Another look at the results of an Englishpronunciation course for Japanese collegestudents

著者 TAGUCHI Kayajournal orpublication title

The Economic Review of Toyo University

volume 39number 2page range 15-28year 2014-03-25URL http://id.nii.ac.jp/1060/00006414/

Creative Commons : 表示 - 非営利 - 改変禁止http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.ja

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東洋大学『経済論集」39巻2号2014年3月

Anothel･l⑪⑪katthel･eSultSofanEngliShpl･OnunCiatiOn

c⑪Ⅲ．sefm･JapanesecOⅡegestudents

TAGUCHI,Kaya

ABSTRACT

Forty-fiveJapaneseuniversitystudentsreceivedpronunciationinstructionoverthecourseof8monthswithatwo-month

summerbreakinbetween.Theleamerspracticedsegmentalsandsuprasegmentalsincontrolledactivitieswithafbcuson

theaccuracy(fbcusonfbnns)andpracticedtheminmeaningMcommunicativecontextswhilepayingattentiontotheir

pronunciation(fbcusonibnn).Theyreceivedatotalof5hoursand40minutesofpronunciationinstruction.Theparticipants

readadiagnosticpassageimmediatelybefbretheinstruction(Timel),afier9weeksofinstruction(Time2),andattheend

oftheinstmctionperiod(Time3).FourteennativespeakersofEnglishratedthecomprehensibility(easeofunderstanding)

andtheaccentedness(howdifferent廿omNS'snorms)oftheutterancesproducedbytwelveoftheleamers・Ananalysis

oftheratingsshowedthattheleamersshowednostatisticallysignificantimprovementintennsofcomprehensibilityor

accentedness廿omTimeltoTime3.Thispapersuggestspossiblereasonsfbrthelackoftheimprovement,andfiltureareas

fbrbetterpronunciationinstructionbyanalyzingsomeoftheparticipants'pronunciation.ltalsosuggestshow@thought

group'and@sentencestress'seemtoplayimportantrolesinfacilitatingpronunciationcomprehensibility.

KeywordS:pronunciationinstruction,EFLlearners,FonFS,FonF,comprehenSibility,accentedness,thoughtgroup,

sentencestress

INTRODUCTION

PronunciationinstructionfbrESL/EFLlearnershasnotreceivedmuchattentionalthoughphonologyis

averyimportantelementoforalcommunication.Exploringpossiblereasonsfbrthis,itseemsthatmany

educatorsdonotbelievethatteachingpronunciationwillactuallyimpacttheirleamers'pronunciationdueto

thelackofanextensiveempiricalresearchontheeffectivenessoftheinstruction(Taguchi,2013).Thequasi-

experimentalresearchlhavebeenconductingmightbeabletoofferevidencetosuchskepticalteachersthat

iftheyspendacertainamountoftimefbrpronunciationteachingintheirclasses,moststudentswillbeable

toimprovetheircomprehensibilityandaccentedness.Thepreviousresearch(Chiba,2012)showedthata

-15-

balanced-approachseemstobeeffectiveinimprovingleamers'comprehensibility').Suchinstructionwould

takecareofbothmechanicalaspectsofpronunciation(placeandmannerofarticulationofsegmentals)

andmessages/meaningthatsoundscanbeconveyedthroughstressandintonation.Inotherwords,itseems

effectivewhenlearnerspracticepronunciationinameaningfillcontextwithotherlearners(FonF)afier

leaminghowtheycanproduceaspecificsoundorintonationpattem廿omexplicitinstruction(FonFS).

ThelaststudylpresentedwasbasedonananalysisofthespeechesproducedbylearnersatTimel(pre-

instruction)andTime2(afier3hourr'orthe9thweekofinstruction).Thistime,IincludedataofTime

3speeches(recordedafieranother2hour-40minutesofinstruction,whichisanadditional8weeks)in

ordertoseewhethermypreviousstatementiscorroboratedandtheimprovementatTime3fiomTimelis

greaterthantheimprovementatTime2finmTimel.lalsoanalyzetwooftheleamers'speechestosuggest

how@thoughtgroup'and&sentencestress'mayneedtoreceivemoreattentioninteachingpronunciation,

especiallyinJapaneseEFLcontexts.

