Explicit Rules or Implicit Imitation: A Comparative Study of Two Approaches to Teaching English Prosody to Chinese Adult EFL Learners

Identifier:  TDX:4394

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX4394

Authors:  Zhang, Xiaodan

Abstract:
This study aims to explore the effect of explicit and implicit instructions on improving English pronunciation as far as stress production is concerned. 28 tertiary-level Chinese EFL learners were divided equally into two groups and attended a pronunciation training course of eight 30-minute sessions, instructed using the two approaches in question respectively. The pre-test and post-test, involving a controlled reading task and a spontaneous speaking task, were conducted before and after the experiment. Participants’ recordings were analyzed acoustically on PRAAT. Readings of intensity peaks, F0 averages and duration for each syllable at word-level and for each word at sentence-level were obtained. These values were then processed in order to obtain the difference in amplitude and F0, together with the duration ratios, between stressed and unstressed syllables/words. The statistical results generated from a series of repeated measures ANOVAs revealed that, while both groups improved their pronunciation in stress production in the post-test, the improvement seemed more pronounced in the explicit group. In addition, 12 native English speakers rated comprehensibility and accentedness of the participants’ extemporaneous productions on a 7-point Likert scale. However, no significant improvement was witnessed in either of these two aspects from the pre to the post-test in both groups. Finally, a satisfaction survey utilizing 5-point Likert scale questions collected participants’ views toward the training course. The combination of quantitative and qualitative results provides credence for the feasibility of instructing suprasegmental aspects of speech in language classrooms and highlights the advantages of explicit instruction.