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50 Years of ERIC
50 Years of ERIC
The Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) is celebrating its 50th Birthday! First opened on May 15th, 1964 ERIC continues the long tradition of ongoing innovation and enhancement.

Learn more about the history of ERIC here. PDF icon

Showing all 7 results
Opening the Window on Comprehensible Pronunciation after 19 Years: A Workplace Training Study
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Derwing, Tracey M.; Munro, Murray J.; Foote, Jennifer A.; Waugh, Erin; Fleming, Jason – Language Learning, 2014
We present the outcomes of a pronunciation training program conducted in a workplace setting with second language speakers who had lived in an English-speaking environment for an average of 19 years. The research questions concerned whether improvement would occur in the learners' perception of certain segments and prosody; in the…
Descriptors: Pronunciation, Pronunciation Instruction, Workplace Learning, Language Tests
Segmental Acquisition in Adult ESL Learners: A Longitudinal Study of Vowel Production
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Munro, Murray J.; Derwing, Tracey M. – Language Learning, 2008
Research on second language (L2) phonetic learning indicates that, even in adults, segmental acquisition remains possible through L2 experience. However, the findings of previous cross-sectional studies of vowel and consonant learning have proved difficult to interpret. In this longitudinal investigation of 44 recent arrivals in Canada,…
Descriptors: Intervals, Phonetics, Vowels, Second Language Learning
Second Language Fluency: Judgments on Different Tasks
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Derwing, Tracey M.; Rossiter, Marian J.; Munro, Murray J.; Thomson, Ron I. – Language Learning, 2004
In this study we determined whether untrained raters' assessments of fluency in low-proficiency second language speech were related to temporal measures and whether they varied across tasks. We collected speech samples from 20 beginner Mandarin learners of English on picture description, monologue, and dialogue tasks. Temporal measures were made…
Descriptors: Language Fluency, English (Second Language), Pronunciation, Second Language Learning
Evidence in Favor of a Broad Framework for Pronunciation Instruction.
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Derwing, Tracey; Munro, Murray J.; Wiebe, Grace – Language Learning, 1998
Native English-speaking (NS) listeners evaluated effects of three types of instruction (segmental accuracy; general speaking habits and prosodic factors; and no specific pronunciation instruction) on speech of three groups of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners. Sentences were recorded and extemporaneously produced narratives at beginning…
Descriptors: English (Second Language), Instructional Effectiveness, Native Speakers, Oral Language
The Effects of Speaking Rate on Listener Evaluations of Native and Foreign Accented Speech.
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Munro, Murray J.; Derwing, Tracey M. – Language Learning, 1998
Tested the hypothesis that accented speech heard at a reduced rate would sound less accented and more comprehensible than speech produced at a normal rate. In two experiments, English native-speaker listeners rated a passage read by 10 high-proficiency Mandarin learners of English. Findings suggest that a general speaking strategy of slowing down…
Descriptors: English (Second Language), Hypothesis Testing, Language Proficiency, Listening Comprehension
Pronunciation Instruction for Fossilized Learners. Can it Help?
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Derwing, Tracey M.; Munro, Murray J.; Wiebe, Grace – Applied Language Learning, 1997
Adult English-as-a-Second-Language students enrolled in a speaking improvement course (which emphasized general speaking habits) read aloud lists of true and false sentences at the beginning and end of the course. Native speakers judged their intelligibility, comprehensibility, and accent. Most participants showed significant improvement in at…
Descriptors: Adult Students, College Students, English (Second Language), Graduate Students
Foreign Accent, Comprehensibility, and Intelligibility in the Speech of Second Language Learners.
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Munro, Murray J.; Derwing, Tracey M. – Language Learning, 1995
Examines the interrelationships among accentedness, perceived comprehensibility, and intelligibility in the speech of second-language (L2) learners. The findings suggest that although strength of foreign accent is correlated with perceived comprehensibility and intelligibility, a strong foreign accent does not necessarily reduce the…
Descriptors: Audiotape Recordings, Comparative Analysis, Data Collection, Dialects