Hand-Clapping to the Rhythm of Newly Learned Words Improves L2 Pronunciation: Evidence from Training Chinese Adolescents with French Words

Autor/inn/en	Zhang, Yuan; Baills, Florence; Prieto, Pilar
Titel	Hand-Clapping to the Rhythm of Newly Learned Words Improves L2 Pronunciation: Evidence from Training Chinese Adolescents with French Words
Quelle	In: Language Teaching Research, 24 (2020) 5, S.666-689 (24 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1362-1688
DOI	10.1177/1362168818806531
Schlagwörter	Language Rhythm; Teaching Methods; French; Second Language Learning; Second Language Instruction; Phonology; Language Processing; Pronunciation; Speech Communication; Asians; Acoustics; Syllables; Pretests Posttests; Music; Short Term Memory; Pronunciation Instruction; Intonation; Suprasegmentals; Middle School Students; Audiovisual Instruction; Phonetics; Foreign Countries; China + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Sprachrhythmus; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Französisch; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Fonologie; Sprachverarbeitung; Aussprache; Asian; Asiat; Asiatin; Asiaten; Asiate; Akustik; Silbe; Musik; Kurzzeitgedächtnis; Ausspracheübung; Middle school; Middle schools; Student; Students; Mittelschule; Mittelstufenschule; Schüler; Schülerin; Phonetik; Fonetik; Ausland
Abstract	Though research has shown that rhythmic training is beneficial for phonological speech processing, little empirical work has been carried out to assess whether rhythmic training in the classroom can help to improve pronunciation in a second language. This study tests the potential benefits of hand-clapping to the rhythm of newly learned French words for the acquisition of pronunciation patterns by Chinese adolescents. In a between-subjects training experiment with a pretest/posttest design, 50 Chinese adolescents either repeated new French words while clapping out their rhythmic structure (clapping condition) or only repeated the words (non-clapping condition). Participants' oral production before and after training was (1) perceptually rated for accentedness by two French native speakers and (2) acoustically analysed for final syllable duration. While the results showed an only near-significant improvement from pretest to posttest in accentedness ratings for the clapping group, a significant improvement was obtained for acoustic durational measures. Individual musical abilities did not interact significantly in either of the two analyses, and working memory interacted significantly only with accentedness. These results show that a short training session in which clapping is used to highlight the prosodic structure of words can help improve pronunciation in a foreign language. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01