Pronunciation Skills Research Articles

‘Look, I can speak correctly’: learning vocabulary and pronunciation through websites equipped with automatic speech recognition technology

Speaking skills generally receive little attention in traditional English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms, and this is especially the case in secondary education in Indonesia. A vocabulary deficit and poor pronunciation skills hinder learners in their efforts to improve speaking proficiency. In the present study, we investigated the effects of using two language learning websites, I Love Indonesia (ILI) and NovoLearning (NOVO). These websites are equipped with Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technology, with each website providing different types of immediate feedback. We measured written receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge of 40 target words before and after the intervention in which 146 students practiced with these two ASR-based websites, and compared it to that of a control group (n = 86). The ASR-based websites successfully helped students enhance their receptive vocabulary. Twenty-four students participated in a spoken pre-and post-test pronouncing the same 40 target words. We successfully developed an approach to measure pronunciation skills which showed that the treatment groups outperformed the control group. Our results indicate that our technology is successful in improving vocabulary and pronunciation skills.

EFL Learner’s Beliefs in Pronunciation Learning

This qualitative study aims to identify students’ response to learners’ beliefs about pronunciation skill. The participants of this study consist of 35 students from the students of Pronunciation class in an institution, class A and B in the second semester of the academic year of 2019/2020. The qualitative data were analyzed by questionnaire. This study focuses on students’ beliefs in learning pronunciation. The result shows that students have four beliefs in learning pronunciation that is beliefs on learning process, learning pronunciation, strategy used in learning pronunciation, and the solution and importance of pronunciation. This will provide information to lecturers and universities to take advantage of beliefs in learning pronunciation.Keywords: importance of pronunciation; learning pronunciation; students’ beliefs

The Role of Poetic Style In Correcting Phonetic Pronunciation: From Poetic Play To Phonetic Play

One of the important tasks at any stage of teaching a foreign language, including French, is to maintain and improve pronunciation skills. The phonetic process that facilitates the formation of such skills is rhyme.

The effectiveness of using the educational video in teaching the kindergarten child to pronounce the Arabic letters compared to the Norani rule: فاعلية استخدام الفيديو التعليمي عند تدريس القاعدة النورانية في إكساب طفل الروضة النطق الصحيح للحروف العربية

This study aimed at measuring the effectiveness of the use of educational video when teaching Al-Qaida Al-Nooraniah in providing the kindergarten child with the correct pronunciation of the Arabic letters. The first is experimental, the number of its members is (30), and the second is control, and the number of its members is (30) children from kindergartens in Jordan. The researcher used as a study tool the educational video, an oral test, a written test, and the study concluded that the experimental group was superior in pronunciation skills compared to the control group. There are statistically significant differences at the level of the function (α≤0.05) in the children's use of the educational video that includes the light rule on their achievement in pronunciation of letters in the Arabic language subject.

Situating Shadowing in the Framework of Deliberate Practice: A Guide to Using 16 Techniques

Shadowing is the act of vocalizing the speech one is listening to as simultaneously as possible. The primary function of shadowing is learners’ listening skill and pronunciation skill development. Despite the importance of second language (L2) listening skills, this pedagogical technique has not received focal attention in the field. In this paper, shadowing is situated in the framework of systematic and deliberate practice, which is supported by an L2 acquisition theory called the skill acquisition theory. Based on this framework, a total of 16 different primary types of shadowing are classified into shadowing for phonological processing and shadowing for intake through meaning-focused processing. The proposed classification and guideline will be useful for teachers to adapt a variety of shadowing techniques for their teaching context and learners as well as highlighting shadowing as an important pedagogical tool of teaching bottom-up listening skills.

Interactive digital media assignments: effects on EFL learners’ overall and micro-level oral language skills