METHOD

ThebasicmethodofthisstudyhasbeenoutlinedinChiba(2012)andTaguchi(2013)

Researchquestions

Thisstudyexploresthefbllowingresearchquestions:

l.AfterreceivingFonFSandFonFpronunciationinstruction,willrespondentcomprehensibilityimprove

moreatTime3thanatTime2comparedtothebaselineofTimel？

2.AfterreceivingFonFSandFonFpronunciationinstruction,willtherespondentaccentednessimprove

moreatTime3thanatTime2comparedtothebaselineofTimel？

HypotheSeS

旦X血旦l§－1:Theimprovementofcomprehensibilitywillbestatisticallysigni6cant(p<.05)atTime3,

afierreceivingFonFSandFonFpronunciationinstruction.

Whenleamersreceivedexplicitinstructiononpronunciationandpracticedlearneditemsininteractive

l)Coﾉ”ﾉぜﾙe"sjM脚isdescribedasalistener'sperceptionofhowdimcultitwastounderstandaspeaker(adapted廿om

Derwingetal.(1997)).lalsomeasuredq"eﾉ"ed>7ess:alistener'sperceptionofhowdifferentaspeaker'saccentwas

廿omanativespeakerS(adapted廿omibid.).

2)InTBguchi(2013)Imistakenlystatedthetotalinstructiontimewassixhours.

-16-

AnotherlookattheresultsofanEnglishpronunciationcoursefbrJapanesecollegesmdents

activitieslonger,overthecourseof8months,theywouldbeapttoshowmoreimprovement,eventhoughthe

classmetonlyonceaweekandtherewasatwo-monthsummerbreak.

Hypothesis2:Theimprovementofaccentednesswillbestatisticallysigni6cant(p<.05)atTime3,afier

receivingFonFSandFonFpronunciationinstruction.

Asreportedinmypreviousresearchandinotherexperimentalstudies(cfMunroandDerwing,1995),

accentednessseemstopersist,unlikecomprehensibility.However,sincemostEFLstudentsinJapannever

receivefbrmalpronunciationinstruction,theiraccentednesswilltendtobelessstrongafierreceiving

balancedpronunciationinstruction.

Participants3)

Theinitialsampleconsistedof45first-yearundergraduateeconomicsmmorsatamid-rankingprivate

universityinTbkyo,Japan.ThisnumberwaSreducedtol2duetolowraterreliabilityinthe20121istening

sessions(Taguchi,2013),andthelackofratersavailabilityin2013.Thedemographicsofthestudent

participantsarethesameasTBguchi(2013),showninTablelbelow.

Tablel4De"mgr""cP"Qf/eq/"eS"de"rPa耐叩α"応加肋eSr"4か

ExperimentalGroup

Numberofparticipants 6 6

Gender Male Female

Ll Japanese

Treatment

PronunciationlnstructionTime

Asapartoftheirweekly90-minuteregularEnglishcourse,theleamersreceived20-minutepronunciation

lessonsoverthecourseofl7weeks;startinginApril2012andendinginDecember2012,withan8-week

summerbreak.ThetotalpronunciationinstructiontimewasShoursand40minutes.Amoredetailed

pronunciationscheduleisintheAppendix,andasamplelessonisfbundinChiba(2012).

3)Priortothepronunciationcourse,inibnnedconsentswerecollected廿omallthelearners.lexplainedthepurposeofthe

researchandthecon6dentialityoftheirdataintheirnativelanguage.lalsotoldthemthattheparticipationwasstrictly

voluntaryandhadnothingtodowiththeircoursegrade.Ihavenotusedanyspeechsamples廿omthosewhodidnotl

signaninibnnedconsent.lalsocompletedanappropriateinfbnnedconsentprocedurefbrratersaccordingtotheraters

universityguidelines.

-17-

ltemsDealtwithintheLessons

Theinstructioninthisstudydealtwithbothsegmentalandsuprasegmentals(AveryandEhrlich,2008,pp

l34-138),withafbcusonEnglishsoundsthatJapanesespeakersofienhavedifficultywith.

ApproachandMaterials

AsmentionedinTaguchi(2013),pronunciationteachingfbrESL/EFLleamersisthoughttobeeffective

whenincorporatingcommunicativeactivities(FonF)fbllowedbyexplicitinstructionofthetarget

pronunciationandcontrolledpractice(FonFS).Therefbre,onceagain,lusedthesametextbookP℃"""c/α"o〃

Pα脚.Thistextincludesspecificinfbrmationaboutthearticulationofsegmentalsandhowtoconveyan

intendedmessagethroughsuprasegmentalfeaturessuchasintonationandstress.

