Article published in:
Language, Interaction and Acquisition
Vol. 7:2 (2016) ► pp. 212–237

Prosody- vs. segment-based teaching

Impact on the perceptual skills of French learners of English

| Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale
English, an international language, is widely taught and learnt as a foreign language in France. However, French learners face pronunciation difficulties, as the two languages differ both on the segmental level (i.e. individual sounds) and on the suprasegmental, prosodic level (i.e. stress, rhythm, intonation). It has been argued that focus on the prosodic features of the target language (L2) would improve learners’ oral skills. Nevertheless, very few studies have brought evidence of the greater role of prosody in the acquisition of a second or foreign language. The current study seeks to address this gap by directly comparing prosody-centred and segment-centred teaching to determine whether one approach is more effective than the other in the improvement of L2 oral perception skills. The study shows that both teaching approaches enabled French EFL learners to improve their perception skills; however, neither method proved to have a stronger impact, suggesting that both segmental and suprasegmental aspects should both be addressed in L2 teaching.
Keywords: English as a foreign language (EFL), French learners, segments, prosody, L2 perception.
Published online: 21 February 2017
https://doi.org/10.1075/lia.7.2.03cap
References
Abercrombie, D
(1967) Elements of general phonetics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Akita, M
(2005) The effectiveness of a prosody-oriented approach in L2 perception and pronunciation training. Gakujyutsu Kenkyuu, 531, 1–22.Google Scholar
Alazard, C., Astésano, C., Billières, M., & Espesser, R
(2011) Rôle de la prosodie dans la structuration du discours—Proposition d'une méthodologie d'enseignement de l'oral vers l'écrit en français langue étrangère. In H.-Y. Yoo & E. Delais-Roussarie (Eds.), Actes d'IDP 2009 (pp. 49–61). Paris.
Anderson-Hsieh, J., Johnson, R., & Koehler, K
(1992) The relationship between native speaker judgements of non-native pronunciation and deviance in segmentals, prosody, and syllable structure. Language Learning, 42(4), 529–555. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Brown, A
(1988) Functional load and the teaching of pronunciation. TESOL Quarterly 22(4), 593–606. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Burgess, J., & Spencer, S
(2000) Phonology and pronunciation in integrated language teaching and teacher education. System, 281, 191–215. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Cruttenden, A
(2008) Gimson's pronunciation of English (7th ed.). London: Hodder Education.Google Scholar
Derwing, T.M., & Munro, M.J
(2005) Second language accent and pronunciation teaching: A research-based approach. TESOL Quarterly, 39(3), 379–397. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Derwing, T.M., Munro, M.J., & Wiebe, G
(1998) Evidence in favor of a broad framework for pronunciation instruction. Language Learning, 48(3), 393–410. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Derwing, T.M., & Rossiter, M.J
(2003) The effects of pronunciation instruction on the accuracy, fluency, and complexity of L2-accented speech. Applied Language Learning, 131, 1–18.Google Scholar
Firth, S
(1992) Pronunciation syllabus design: A question of focus. In P. Avery & S. Ehrlich (Eds.), Teaching American English pronunciation (pp. 173–183). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Flege, J.E
(1987) The production of new and similar phones in a foreign language: Evidence for the effect of equivalence classification. Journal of Phonetics, 151, 47–65. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Fraser, H
(2001) Teaching pronunciation – A handbook for teachers and trainers. Sydney: TAFE Access Division.Google Scholar
Frodden, C., & McNulty, M
(1996) A new look at suprasegmentals. Íkala, 1(1-2), 101–116.Google Scholar
Gilbert, J.B
(1984) Clear speech: Pronunciation and listening comprehension in American English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Gray, M
(2001) Place et rôle de l'intonation dans l'apprentissage de l'anglais. Unpublished PhD dissertation. Université Paris XII – Val de Marne, France.Google Scholar
Hahn, L.D
(2004) Primary stress and intelligibility: Research to motivate the teaching of suprasegmentals. TESOL Quarterly, 38(2), 201–223. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Halliday, M.A.K
(1967) Intonation and grammar in British English. The Hague: Mouton. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Herry-Bénit, N
(2011) Didactique de la phonétique anglaise. Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes.Google Scholar
Hirst, D., Di Cristo, A., & Espesser, R
(2000) Levels of representation and levels of analysis for the description of intonation systems. In M. Horne (Ed.), Prosody: Theory and experiment (pp. 51–87). Dordrecht: Kluwer. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Horgues, C
(2010) Prosodie de l'accent français en anglais et perception par des auditeurs anglophones. Unpublished PhD dissertation. Université Paris-Diderot Paris 7.Google Scholar
Jilka, M
(2000) The contribution of intonation to the perception of foreign accent. Unpublished PhD dissertation. University of Stuttgart.Google Scholar
Kamiyama, T., & Shinohara, S
(2010) Role of prosody in segmental perception in L2. Sophia University Working Papers in Phonetics 20101, 10–18.Google Scholar
Kjellin, O
(1999) Accent addition: Prosody and perception facilitate second language acquisition. In O. Fujimura, B.D. Joseph, & B. Palek (Eds.), Proceedings of LP'98 (Linguistics and Phonetics Conference) at Ohio State University 2 (373–398). Prague: The Karolinum Press.Google Scholar
Lepage, A., & Busa, M.G
(2014) Intelligibility of English L2: The effects of incorrect word stress placement and incorrect vowel reduction in the speech of French and Italian learners of English. Concordia Working Papers in Applied Linguistics, 51, 387–400.Google Scholar
Missaglia, F
(1999) Contrastive prosody in SLA – An empirical study with adult Italian learners of German. Proceedings of the 14 th Congress of Phonetic Sciences , 11, 551–554.
Moyer, A
(2007) Empirical considerations on the age factor in L2 phonology. Issues in Applied Linguistics, 15(2), 109–127.Google Scholar
Pike, K
(1945) The intonation of American English. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Querleu, D., Renard, X., Versyp, F., Paris-Delrue, L., & Crèpin, G
(1988) Fetal hearing. European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproduction Biology, 291, 191–212. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Reed, M
(2012) Pronunciation tools for fostering intelligibility and communication success. ATESOL ACT Professional Development Workshop , Canberra, Australia.
Roach, P
(2009) English phonetics and phonology – A practical course (4th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tajima, K., Port, R., & Dalby, J
(1997) Effects of temporal correction on intelligibility of foreign-accented English. Journal of Phonetics, 251, 1–24. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Thomson, R.I., & Derwing, T.M
(2014) The effectiveness of L2 pronunciation instruction: A narrative review. Applied Linguistics, Advanced online access. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Ueno, N
(1998) Teaching English pronunciation to Japanese English majors: A comparison of a suprasegmental-oriented and a segmental-oriented teaching approach. JACET Bulletin 291, 207–225.Google Scholar
Vaissière, J
(2002) Cross-linguistic prosodic transcription: French versus English. In N.B. Volskaya, N.D. Svetozarova, & P.A. Skrelin (Eds.), Problems and methods in experimental phonetics. In honour of the 70 th anniversary of Prof. L.V. Bondarko (pp. 147–164). St Petersburg: St Petersburg State University Press.Google Scholar
Vallduví, E
(1991) The informational component. New York, NY: Garland.Google Scholar
Yates, K
(2003) Teaching linguistic mimicry to improve second language pronunciation. Unpublished MA dissertation, University of North Texas, Denton.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 1 other publications

McAndrews, Mark
2019. Short periods of instruction improve learners’ phonological categories for L2 suprasegmental features. System 82 ► pp. 151 ff. Crossref logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 05 april 2022. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.