Owing to the plethora of user-friendly audio/video creation and editing applications as well as free full-featured hosting platforms, videoing and sharing has become a lifestyle of today’s students. Utilizing these spontaneous practices, the current study examined the effects of digital media assignments (DMAs) and accompanying asynchronous interaction on EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners’ oral language skills. For this purpose, a cohort of 124 EFL college students was randomly selected and assigned into three groups: interactive digital media assignments (IDMA, n = 43), non-interactive digital media assignments (NDMA, n = 41), and traditional face-to-face assignments (FTFA, n = 40). The study adopted the mixed-method sequential explanatory design wherein quantitative data collection and analysis (oral language skills pre-posttests) was followed by qualitative data collection and analysis (perceptions survey). Quantitative findings revealed that participants in all groups showed improvements in both overall and micro-level oral language skills (i.e. oral content, fluency, pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar). However, IDMA students outperformed both NDMA and FTFA ones. Comparing NDMA and FTFA groups, the former performed better than the latter only in content and vocabulary, whereas it could not in fluency, pronunciation, grammar, or overall oral language skills. Thus, it can be inferred that DMAs alone helped improve only content elaboration and vocabulary. However, when done interactively, they could bolster students’ overall as well as all micro-level oral language skills when compared to face-to-face assignments. Besides, despite describing digital media production as exhausting and time-consuming, IDMA students reported increased self-confidence, technical literacy, and language competence and decreased speaking apprehension.

‘AReal-Vocab’: An Augmented Reality English Vocabulary Mobile Application to Cater to Mild Autism Children in Response towards Sustainable Education for Children with Disabilities

The American Psychiatric Association defines autism spectrum disorder as a neurological illness, in which children with the disorder have trouble communicating socially or have a set of behaviours that are recurrent or restricted. Autism learners are mostly visual method learners who learn best through pictures and visuals. Most learners with autism struggle to learn new terminology due to their cognitive difficulties, and with the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, technology is no longer a foreign concept in the educational sphere. The usage of augmented reality technology has proven to be beneficial in offering more relevant learning sessions for autism learners. As a result, underpinned by the learning theories of behaviourism, constructivism, connectives and cognitivism, altogether with the theory of mind and Frame model, an augmented reality smartphone application, called ‘AReal-Vocab’, was created to assist children with mild autism in acquiring English vocabulary. The design and development research approach was employed in this study, in which later, the developed mobile augmented reality application was then tested on six mildly autistic youngsters to see how well the designed and developed augmented reality mobile application aided them in acquiring the English language. The AReal-Vocab mobile application, which was planned and built, has had an impact on the English-vocabulary learning of children with moderate autism, according to the findings. Not only has AReal-Vocab helped mildly autistic children learn English vocabulary in a more engaging and meaningful way, sparking their interest in the language learning process, but it also serves as a platform for instilling leisure learning at home, as well as stimulating pronunciation skills and language articulation. The findings of this study are expected to benefit all parties involved, particularly children with autism, autism educators, and parents of children with autism.

IMPROVING STUDENTS’ PRONUNCIATION SKILL USING ELSA SPEAK APPLICATION

The purpose of this research is to Introduce the ELSA Speak Application as media to improve students' pronunciation skills. English Language Speech Assistant is an acronym for ELSA. English Language Speech Assistant can be downloaded for free from AppStore or Google Play. complete with various features to improve the pronunciation and speaking of students with American accents by training them with various exercises to pronounce words/phrases/sentences correctly. Corresponding to the microphone icon that the learner can use directly to speak as the audio has been listened to.This research is an Action Research that aims to Improve students’ pronunciation skills using ELSA Speak Application. This research discusses how ELSA Speak Application as learning media can improve students’ pronunciation skills. The data were collected through a test of pronunciation and Interviews in Classroom action research. The researcher made three cycles and gave a score for each cycle. In the first cycle, the students’ Average score is 70 points, the second cycle is 75 points and the last cycle is 80 points. ELSA Speak application helps students pronounce a variety of words more easily and comprehensively. The results showed that the use of the ELSA Speak Application has provided convenience and benefits for students in improving their English Pronunciation skills by using the ELSA Speak application.

Utilizing a Karaoke App in Learning English Pronunciation: A Case Study of EFL College Students

The use of karaoke songs as an instrument to learn English pronunciation is considered to be an enjoyable learning method especially to enhance English as Foreign Language (EFL) students' pronunciation skills. In discourse activities, unclear pronunciation might affect the interpretation among peers which might lead to misunderstanding or miscommunication. Because the world is becoming more global, EFL college students as future generations will need to improve their English pronunciation to participate in future international meetings. As Smith (2003) stated, native speakers, tended to be concerned about pronunciation when having conversations with non-native speakers. To minimize misinterpretation, English pronunciation should be given higher attention in listening and speaking instruction. This study surveyed 30 EFL students' experience of learning pronunciation by utilizing a karaoke app, more specifically after listening to an English song and singing via 'Smule-Sing!' karaoke app. This study explained that the listening and singing activities through 'Smule-Sing!' karaoke app assisted EFL learners to produce clear pronunciation devices including word stress, rhythm, intonation, and sounds. However, there are some limitations regarding melody rate and unfamiliarity with the sounds which need to have further research. This study implies the English language and pedagogy to promote and facilitate autonomous learning strategy in EFL students' learning process.

