A Longitudinal Exploration of Perception and Production of English Codas in CLIL Settings

Abstract

Second language speech perception and production remain an enduring concern in second language acquisition, as research evidence seems to suggest that there is not a straightforward correspondence between these two speech domains and that their interrelationship seems to be of a complex nature. The present proposal intends to contribute to the inspection of such a relationship by observing the development of perception and production skills of English codas longitudinally in a group of secondary school learners in Spain involved in a content and language integrated learning (CLIL) program, which increases exposure and production opportunities. Results point to a slight overall improvement of both sound perception and production skills during a two-year period, the coda sounds exhibiting variable realizations. Many coda sounds were found to be identified and produced at near/ceiling levels while other codas remained at less successful identification and production levels even after two years of CLIL exposure. The correlation analyses performed indicated that the two dimensions tended to correlate when the development for each coda sound was inspected. No correlations were found when students’ individual overall performance in each dimension were examined, attesting individual differences.