DataCollection

Tomeasuretheimprovementintheparticipants'pronunciation,adiagnosticpassage"Clearspeakingtest，，

fiomC/eα′"助“c/7wasrecordedbefbreinstruction(Timel,inApril2012),befbrethesummerbreak(Time2,

inJuly2012)andafterthelastclass(Time3,inDecember2012)asindicatedinFigurel,

TimelDialogReading(April2012)

PronunciationLessons(total3hoursin9weeks)

20-minutepronunciationinstructionplus70-minuteregularlessons

Time2DialogReading(July2012)

90daysummerbreak

PronunciationLessons(total2hoursand40minutesin8weeks)

20-minutepronunciationinstructionplus70-minuteregularlessons

Time3DialogReading(December2012)

fr"el.ThetimeframefOrthisstudy.

TheleamersrecordedtheirspeecheswithanlCrecorderindividuallyinaquietclassroom.Befbre

recording,Ireadaloudthediagnosticpassageonce,andaskediftherewereanywordstheycouldnot

pronounce.Iaskedthemtoreadthetextclearlysothatlistenerscouldunderstandthemwell.Afierthe

recording,thetextsfbrtheaudiofileswerecollected廿omallthestudentstoreduceanypracticeeffects.The

-18-

AnotherlookattheresultsofanEnglishpronunciationcoursefbrJapanesecollegestudents

speecheswerenotpracticedduringthecourseofinstruction.

Assessment

AmongtheTimeland2speechesevaluatedbyl8Americansduringthe2012ratingsessions,onlythose

12speecheswithinter-raterreliabilityestimatesaboveCro"加cﾉ7(M>.6wereevaluatedin2013・Afierall,

twelveleamers>speechesrecordedatTimesl,2and3wereevaluatedinthe2012and20131isteningsessions

byAmericanundergraduatestudentslrecruitedfromsecondyearJapaneselanguageclasses,whoseLlwas

English

Befbretheratings,Iexplainedthat"comprehensibility''washoweasytheywouldfindaspeechto

understand,and.@accentedness''washowdifferenttheywouldfindthespeaker'saccentfigomnative

speaker3ingeneral,asDerwingetal.(1997)suggests.Liketheotherlisteningsessionslhavebeen

conducting,Itriedtogetthemtoreachanagreementaboutthetwocategoriesbyplayingfbursample

speechesandaskingeveryraterabouttheirratingofitscomprehensibilityandaccentednessandabout

specificsoundsorsoundpattemsfbrtheirratingsothatthegroupcouldshareothers'rating.Theratersfieeely

expressedtheiropinionsanddiscussedtheirideaswitheachotheraswell.Afterthat,theyevaluatedleamers

speechesintennsofcomprehensibilityandaccentednessaccordingtoa5-pointLikertscale.

Table27We〃""-r"rey･Re"α仇"〃(O"o"6"cルαわ〃αノルr油e"eechesRecor此""7Y"zes1,2α"d3

Timel Time2 Time3

Numberofspeakers 12(M6/F6)

Numberofraters4)(LIEnglish) 10 12 6

Comprehensibility .841 ､857 ､780

Accentedness .783 ､890 ､733

AsTable2aboveindicatesthattheratingsfbrspeechesrecordedTimesl,2and3werewithinacceptable

rangesintennsofreliability,Imoveontoanalyzethesesetsofdataasbelow.

SpeechAnalysis

Amongtheevaluatedspeechesabove,Ianalyzedtwolearners.speecheswhoseratingschangedthemost

ofalltheleamersinordertoseewhatmightcausegoodcomprehensibility.

4)Thetotalnumberofraterswasfburteenbecausetheyevaluatedspeeches廿omtwoTimes

－19－

RESUIJIS

QuantitativeAnalysis

ComprehensibilityRatings

Thedescriptivestatisticsfbrthecomprehensibilityratingswereona5-pointLikertscaleinwhichl

represents@4extremelyeasytounderstand''and5,@Gextremelydifficulttounderstand."Table3showsthegroup

meansandstandarddeviationsfbrthelearnersovertime.

Table3G"""〃"Eα"$,Sra"mJ･dDeB'加伽"s/i"･“"””んe"sib"iりノ

Itisdifficulttoascertainwhetherornotsomepracticeeffectoccurredbythethirdreading.Nopractice

effectbetweenthefirstandsecondreadingwasdetected(Taguchi,2013).