Using TED Talks In English Language Teaching (ELT): Supplemental Resources for English Language Teaching (ELT)

The objective of this research is to discuss using TED Talks in English Language Teaching (ELT). This research uses the descriptive qualitative method. Based on the findings, it shows that TED Talks can help students learn a variety of skills on English skills such as speaking, listening, and writing skills. In speaking, TED Talks allow the students in listening to a good example of talks/lecturers and to analyze how they are structured and presented. The students can be given the opportunity outside of class to watch selected TED Talks, so these talks are can be analyzed in class and the students are familiar with the language and content. In listening, TED talks are delivered by native English speakers from all over the world which allows the students to see some TED chats about a subject that concerns them, by merely listening to a native English speaker. They can help develop their understanding, vocabulary, and pronunciation skills. In writing, available TED Talks’ transcripts allow the students to read along with the spoken word. This can develop their skills in grammar and vocabulary to hear what is being said quickly. It is important to point out that there are lots of websites or digital channels where the students and teacher can find TED Talks English video which provides speeches or presentations from world inspirational figures from various fields with various interesting topics. These video-based language learning make the students understand the influential TED Talks concepts and explore them more. Teaching English with TED Talks supports every English language program with easy-to-use classroom tools. TED talks are also great resources for teachers like approach to teaching ESL. English Language Teaching by using TED Talks is one of the authentic supplemental resources for English teachers to manage in English language learning programs.

Evaluation of Language and Teaching Skill Domains for International Teaching Assistants: An Approach based on Invariant Measurement

ABSTRACT Drawing on the framework of invariant measurement from Rasch measurement theory, the purpose of this study is to psychometrically evaluate the 20 language and teaching skill domains of the International Teaching Assistant (ITA) Test using the many-facet Rasch model and to empirically explore performance differences between females and males in these domains through bias analysis. The data came from the test scores of 110 prospective ITAs on the ITA Test at a large university. Three facets (examinee, rater, and domain) were Rasch-calibrated in FACETS. Despite some misfits, overall, the data fit the model reasonably well, confirming invariant measurement and the feasibility of assessing the language and teaching skill domains concurrently to produce a single score in ITA assessment. The results also indicated that overall language skills were more difficult than teaching skills. Grammar and pronunciation skills were found to be the most difficult domains, whereas the aural comprehension skill was found to be the easiest domain. A bias analysis revealed significant differences in the four domains between the two gender groups, calling for further research for examining potential gender biases in ITA assessment.

Коррекция дисграфии у детей младшего школьного возраста с общим недоразвитием речи

This article is devoted to the disclosure of the content of the correctional work of a speech therapist in violation of written speech with children with general underdevelopment of speech. The purpose of the article is to show the effectiveness of speech therapy work aimed at correcting dysgraphia of children with speech disorders. The increase of the growth of children with speech impairment in recent years indicates the relevance of this problem and the need to provide corrective assistance from teachers and a speech therapist. Untimely detection and correction of dysgraphy associated with speech underdevelopment prevent the full assimilation of the curriculum and the comprehensive development of the pupil. Research method. The author presents research data obtained using the diagnostic technique of O.B. Inshakova, which allows specialists to identify a violation of the written speech of younger schoolchildren and the degree of its severity. The methods of work of the teacher are also proposed, which increase the effectiveness of the correctional work of written speech in children of primary school age with speech disorders. Research results. The control experiment showed that the number of dysgraphic errors in children of primary school age with general underdevelopment of speech decreased by 35%. Conclusions. The results of the study of the written speech of younger schoolchildren indicate the need for the use of corrective work by a speech therapist, which should be focused on the development of phonemic hearing, sound pronunciation, sound analysis and word synthesis skills, it is also necessary to expand and enrich the child's vocabulary.

