Running Head: Individualized Pronunciation Technique

Kristian Howland AL 6961-A Individualized Pronunciation Technique Hawaii Pacific University Dr. Candis Lee

INDIVIDUALIZED PRONUNCIATION TECHNIQUE

Original Stimulus

As part of our coursework, I was allowed to observe teachers and training videos that would help prepare me for my own eventual teaching endeavors. I accomplished this through attending various classes at HPU, ELS, the Bridge Program, and teaching training videos in the Meader Library. The enthusiasm of the teachers helped affirm how important a positive, productive classroom is for the learner. Throughout my observations, however, I noticed a definite lack in pronunciation correction or attention. The only time a teacher would truly correct a student would be when the mistake made him or her unintelligible. Even then, most instances of this occurring were intentionally overlooked. I understand the teachers reasoning for this; they do not want interrupt the flow of the lesson by stopping and focusing on one students incorrect language use or cause any further confident issues. I was constantly wondering how it would be possible to facilitate the individual students specific pronunciation needs while simultaneously maintaining the speed of the course/lesson. Looking for a solution to this problem, I thought the ways students practice their pronunciation during the class (and then later at home) could be improved. During a Beginning Japanese Language class, I saw examples of students listening to recordings and repeating them; however, this was the extent of the pronunciation curriculum included in the lesson. As far as I was aware, at no point was pronunciation homework announced for any of the classes: language teaching or otherwise. I have always had an interest in using technology to promote language learning and in this Action Research assignment, I will look at various aspects of technology which might promote pronunciation correction during the lesson and would, eventually, help students outside of the classroom as homework or extra credit.

INDIVIDUALIZED PRONUNCIATION TECHNIQUE

Narrowed Topic-Focus Due to the often limited lesson plans teachers are forced to make, the focus of this Action Research assignment is how to provide individualized pronunciation teaching in a curriculum with minimal time for even general pronunciation instruction. I am also interested in finding technology-centered aids that could facilitate pronunciation correction in the classroom as well as homework activities. One potential aid that has caught my attention is a comparative video recording in which the student compares their pronunciation of a paragraph to that of a native speakers pronunciation of an identical paragraph. Motivation I want to help give students confidence when using English through pronunciation techniques because I truly believe that embarrassment about speaking with an incomprehensible accent to the native speaker can deter even the brightest learner. It has been both my personal and professional experience that most students have a difficult time realizing the natural process one goes through when learning another language, and instead focus on everything they havent managed to perfect. It is therefore imperative to provide the ELLs with as many learning tools at their disposal as possible. After reading numerous lesson plans provided to me by the teachers I observed, I believe a great deal of learners motivation comes from themselves and clear, concise instruction. That instruction includes homework assignments; if the students feel as though the assignment is wasting their time, it may cause a decrease in motivation. On the contrary, if the students gain knowledge and can see a measureable difference in their language accomplishments, the hope is that their motivation will increase.

INDIVIDUALIZED PRONUNCIATION TECHNIQUE

My own motivation to study this problem involves aspects of my own foreign language experience. As a study abroad student in Japan, I would often note a difference in the way Japanese people spoke and what I was said in class. This was more intricate than changing registers between friends and teachers. The pronunciation difference involved the sounds of the words themselves. I imagine it is the same frustration an ELL might experience when they have learned to say, Going to, and are constantly hearing, [gn] instead. I wondered how I might improve my natural speech in Japanese and how, as a teacher, I would provide resources for ELLs to do the same. I also enjoy incorporating technology into my daily life and relish the challenge of finding an appropriate medium ELLs can use to advance their speaking ability. Literature Review Varied responses to pronunciation exist, though generally feedback seems to encourage it in curriculum development. Couper (2003) in particular believes it is important to create room in the syllabus that focuses on pronunciation techniques for full English instruction. As an action research plan itself, the study he conducted has all the elements and procedures I, as a teacher, will be going through if I decide to implement my own action research into my student teaching. The study involves raising learner awareness of pronunciation. This is accomplished by encouraging and monitoring learners pronunciation on the segmental and supra-segmental level. The results of this action research were done by a student survey which gave positive reviews. The focus on the segmental level supports my desire to learn more of phonological practices in classroom teaching. The approach to encouraging a sub-syllabus of pronunciation was also intriguing and will provide a precedent to other curriculum development involving such techniques.