TheANOVArepeated-measuresinTable4showsthattheimprovementofthegroupwasstatistically

significant,(FM2,22)=4.216,MSb=.156,p=.028),butnot廿omTimeltoTime3,aslhypothesized.Iwill

discussthislateralongwithitsaccentednessimprovement.

Table44"O砲ん"e-"qy:J･")2"だのS"",",α〃”〃e/b'⑰〃''2舵"s伽肋RM"g

Source SIS 〃 ﾊバ F p

TIME

SUBJECTS

ERROR

l.315

5.453

3.430

２Ⅱ翅

657

496

156

4.216 028

TOTAL lO.198 35

AccentednessRatings

Table5showsthegroupmeansandstandarddeviationsoftheaccentednessfbrtheleamersovertime

Table5G""MEα"s,Srα"血r‘ﾉDevm"0"＄んrAc“""伽“＄

－20－

Timel Time2 Time3

"=12 〃

2.80

SD

.50

〃

3.02

SD

､52

〃

2.56

SD

､54

Timel Time2 Time3

"=12 〃

3.58

SD

､39

〃

3.78

SD

､57

〃

3.25

SD

.50

AnotherlookattheresultsofanEnglishpronunciationcoursefbrJapanesecollegesmdents

Likethecomprehensibilityrating,theANOVArepeated-measuresinTable6showsthattheimprovement

ofthegroupwasstatisticallysignificant,(R2,22)=7.041,MSe=.851,p=.004),butthatwasfromTime2to

5）

Time3,not廿omTimeltoTime3.YoucanseethisvisuallyinFigure2below.

Table64ﾉVO剛ん"e-M'":J."""d)S""""""7h〃ど/br4cce"だ伽"sRα""9

〃Source SS MS P p

２Ⅱ、

851

489

121

TIME

SUBJECTS

ERROR

l.701

5.384

2.658

7.M1 004

35TOTAL 9.743

BoththecomprehensibilityandtheaccentednessratingsfellatTime2androseatTime3,eventoahigher

pointthanTimel,withtheresultthattheimprovementfromTime2to3isconsideredtobestatistically

significant.

０００００００００００００００

５６７８９０１２３４５６７８９

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

２２２２２３３３３３３３３３３

■■■■■COnl

acc

Timel Time2 Time3

F塵J".e2.Groupmeansoncomprehensibilityandaccentednessratingsovertime.

Note・com=comprehensibility;acc=accentedness

QualitativeanalySis

Basedonanassumptionthatqualitativeanalysisoftheparticipants'speecheswouldrevealfactors

5)Post-hocpairwisecomparisonsalsoconfirmthatthedifferencebetweenTime2and3aresignificantbothintermsof

comprehensibilityandaccentednessratings.

-21-

especiallyinnuencingcomprehensibility,lanalyzedspeechesrecordedbytwoleamers,oneofwhichis

calledLeamerA(male),andtheotherLearnerB(female).Ichoosethesetwoparticipantsbecauselassume

thatinvestigatingthosewhosecomprehensibilityratingsimprovedthemostfiomTimeltoTime3ofallthe

leamers(Figure3)mightofferaclueastofactorsthatwouldaffectcomprehensibility.

ー

1.0C

1.5C

2.0C

2.5C

3.0C

3.5C

4.0C

LearnerA

LeamerB

1

3.40

3.00

2 3

3．08 2.33

2．17 1.83

"""23.ThecomprehensibilityratingsofLeamersAandBatTimesl,2and3.

SpeechAnalysis

Thetwolearners'recordingsatTimesland3revealthatsegmentalaspectsseemtostaythesameovertime

whileobviouserrors,especiallyrepeatingawholewordorapartofit,standoutintheirTimelspeeches(Thble7).