Individual Differences in Singing Behavior during Childhood Predicts Language Performance during Adulthood

Research on singing and language abilities has gained considerable interest in the past decade. While several studies about singing ability and language capacity have been published, investigations on individual differences in singing behavior during childhood and its relationship to language capacity in adulthood have largely been neglected. We wanted to focus our study on whether individuals who had sung more often during childhood than their peers were also better in language and music capacity during adulthood. We used questionnaires to assess singing behavior of adults during childhood and tested them for their singing ability, their music perception skills, and their ability to perceive and pronounce unfamiliar languages. The results have revealed that the more often individuals had sung during childhood, the better their singing ability and language pronunciation skills were, while the amount of childhood singing was less predictive on music and language perception skills. We suggest that the amount of singing during childhood seems to influence the ability to sing and the ability to acquire foreign language pronunciation later in adulthood.

IMPROVING YOUNG LEARNERS’ PRONUNCIATION SKILL THROUGH SONGS

One of the essential language aspects of English acquisition is pronunciation. Teaching pronunciation starts from younger age help the learners recognize the way to pronounce accurately. This article is based on classroom action research aiming at improving the young students’ pronunciation through songs. The subjects of the research were 23 young learners, the students of grade IV. There were two cycles in this classroom action research in which the researchers used songs as the intervention. The students were introduced to some English songs related to their materials and were asked to practice singing in the class. A test was administered to know the current students’ pronunciation skill before the intervention (pre-test), and also a post-test at the end of every cycle to find the difference before and after they were taught with songs. The mean score of the pre-test showed that the students’ pronunciation skill was in the range of “fair”. After that, the mean score of post-tests 1 and post- test 2 showed that the student’s pronunciation skill was improved to the range of “good” and “very good”. Moreover, during the observation, the researchers also found that the students got more motivated in learning English by the use of songs. Thus, it can be concluded that the students’ pronunciation skill is improved through the use of songs in the learning process.

Türkçenin Yabancı Dil Olarak Öğretiminde Konuşma ve Telaffuz Becerisinin Kazandırılması ve Geliştirilmesi Üzerine

It is essential to learn basic skills in teaching Turkish as a foreign language. These habits can be listed as follows; listening, reading, writing, pronunciation and speaking skills. Teaching Turkish as a second language is based on these facts. The most important of these habits is speaking and pronunciation. When learning a language, it is covered in a separate section. Being able to speak the learned language is one of the most important factors in second language teaching. As a result of this; It is seen that the determination and desire for language learning increase. When all of these are taken into account; once again we understand the importance of speaking and pronunciation. The purpose of this study: The importance of foreigners learning Turkish as a second language to gain speaking and pronunciation skills is emphasized. As a result, it is necessary to focus on the applications and methods that can be realized and carefully examined. For this reason, in order to gain both speaking and pronunciation skills, the individual must constantly practice on the language to be learned. Knowing a language means you can speak that language. It is unthinkable for a language to develop without practice. Key words: Turkish as a second language, teaching, speaking, pronunciation skills.

Students' perception on the use of Google Translate in learning Pronunciation

Since the Covid-19 pandemic that occurred in Indonesia, teaching and learning activities must be carried out online. Therefore, to improve students’ pronunciation skills, the teacher suggests to students to use Google Translate Application as media to learn pronunciation independently. Google Translate is an application that has various features, one of them is the pronunciation feature that can convert sound into text. This feature can be used by students’ to practice pronunciation so that it can train students’ ability to pronounce difficult words. The aim of this research is to describe the students’ perceptions of using Google Translate Application and to describe the obstacles do students find using Google Translate Application as media in learning pronunciation.
 This research used descriptive qualitative research design. The participants of this research is 15 students of the tenth grade an Islamic public senior high school in Kudus, Indonesia. The data was collected by distributing a questionnaire to the respondents.
 The result of this research shows the students’ perception on using Google Translate Application as media in learning pronunciation was positive, because students can learn practically and independently. While the obstacles that students found when learning pronunciation using Google Translate were that Google Translate often had errors, could not be used offline, took a long time to load, and had low accuracy.
 Therefore, to help students improve their pronunciation ability, students’ can use Google Translate Application as learning media. To minimize obstacles when using Google Translate Application, it is recommended to use Wi-Fi, so that the connection is good so that loading can be faster and reduce errors.

