Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Monograph

Degree

Master of Arts

Program

Education

Supervisor

Boers, Frank

Abstract

This study investigated factors influencing incidental English word pronunciation acquisition by upper-intermediate L2 learners through exposure to spoken discourse. Due to inconsistent English spelling-sound correspondences, silent reading is likely to leave learners with inaccurate pronunciations. This study explored whether these inaccuracies could be easily corrected through listening. Two sequences were compared: silent reading followed by listening and listening followed by silent reading.

In a counterbalanced within-participant design, 50 upper-intermediate ESL learners at a research-intensive University in Ontario engaged with a text containing 16 target words. The text was divided into to parts. Participants either read a part silently, then aloud, followed by listening, or they listened first, then read silently and aloud. The sequence was reversed for the other part of the text. Post-tests assessed pronunciation improvements and interviews explored individual differences.

The results indicated that a single audio exposure was insufficient for accurate pronunciation acquisition. Both the trial-and-error and retrieval approaches yielded comparable final outcomes. However, the Input-Output-Input sequence (listening, reading, and listening again) showed potential as a more effective teaching strategy, combining the benefits of both approaches to enhance learning outcomes.

Summary for Lay Audience

English pronunciation is notoriously unpredictable. For example, words like "through," "thought," "though," "tough," and "plough" all share the -ough spelling but are pronounced differently. Similarly, stress placement varies: in "precursor" and "pretentious," stress is on the second syllable, while in "predator" and "prevalent," it's on the first. These inconsistencies can lead to incorrect representations of the words’ pronunciation in learners’ minds during silent reading. This study explores whether these inaccuracies can be corrected when learners hear the words spoken later.

This issue is important because many English learners primarily encounter the language through reading. If incorrect pronunciations from reading are not easily corrected by listening, it might be better to expose learners to spoken language first. On the other hand, silent reading might spark learners’ curiosity about pronunciations, thus making learners attend to the spoken word forms when they hear them at a later point in time.

The study involved high-intermediate ESL learners at a research-intensive University in Ontario, using a design where each participant experienced both learning sequences. Participants engaged with a text containing 16 commonly mispronounced words. They either read one half of the text silently, then aloud, followed by listening, or listened first, then read silently and aloud. For the other half of the text, the sequence was reversed. This design allowed comparison of pronunciation accuracy before and after listening. Participants also completed a learning style survey and were interviewed about their experiences and whether they imagined the spoken form of the words during silent reading.

The results showed that listening to a word just once was not rarely enough for learners to pronounce it correctly. Both methods - guessing the pronunciation and then hearing the correct version, or hearing it first and then reading it - led to similar results. A more effective approach may be a combination of both: listening to the word, reading it, and then listening again.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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