Table7Re"""9e"ors"7伽es1,2αM3hyLe""2"4aMB

LearnerA

(comprehensibility Repetition Omission Insertion

rating)

Timel(3.40) where'S9thethem book§,Ca (sound)s

Time2(3.08) some,youcan,mea(ning) (sound)s

Time3(2.33) (sound)s

LearnerB Repetition Omission Insertion

di(rectly),di(Hもrent), studyll埴，Timel(3.00) di(ffbrent),mix(ed), econoInlcs， (sound)s

wi(11),la(st) econoInlcs

Time2(2.17) boo(ks),at,whatare

Time3(1.83)di(fYもrent),

econo(mics)*3-sameplaceneed(to)

Wrongvowels

sailing(selling),selling(ceiling)

there(they)

Wrongvowels

sailing(ceiling),measure(major)

sailing(ceiling)

sailing(ceiling)

ﾉVore.Theworqs_inUletable.areWWthelFarnerspr"oupcgqwjilcreading:Di(rectly)ple"sthat.theleamerrePeatedthCjirSt_syll9bleof"difYerent''twice.Sailing(selling)meansthelearnersaid"sailing"whilcheshould~haveread..selling.

－22－

AnotherlookattheresultsofanEnglishpronunciationcoursefbrJapanesecollegesmdents

[Errors]

Wemightsuspectthatthemoreerl･orsmadebystudents,thelowertheircomprehensibilityratingswere.

However,thesituationdoesnotappeartobecompletelylinear:thesheernumberofobviouserrorsdoesnot

seemtotelluswhetheraspeechismorecomprehensibleornot.LeamerB'scomprehensibilityratingsat

Times2and3arebetterthanLeamerA'satTime3,whomadeonlytwoerrors.

[ThoughtGroup]

ToconductafUrtherinvestigationintofactorsin伽encingcomprehensibility,Iusedasoftwareprogram

calledSUGISpeechAnalyzer,whichvisualizesspeechpattems.Asaresult,mostofbothspeakers'segmental

featuresandwordstressesseemedtoremainthesameatTimesl,2and3whiletheircomprehensibility

ratingsimproved・Whatseemstohavechangedovertimeiswhethertheyinsertedappropriatepauses.The

nextseveralparagraphsofferabriefsummaryofhowLeamerAinsertedpausesbetweenwords.6)

Ifyouexaminehowhepronouncedthesentence,@@lt'sonthecomerofMainStreetandSellingRoad"on

thefirstrecording(Figure4),youmaynoticethatthetwofilnctionwords,@of'and@and'wereseparated廿om

theirheadwords,.MainStreet'and@SellingRoad'respectively.Astheresult,thispersonfailedtogroup

wordseffectivelyintoonethoughtgroup.

、2505”75010”12”！”§175020”2鱒C2500？750”00325，35”3浦04”04250燭”（飴s肇c）…_←-…-..-....………_.…..….-....……….….……_…__……..､---..-....…-.--….≠-.......-….._..､.._..___..._.……_.､.._….…._.._..､…_←.…､.……._…._..__…‐…､､……≠‐…‘‐_‘‐”“‘ｰ‐”……‐”_",‘‘.‘‘_______一____≠_______.≠_.._..__

0

4

－8

F

II

§ tr霊IfMaiぃaハ．1t，s《かr ｛ t h を c c r お 色 r S令IIing ROad

Fr"e4.SoundwavesofashortEnglishsentencebyLeamerAatTimel.

Althoughthesegmentalfeaturesremainedalmostidentical,atTime3thisreaderwasbetteratde-

emphasizingthefimctionwordsandconnectingwords.

025‘郡075010”125015”1751』”〔10225025 “275030“325035甑I隷韓4”0425045”（鶴s“）｜：………….……-………..……..…-..…-…､…..､:…‐……..…….....……､.…..…….……….-……､…….…..-.--….--..---"､-,-.-.-.……--…--.--.---...--….…､.-ママー…….マー島………-.…...…........､-..→､-......,.-..…..、-..-.….-.….需、..…,,-,-.

０１亀

1t，s”t he“r、をrof燐ir：Streetar1d Se lIi『IgR”．

Hg"25.SoundwavesofthesameEnglishsentencebyLearnerAatTime3.