INDIVIDUALIZED PRONUNCIATION TECHNIQUE

An article published by Tsubota, Dantsuji, and Kawahara (2004) details information about an English pronunciation learning system developed in Japan to improve pronunciation skills of ELLs by measuring their errors. This is accomplished through an acoustic model that can detect non-native speakers errors since their speech is acoustically broader than native speakers. This provides a method of advancing intelligibility by using C.A.L.L., which is very closely in line with my ideas for Action Research. The fact that it is based in Japan, where my setting will most likely be as well, is useful because the pronunciation errors will be similar to my classroom. Assessing students intelligibility has always provided a challenge for me; measuring their errors through an acoustic listening device as compared to the sounds of a native speaker seems very promising. Armington (1993) supports a method of pronunciation teaching that is derived from focusing on the students strengths and working on their weaknesses. The author(s) suggest respelling a word to fit how it actually sounds in order to promote a better understanding and pronunciation of the word. The article stresses that the goal is to lessen the difference between the sought after pronunciation and the problem pronunciation. This article was a very useful read to me because the Journal mentions, numerous times, individual student need- which is precisely the answer Im trying to find: how do we help individual pronunciation problems in English without diverting from the speed of the course? I also particularly like the encouraging approach to fixing any pronunciation problems; specifically, focusing first on what the students are doing correctly and giving them motivation based off of that to tackle harder pronunciation difficulties. Osburne (2003) investigates various strategies employed by upper-level English language learners to improve their own pronunciation. A study was performed with adult ESOL learners to

INDIVIDUALIZED PRONUNCIATION TECHNIQUE

monitor their progress in pronunciation using an assortment of strategies. One such strategy involved an audio recording device that the students were able to play back at random. Following this procedure the participant was not able either to read the sentence or to repeat it back verbatim from the experimenter; the intention was to keep the task as close to spontaneous (though monitored) speech as possible, rather than making it, for example, a reading task. (p. 133) Results of this study showed that the students segmental phonology was improved and the researchers discovered that, subjects were found to be more strongly accented and also less comprehensible at slower speeds. (2003, p. 7). The author tries out various techniques to promote pronunciation improvement through real-life data rather than only theory-based methods. Research Questions(s) The various methods mentioned in the previous section foreshadow the difficulty one might have when conducting an action research based on pronunciation techniques. Determining which method, mix of methods, or original method would help students improve their confidence and clarity in English pronunciation more is a challenge that would benefit from doing an action research in the classroom: learning hands-on what increased the students individual pronunciation skill the most. In order to facilitate a productive learning environment while simultaneously providing adequate pronunciation techniques, I hope to answer the following research questions: 1. What specific technological resources would help promote a more fluent pronunciation for non-native English speakers?

INDIVIDUALIZED PRONUNCIATION TECHNIQUE

2. What would be the most appropriate way to introduce an individually focused pronunciation technique into a class of 10 or more? 3. What is the best way to implement a pronunciation technique into a lesson that is barely included in the L2 curriculum or L2 syllabus? Methodology Type of Data This research will be orchestrated to assess if the pronunciation technique performed by the students as a homework assignment or within a lesson is valuable. The pronunciation technique would be a video recording device (found on most laptops and computers) that students are able to play back and listen/watch themselves speak an English paragraph relevant to their lesson material. This would be contrasted with an identical example from a native English speaker (the teacher, for instance) so that the students can note the variations in intonation, pitch, stress, and speed and re-record their version with the improvements theyve learned. Context Since I will most likely be doing my Practicum II abroad, the setting would be EFL with students of the same L1. There is a possibility I will be working as an English teacher at a university in Japan, so I would be student teaching college-level ELLs that have most likely taken English past the intermediate level throughout high school and so will now be advanced/high advanced. Based off of previous experience with the school in question, the

INDIVIDUALIZED PRONUNCIATION TECHNIQUE

number of students could be anything as small as 5 and as large as 30. I would conduct this research in three separate classes.

Data Collection First, I would allow the students, by vote, to choose a paragraph from a book relevant to their level. Then, at the beginning of the week, I would give the students time to say the paragraph into the video recorder. If at school, I would bring them to the computer center; if at home, they would use their own laptops. I would also provide them with a video sample of me saying the paragraph through email/usb. After they recorded themselves speaking, they would then listen to my recording and attempt to match my intonation/pronunciation, etc. Each night for that week as homework, they would re-record their own video after listening again to my recording. This would be repeated in two other classes. At the end of the week, after the assignment or activity was complete, I would collect all of the recordings and either conduct one-on-one interviews with the students to assess if their pronunciation level increased or have a third party carry out classroom observation notes to compare and contrast the before and after. This could be repeated for homework when each new topic is introduced and would therefore not hinder the speed or content of the lesson.

INDIVIDUALIZED PRONUNCIATION TECHNIQUE

References Armington, S. (1993). Teaching pronunciation at the microlevel: Using keywords from student speech. TESOL Journal, 3(2), 27-30. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.hpu.edu:80/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/58206238?acco untid=2514 Couper, G. (2003). The value of an explicit pronunciation syllabus in ESOL teaching. Prospect, 18(3), 53-70. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.hpu.edu:80/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/85611748?acco untid=2514 Osburne, A. G. (2003). Pronunciation strategies of advanced ESOL learners. IRAL, 41(2), 131143. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.hpu.edu:80/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/85543992?acco untid=2514 Tsubota, Y., Dantsuji, M., & Kawahara, T. (2004). An English pronunciation learning system for Japanese students based on diagnosis of critical pronunciation errors. ReCALL, 16(1), 173-188. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.hpu.edu:80/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/85634791?acco untid=2514