Examining the Impact of Abdominal Enhancement Techniques to Assist Chinese-Speaking English Learners' Phoneme Pronunciation

Autor/in	Yeldham, Michael
Titel	Examining the Impact of Abdominal Enhancement Techniques to Assist Chinese-Speaking English Learners' Phoneme Pronunciation
Quelle	In: Language Teaching Research, 27 (2023) 4, S.930-957 (28 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Yeldham, Michael)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1362-1688
DOI	10.1177/1362168820961774
Schlagwörter	English (Second Language); Second Language Learning; Second Language Instruction; Pronunciation Instruction; Native Speakers; Articulation (Speech); Human Body; Difficulty Level; Phonemes; Vowels; Longitudinal Studies; Case Studies; Comparative Analysis; Teaching Methods; Foreign Countries; Sino Tibetan Languages; Maintenance; Graduate Students; Undergraduate Students; Mandarin Chinese; Student Attitudes; Oral Reading; Language Tests; Speech Communication; Hong Kong + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Ausspracheübung; Muttersprachler; Menschlicher Körper; Schwierigkeitsgrad; Fonem; Longitudinal study; Longitudinal method; Longitudinal methods; Längsschnittuntersuchung; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Ausland; Graduate Study; Student; Students; Aufbaustudium; Graduiertenstudium; Hauptstudium; Studentin; Schülerverhalten; Oral work; Reading; Mündliche Übung; Leseprozess; Lesen; Language test; Sprachtest; Hongkong
Abstract	Instruction in second language (L2) English phoneme pronunciation almost invariably includes a focus on improving the learners' use of their articulatory organs to pronounce the relevant sounds. However, the pronunciation of many English sounds also relies on effort from the abdominal region, and under-utilization of this region can often contribute to pronunciation difficulties. For Chinese-speaking learners of English, such relevant sounds include the long vowel and diphthong sounds, particularly the phonemes /i?/, /u?/ and /e[near-close front unrounded vowel]/, and also the voiced fricative consonants, /z/, /[voiced dental fricative]/, /v/ and /[voiced postalveolar fricative]/. Consequently, this study examined the impact of teaching adult Chinese-speaking English learners to enhance the use of their abdomen when pronouncing these sounds. The main focus of the research was a quasi-experimental component, where both an experimental and control group were taught the same way in all aspects, with the only point of difference being that the experimental group was taught the abdominal techniques. Longitudinal multiple-case studies of learners from the experimental group were also employed to examine for any post-course maintenance of the phonemes as well as possible reasons for this. Results from the quasi-experimental component showed that it was advantageous to teach learners the abdominal techniques. Also, there were some discernible trends in the learners' post-course maintenance of the sounds. This article then discusses pedagogical implications of the study, and provides suggestions for future research of the abdominal techniques. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01