beneficial to the development of phonological skills (Saito, 2012). The current…

Purpose: Speech production deficits and reduced intelligibility are frequently noted in individuals with Down syndrome (DS) and are attributed to a combination of several factors. This study reports acoustic data on vowel production in young adults with DS and relates these findings to perceptual analysis of speech intelligibility. Method:…

This study examines L2 speakers' accent attitudes in relation to their linguistic profile and current practices, recruiting 107 multilingual postgraduate students of 34 different nationalities enrolled in leading research universities in Japan. The participants completed a survey regarding their perceptions of different English varieties in…