ON TEACHING ‘GLOTTALIZATION’ TO EFL LEARNERS

This paper deals with teaching ‘glottalization’ to advanced EFL learners as an important pronunciation skill or articulatory technique typical of spoken English with special reference to its behaviour within initial three-member /s/ consonant clusters of [spr], [str], [skr] type. An overview of ‘glottalization’ as an entire phonetic process is provided in terms of teaching the articulation mechanism of English fortis stops/plosives [p], [t], [k]. Special emphasis is placed on the major differences between English and Armenian sound systems. Taking into consideration that ‘glottalization’ is totally non-existent in Armenian, advanced learners of English are duly recommended some practical advice.

The effect of using pronunciation applications on students' pronunciation abilities

As part of speaking skill, pronunciation has an important factor in learning English as a foreign language, especially in communication. In English communication, if our pronunciation is wrong or inappropriate the result will be miscommunication, even to the point of not conveying the purpose of communication in a conversation because the meaning of a word or sentence is not conveyed properly. So far, the steps for learning and modeling pronunciation in English are done directly or face-to-face. Lecturers and students also need appropriate learning media and support online learning to carry out this Pronunciation course. Regarding applications, the benefits of many applications that are suitable for learning English are; students can watch videos related to the topic, are able to save examples of learning materials, and are able to save the exercises they have done as learning evaluation material for teachers and students later. Applications which are appropriate are the methods which are not only support online learning but can also improve students' pronunciation skills. This study aims to determine whether or not using the pronunciation application have an significant effect on students' pronunciation abilities. This study is used one group pretest-posttest. This design analyzes the results of students' pronunciation abilities at the beginning and at the end of the lesson. The subjects of this study were undergraduate students of the English Education Study Program, FKIP University of Lampung. One class consists of 31 students who take pronunciation courses. Based on the data analysis, the researcher concludes that there is no significant difference of students pronunciation ability before and after taught using pronunciation applications. Meanwhile, we can say that there is slightly significant improvement between pretest of posttest of pronunciation test.

Phonodidactics is not so black as it is painted: traditions and trends in FL pronunciation teaching

By a curious paradox, the indispensability of intelligible, comprehensible and minimally accented foreign language (FL) speech in oral communication does not translate into intensive pronunciation practice in instructed settings. Teaching pronunciation usually poses a major challenge to language instructors both at the level of planning and implementation of pronunciation teaching activities, and is therefore frequently frowned upon to the advantage of the remaining language subsystems. However, underdeveloped FL pronunciation skills carry negative consequences every time learners enter into oral conversations. The problem takes on yet greater significance nowadays when the increased mobility of 21st century societies raises the likelihood of students making contacts with native and non-native speakers of the target language (TL). On having, firstly, enumerated some of the culprits responsible for the inferiority of pronunciation component in everyday language classroom routine and, secondly, demonstrated the importance of the subskill in establishing contacts with native and non-native speakers of the TL, we attempt to provide a general overview of the well-established traditions and main trends in the field of phonodidactics. In view of the above, our primary objective is to first and foremost overcome deep-rooted prejudices against including the pronunciation component in language classrooms by developing readers’ awareness on the fundamentals of pronunciation teaching.

The Lingua Franca Core (LFC) and Its Impact on Pronunciation Teaching Practice in Indonesia

English pronunciation is a crucial part of communication however, it can be overwhelmingly challenging for non-native speaker students. Phonologically, it is because of its inconsistent orthography and idiosyncratic phonetics; it is also idiosyncratic or distinctive and not universal. To overcome such problems, Jenkins proposes a Lingua Franca Core (LFC). Despite its potential benefits, the LFC is practically and administratively challenging to be implemented in pronunciation learning practice in Indonesia. Thus, aiming to find issues regarding LFC in pronunciation teaching practices in Indonesia, data generated from ten Indonesian educational practitioners with diverse language backgrounds are qualitatively analyzed in this study. This study indicates that, practically, the replacement of dental fricatives /θ/ and /ð/ and its replacements with labiodental fricatives /f/ and /v/ is a failed suggestion and might lead to the fossilization of these sounds. Also, the LFC in the sentence level of utterance might not be as significant as in the word level. Administratively, LFC is challenging because of teachers' limited knowledge, training, and sources regarding assessing students’ English pronunciation skills, teachers' and students’ attitudes toward certain English accents, and the fact that pronunciation is not explicitly being taught in English class in Indonesia.