6)Sincemostofthesegmentalfeaturesremainthesameovertime,Ichoosetouseregularfbntstotranscribethesounds,

insteadoflPA．

－23－

Thefbllowing(Figure6)isthatofanAmericanEnglishspeaker,inwhichfimctionwordswerereduced

toconnectsurroundingcontentwords.Noticehowthiscontrastswithhowanativespeakerreadthesame

sentence

1t′篭Cl･ithscornら#、ofMamSfr登燈tandS砦；Iin墓RQ識。

F遊"花6．SoundwavesofthesameEnglishsentencebyanativeEnglishspeaker

Ifyoufailtogroupwordsintoanidea,listenersmayhaveahardtimeunderstandingwhatwasspoken

(Gilbert,2005b,p.60).4/肋"gh/gﾉ℃叩isdescribedas"agroupofwordsthatbelongtogether"(Gilbert,

2005a,p.129).Thisisagrammaticallyandsemanticallycoherentgroup(Celce-Murcia,Brinton&Goodwin,

p.221),andinordertofbrmagroup,aspeakerneedstoknowwhichisafbcusword・Thespeakeralsoneeds

toknowhowtostressitbymakingitlonger,louder,andhigherinpitch(Avery&Ehrlich,p.240).He/shealso

needstode-emphasizewordssurroundingthefbcustomakeacontrast.Andhe/shehastouseappropriate

pausestodistinguishotherthoughtgroups・Inotherwords,anadeptspeakerneedstobeabletoperfbnn

almostallthesuprasegmentalpronunciationskills.

Thesamepatternsfbundinhisreading("IneedlQbuysomebooksfbrmyclasses."),whereatTimel,all

theunderlinedfilnctionwordswerenotconnectedtotheirheadwords(.to'shouldbeconnectedto#need,"

and@some'shouldbeconnectedto.books,'fbrexample)whilehede-emphasizedthosefimctionwordsand

connectedtoappropriateheadwordsatTime3(Figures7and8).

一

一Ｆ

５卜、ｆ《ｊｆＰｑ＃４ざ‐金４。‐

ＦⅡ２年

１０

褐5J診……

＃

"･IL－－－－…-.-一'一一一･一一爾一…一癖一一一一一一~－－．－－－－－－

（『帽edt心bu弾f

ウ｡『 職ソCl葛雷さe雲b･〔旨ik琴｡繩を

Hg"どヌSoundwavesof｡CIneedtobuysomebooksfOrmyclasseS.''byLearnerAatTimel.

u 5 W ／ ” 川びり14“W”21W24”Z鋤;』ざ！”ざ”U識抑4“ii4”LI“Uu魂””“（薗se

１０１戸

I1－ieedtobUyso靹色b”k foI‐”classes

F庵"r28.SoundwaveSOfthesamesentencebyLearnerAatTime3

－24－

AnotherlookattheresultsofanEnglishpronunciationcoursefbrJapanesecollegestudents

[SentenceStress]

Inadditiontousingeffectivepauses,appropriatepitchesalsoiniluencecomprehensibilityratings.Notice

how.can't'ispronouncedinthesentenceF@Youcan'tbuybooksatthelibrary.''Thefmdamentalfiequency

(FO)inFigure9showsLeamerB伽ledtostressatTimel,whilesheraisedapitchtoemphasizethewordat

Time3(FigurelO).

02505”7”10“125015“17“””2寵025”27503“0325635”3758（““）

１０

一K五．

Y とiu，こ”，tbuybf1ok毒at thをIi瞳arv

蝿坤繩馴仙

~

令◆

…鐙倒鋒"妙'罰"“…へ"…鐸…鈴．．◆◆今令鰔

一

Hg"re9.SoundwavesandFOof"Youcan'tbuybooksatthelibrary''byLeamerBatTimel

出 u ご l - IU心111り“唯”I5uUI殉j」ZUuUZZ3趾幽喚IZ掴U；UULIJどごり；銅U蔽↓き/軌I職geEj与中ａの。。‐き‐尋‐苫ｑや一やや０や；：：。ｑ《

Ｉ０１戸

boQkg‘ th急lib『･段b ijy誠”Y1ら)u can．↑

.〃－〆f〆毎も←

報｜識01

2鋼！“I

強が~ﾆータ今

津鍔"〆一:､…鐵鋤…･…蔀・一

◆鈍乃今令舜守◆“¥鞘◆も舜与◆ 令

軽韓･脚凸纈榊へ

”

""""".SOundwavesandFOoftheSamesentencebyLearnerBatTime3.

Since"can't''alwayghastobepronouncedwithastrongstress(Baker&Goldstein,2008b,p.21),alistener

wouldnotbeabletounderstandaspeecheasilyif@can'tispronouncedlikeLeamerBatTimelinFigure9.

