ERIC Number: EJ1043928
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014-Dec
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0039-8322
EISSN: N/A
Interactive Alignment of Multisyllabic Stress Patterns in a Second Language Classroom
Trofimovich, Pavel; McDonough, Kim; Foote, Jennifer A.
TESOL Quarterly: A Journal for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages and of Standard English as a Second Dialect, v48 n4 p815-832 Dec 2014
The current study explored the occurrence of stress pattern alignment during peer interaction in a second language (L2) classroom. Interactive alignment is a sociocognitive phenomenon in which interlocutors reuse each other's expressions, structures, and pronunciation patterns during conversation. Students (N = 41) enrolled in a university-level English for academic purposes class completed four collaborative tasks during a 13-week semester. The collaborative tasks were information-exchange quizzes that were seeded with multisyllabic words containing 3-2 (e.g., "consístent") and 4-2 (e.g., "intélligent") stress patterns (i.e., three- and four-syllable words with the stress on the second syllable). Transcripts were analyzed for alignment, which was operationalized as higher accuracy rates in discourse contexts where an interlocutor previously produced an accurate target stress. The results indicate that alignment occurred when students carried out all four collaborative tasks. Implications are discussed in terms of the potential role of alignment activities in helping L2 speakers practice pronunciation.
Descriptors: Phonology, Intonation, Pronunciation, Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, English for Academic Purposes, Task Analysis, Language Tests, Role, Accuracy, Oral Language, Discourse Analysis, Pronunciation Instruction, Cooperative Learning, Peer Relationship, Teaching Methods
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A