Effects of Explicit Instruction and Corrective Feedback on the Acquisition of the French Accentual Phrase by Native Speakers of English
Year: 2018
Type: dissertation
Abstract: It is now well recognized that second language (L2) instruction and corrective feedback (CF) have significant positive effects on the acquisition of L2 pronunciation (e.g., Saito, 2012; Derwing Munro, 2015; Lee, Jang Plonsky, 2015; Thomson Derwing, 2015). The objective of the present dissertation is to further our understanding of the effects of explicit instruction and CF via the study of the acquisition of the French Accentual Phrase (AP), a primary unit of prosodic organization, by native speakers of English. To this end, two inter-related experiments were conducted. Experiment 1 involved ten English-speaking learners of French who completed word recognition and delayed elicited imitation tasks that assessed their accuracy in the perception and production of APs, respectively. In perception, these learners showed limited accuracy with respect to the increased pitch and duration that cue AP-final syllables in French. In production, they produced too many, insufficiently large APs, and were non-target-like in the phonetic realization of the final LH* rise that signals the final full syllable of this prosodic unit. Experiment 2 then examined whether an instructional treatment that targeted the difficulties identified in Experiment 1 could increase learners’ accuracy in perception and production. Eight English-speaking learners of French were provided with six hours of explicit instruction and CF. Gains in perception and production accuracy were assessed using a pre-/post-test design involving the same tasks as in Experiment 1. While the treatment did not lead to gains in perceptual accuracy with the final LH* rise, there was significant improvement in learners’ production of appropriately sized APs and of the final LH* rise. In summary, this dissertation contributes to the growing literature on L2 pronunciation instruction via the study of a previously unstudied prosodic structure in a relatively understudied target language, French, and demonstrates the potential benefits of explicit instruction including CF on L2 phonological and phonetic development.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Simona Sunara
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
Funder: Strong
OpenAlex ID: W2953168354