FonninganappropriatethoughtgroupandusingeffectivesentenceStressisdifficultfbrmanyJapanese

EFLlearnersbecauseJapaneseisamora-timedlanguageratherthanastress-timedlanguage(Avery&

Ehrlich,2008,p.134).AlthoughIhavetokeepinmindthatitisimpossibletoknowtheexactcauseofthe

improvedratingsoftheircomprehensibility,&thoughtgroup'and.sentencestres3seemtobeoneofthe

maincauses,andtherefbremayneedtoreceivemoreattentioninEnglishclassrooms,especiallyfbrJapanese

leamers.

－25－

DISCUSSION

IhavethusfarattemptedtofbllowuponmyprevioussmdiesastowhetherFonFSandFonFpronunciation

instructionappearstoimprovesomeJapanesecollegestudent3Englishpronunciation.Theresultshere

suggestthatneitherofthecomprehensibilityoraccentednessimprovementwasstatisticallysignificant.

Similartomypreviousstudy,theseresultsherecontrastwithmy2010resultsasreportedbyChiba(2012).

Thatsmdysuggestedthattheexperimentalgroupdidshowastatisticallysignificantimprovementintennsof

theircomprehensibility.IstatedpossiblereasonsfbrthelackofimprovementinTHguchi2013indetails,but

amongthem,theinstructionperiodseemstoplayanimportantroleinenhancingleamers'comprehensibility

andaccentedness.Duetosomecun･icularconstraints,mostteachersusuallycannotallocatethewholeclass

timesolelyfbrpronunciationteaching.Inotherwords,everyaspectofEnglishpronunciationcannotbetaught

orleamed.Theanalysesaboveshowthatteachingstudents@thoughtgroup'and&sentencestress'would

improvetheircomprehensibility.Thiscanbeincorporatedintogrammarteaching,whichstilldominatesmost

EFLclassroomsinJapan.

AlthoughinvestigatingonlyseveralSpeechesbyjusttwospeakersdoesnotallowustomakeanyde6nitive

statementregardingcomprehensiblespeeches,theaboveanalysesmightbeabletooffbrageneralideaabout

currentJapanesecollegeEnglishlearners'speechesandimplicationsfbreffectivepronunciationinstruction

tosuchlearners.IffeaturesofLearnersAandBarecommontomostJapaneseEnglishlearners,itseems

preferablefbrpronunciationinstructiontofbcusmoreon｡thoughtgroup'and.sentencestress',including

de-emphasizing(orreduction)offilnctionwords,ratherthantostartwithteachingsegmentalfeaturessuch

asdifferencesbetweenr/lori/I,whichareoftenhardfbrJapaneseleamerstoacquire,bothinproduction

andperception.TbachersmaynotneedtopaymuchattentiontosegmentalfeaturesinteachingJapanese

learners,notonlybecauseEnglishsegmentalfeaturesareverydifficulttoacquire,butalsobecausefailing

toacquirethemmightnotcauseseriouscomprehensibilityproblemsinmanycases.Thisisstillwithinmy

speculation,butitmaybeworthwhiletochangetheorderoffeaturestodealwithinpronunciationinstruction,

fifomstartingwithvowelsandconsonantsasyouseeinmanytextbooks,toteachingfbrmingwordsintoa

meaningfillgroup.ThiswouldinturnemphasizethatleamingEnglishisleamingameansofcommunication.

AREASFORFUTURERESEARCH

，

Thestatisticalanalysisshowedthatthe8-monthinstructionmadenopositivechangesintheparticipants

comprehensibilityoraccentednessasagroup.ThefactorsthathavebeensuggestedinTaguchi(2013)would

－26－

AnotherlookattheresultsofanEnglishpronunciationcoursefbrJapanesecollegesmdents

accountfbrthisagain:(1)participantcharacteristics(voluntalyvs.required),(2)classsizedifferentials,and

(3)instructionallength(20hrs.vs.5hrs.40mins.)Futurestudiesshouldconsiderthesefactorstoimprove

classroomteaching.

