The Effect of Explicit Pronunciation Instruction on Undergraduate EFL Learners' Vowel Perception

Abstract

Since English pronunciation errors by Persian speakers are often caused by the transfer of the Persian language sound system, the present study investigated the effect of explicit pronunciation instruction on undergraduate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' vowel perception enhancement. The nonequivalent group, pretest-posttest design was employed to study two classes of English literature and English teaching students at Kosar University of Bojnord (KUB) as the experimental group (EG) and control group (CG), respectively. A 40-item minimal pair test was developed based on the 3rd edition of the book Ship or Sheep: An Intermediate Pronunciation Course written by Baker (2006). The reliability of the test was estimated 0.75 through KR-21 formula. After the pretest administration, both groups were exposed to the same activities; however, only the EG received the treatment regarding explicit pronunciation instruction. At the end of an eight-week training program, the pretest was used as the posttest. The results of the independent samples t-test from the posttest revealed that the EG had a better performance than the CG, suggesting that EFL learners' vowel perception can improve if they are explicitly made aware of their pronunciation errors.

The effect of phonetic transcription on Iranian EFL students' word stress learning

“…As reported by Ghorbani (2011), Ghorbani, Neissari andKargozari (2016) and Ghorbani and Neissari (2015), pronunciation is rarely taught and tested in the Iranian educational system mainly because of the washback impact of the tests. Other reported reasons for this negligence include lack of time, teachers' low proficiency, lack of phonetic transcription in the available material, and the assumption that learning accurate pronunciation is possible only through listening to native speakers.…”

An Investigation of Instructors' Approaches in Teaching Pronunciation: A Case Study

“…Positive effects of explicit teaching of pronunciation are also reported by Ghorbani et al (2016). They enabled EFL learners to identify and notice their specific pronunciation errors and then the learners investigated the impact of explicit pronunciation instruction on their vowel perception.…”

“…Recently, several researchers have explored the efficacy of explicit pronunciation instruction on learners' development (e.g. Couper, 2003Couper, , 2006Ghorbani, Neissari, & Kargozari, 2016;Saito, 2007Saito, , 2011Saito, , 2012. They agree that clear instruction of pronunciation is essential in language classrooms.…”

“…They agree that clear instruction of pronunciation is essential in language classrooms. Ghorbani et al (2016) said:…”

The Effectiveness of Implicit and Explicit Instruction on German L2 Learners’ Pronunciation

“…Shamiri and Farvardin (2016) conducted interviews with 70 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students and found that most of them prefer their errors to be corrected implicitly. However, the majority of studies comparing the effects of implicit and explicit instruction on the pronunciation and listening comprehension of learners of English shows that explicit teaching methods are more effective than implicit methods (Gorbani, Neissari, & Kargozari, 2016; Gordon, Darcy, & Ewert, 2013; Khaghaninejad & Maleki, 2015; Khanbeiki & Abdolmanafi‐Rokni, 2015).…”