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ERIC Number: EJ1381315
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023-Jul
Pages: 28
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1362-1688
EISSN: EISSN-1477-0954
Examining the Impact of Abdominal Enhancement Techniques to Assist Chinese-Speaking English Learners' Phoneme Pronunciation
Yeldham, Michael
Language Teaching Research, v27 n4 p930-957 Jul 2023
Instruction in second language (L2) English phoneme pronunciation almost invariably includes a focus on improving the learners' use of their articulatory organs to pronounce the relevant sounds. However, the pronunciation of many English sounds also relies on effort from the abdominal region, and under-utilization of this region can often contribute to pronunciation difficulties. For Chinese-speaking learners of English, such relevant sounds include the long vowel and diphthong sounds, particularly the phonemes /i?/, /u?/ and /e[near-close front unrounded vowel]/, and also the voiced fricative consonants, /z/, /[voiced dental fricative]/, /v/ and /[voiced postalveolar fricative]/. Consequently, this study examined the impact of teaching adult Chinese-speaking English learners to enhance the use of their abdomen when pronouncing these sounds. The main focus of the research was a quasi-experimental component, where both an experimental and control group were taught the same way in all aspects, with the only point of difference being that the experimental group was taught the abdominal techniques. Longitudinal multiple-case studies of learners from the experimental group were also employed to examine for any post-course maintenance of the phonemes as well as possible reasons for this. Results from the quasi-experimental component showed that it was advantageous to teach learners the abdominal techniques. Also, there were some discernible trends in the learners' post-course maintenance of the sounds. This article then discusses pedagogical implications of the study, and provides suggestions for future research of the abdominal techniques.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Adult Education; Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Hong Kong
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A