AcIoselookatthetwoleamers.speechesrevealedthatitappearspreferabletofbcusonteachingeffective

useofpausesandsentencestressinordertoimproveleamergcomprehensibilityrelativelyinalimited

timefiameofEnglishcourses.Thenhowcanweteachleamerstomakeappropriatepausesandstresses

efYectively？Aslmentionedabove,itwouldberealistictoincorporateteaching‘thoughtgroup，and‘sentence

stresSintogrammarteachingoralmostanyskillteaching.Teachersmaybeabletoexplainwhatshould

beemphasizedorde-emphasizedwhentheyintroduce/reviewagrammaticalpointandtellhowasentence

changesitsmeaningbyshifiingasentencestress.Inteachinglistening,teachersmaybeabletopointouthow

nativespeakersusepausestomaketheirspeechescomprehensible.Inthisstudy,mypronunciationinstruction

dealtwithsegmentalsandsuprasegmentalshand-in-hand,andteaching･athoughtgroup'and@sentence

stress'cameratherlaterinthecourse.Iwouldliketoinvestigatewhethertoprioritizesuchfeaturesand

consistentlyrepeatteachingthemindifferentcontextsnotonlywhendealingwithlisteningandspeaking,but

alsogrammarandreading,wouldimproveleamers'comprehensibilitytoalargerextent.7)

REFERFNCES

Avery,P.&Ehrlich,S.(2008).刀αcﾙﾉ"94"7eﾉ7cα〃E"g"s〃切り"""cjα"o".OxfbrdUniversityPress.

Baker,A.,&Goldstein,S.(2008a).Pﾉ℃"""c/α"o"pα肺.NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress.

Baker,A.,&Goldstein,S.(2008b).P"o"""c/α伽"pαﾉ応.･たαc〃eﾉ翁'S"7α""α/.NewYork:CambridgeUniversity

Press.

Celce-Murcia,M,Brinton,D.M.,&Goodwin,J.M.(2010).姥αcﾙ〃gpﾉ℃"""c/α"o"(2nded.).Cambridge

UniversityPress.

Chiba,K.(2012)."p//ors"ｲcj'o"//7ee"bc"ve"essQf〃℃"""c/α"o/7/eqc/7/"g/oEFL/e"""sr/"c"g/7jbc"s

o"/""7sα"が〕“so"/b『"7/"s""c"o"(Master'sthesis).Available廿omProQuestDissertationsandTheses

database(UMINumber:1532887).

Derwing,T.M,Munro,MJ.,&Wiebe,G.E.(1997).Pronunciationinstructionfbr"fbssilized"leamers.Can

ithelpM〃"edLα"g"age歴αcﾙ加9,8,217-235.

Gilbert,J.B・(2005a).C/eαﾉ-Speec/7.HongKong:CambridgeUniversityPress.

7)ThanksareduetoTimNewfieldsibrprooITeadingthistextandibrproviding@.native"Englishspeakerspeeches

－27－

Gilbert,J.B.(2005b).C/eqrspeec".･たαcﾉ7e""'S"eSO"℃e加ok.HongKong:CambridgeUniversityPress.

Munro,MJ.&Derwing,T.M.(1995).Foreignaccent,comprehensibilityandintelligibilityinthespeechof

secondlanguageleamers.Lα"g"αgeLeαγ"腕g,43,73-97.

Taguchi,K.(2012).EigoHatsuonshidoojittaichoosatosonokoosatsu[Apronunciationsurveyonthe

situationofpronunciationinstructioninEFLclassroomsinJapan].KejzqjRo"sﾙ〃38(1),69-77.

Taguchi,K.(2013).Afbllow-upinterventionstudyontheeffectivenessofpronunciationinstructiontoEFL

learnersataJapanesecollege・雌jzqjRo加加〃(2),201-210.

APPENDIX

PronunCiationInstructionSchedule2012

Month Date ContentUnitsinPronunciation

Pairs

TimelRecording

1 April 21 l/iy/,stressedsyllablesinwords 1

2 28 2/'/.stressinnumbers 2

3 M ay 12 3/e/,fallingandrisingintonation 3

4 19 4/ey/,stressinsentences 4

5 26 5/&/,themostimportantword 5

6 June 2 6review 6

7 9 7/A/strongandweakpronunciations 7

8 16 8/e/ Can'and.c，？

ant 8

9 23 9/er/,intonationinchoicequestions 9

Time2Recordin9

SummerBreak

10 October 6 Phrasegroups 10

11 13 Usingstressandintonationtoshowacontrast 11

12 20 ReviewlO&l1

13 27 Stressincompoundnouns 16

14 November 1O Sentencerhythmandtiming 17

15 17 Intonationinlists 22

16 24 Linkingafinalconsonant 24

17 30 Allthefbaturesthesmdentsleamedthroughoutthecourse(April-November)

Review

Time3Recording

－28－