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Approaches and Methods in French Second Language Acquisition Research
Edited by Martin Howard
[Research Methods in Applied Linguistics 9] 2025
► pp. 20–44

Chapter 2
Approaches and methods for the study of the L2 production of French segmentals and prosody

 | University of Toronto
This chapter reviews common approaches and methods in studies of the effects of crosslinguistic influence, input, and training/instruction as well as development and individual variability in second language learners’ production of French segmentals and prosody. Discussion focuses first on methodology including speech types, participant characteristics, and frequently used tasks and stimuli. Next, we turn to recurrent practices in the collection, preparation, and analysis of auditory and articulatory data as well as ethical considerations. The major contributions of L2 French pronunciation research are then outlined including the breadth of structures studied, the uniqueness of certain phenomena investigated, innovations in research methodology including corpus-based research, and the unique insights provided into the role of orthography. We conclude with recommendations for future avenues of research such as the parallel study of pronunciation and other linguistic competences, the greater use of corpora, and the integration of research findings within evidence-based pedagogy.
Keywords: pronunciation, vowels, consonants, prosody, experimental, corpora
Article outline
  • Introduction
    • Accentedness and intelligibility
    • Chapter outline
  • Methodological approaches
    • Global methodological characteristics
      • Data sources
      • Participants
      • Instruments: Tasks and stimuli
      • Ethics
      • Data collection, preparation, and analysis
      • Collection, preparation, and analysis of auditory data
      • Collection, preparation, and analysis of articulatory data
      • Quantitative versus qualitative analyses
  • Critique: Contributions and areas for growth
    • Contributions of L2 French pronunciation research
      • Areas for growth
      • Data types
      • Participants
    • Future directions
    • Conclusion
  • Author queries
  • References
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
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