language aptitude, pronunciation learning strategies and pronunciation performance

237 Pages·2015·3.72 MB·English

by  Mauricio Veliz

Running header: PRONUNCIATION LEARNING STRATEGIES, LANGUAGE APTITUDE, AND
PRONUNCIATION PERFORMANCE
1

PRONUNCIATION LEARNING STRATEGY USE, APTITUDE, AND THEIR
RELATIONSHIP WITHPRONUNCIATION PERFORMANCE OF PRE-SERVICE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS IN CHILE

Submitted by
Mauricio Enrique Véliz Campos
To the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor in Education in
TESOL
January 2015

This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and
then no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement.
I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and
that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by
this or any other university.
PRONUNCIATION LEARNING STRATEGIES, LANGUAGE APTITUDE, AND PRONUNCIATION
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Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to my first supervisor,
Dr. Jill Cadorath, for her insightful comments, thorough reviews of my drafts, and absolute
dedication. Also, my gratitude is due to my second supervisor, Dr. Keith Postlethwaite,
whose assistance and guidance in the area of statistics is much appreciated. Throughout this
EdD thesis the influence of a select few teachers at the undergraduate, master’s and
doctoral level is evident. To them, Dr. Ortiz-Lira, Dr. Salah Troudi, and Dr. Miguel Farías,
my sincere thanks are due, for their excellent teaching, meticulousness, and inadvertent
eye-opening remarks. Lastly, I would also like to acknowledge both my university for
allowing me to carry out this study and for partially funding this doctoral course, and my
students, the participants, from whom I have also learnt a great deal.
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ABSTRACT
The main objective of this thesis is to establish whether or not there is a relationship
between (foreign) language aptitude, pronunciation learning strategies (PLSs), and
pronunciation performance. Also, embedded in the major objective is the aim of uncovering
which PLSs are most frequently used and which PLSs have been used for the longest
period of time.
Following a positivistic approach to research, through a correlational and
statistically descriptive methodology, all participants were asked to take three tests, each of
which was intended to gather data for the three major variables under consideration, namely
an adapted version of the Strategic Pronunciation Learning Survey (SPLS), the first two
sections of the Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT), and a Pronunciation Test (PT),
developed by the researcher. The study was conducted at a teacher education university in
Chile, with a sample of 43 students, 24 of whom were Year 2 students and 19 were Year 3
students at the time of data collection.
The results suggest that there is a good deal of coincidence between those PLSs that
are used with the highest frequency and those used with the greatest duration. The results
also indicate that the PLSs that are more frequently used and that have been used for the
longest period of time by the participants seem to be of a cognitive type, following
Oxford’s (1990) broad classification of learning strategies. Finally, the Spearman
correlation tests and the diverse statistical models applied reveal that no major correlations
were found between PLS frequency/duration and pronunciation accuracy; nor was a major
correlation found between language aptitude and pronunciation accuracy. Nonetheless, the
application of a statistical model comprising the most frequently used PLSs and those with
PRONUNCIATION LEARNING STRATEGIES, LANGUAGE APTITUDE, AND PRONUNCIATION
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the longest duration yielded a positive correlation between these PLSs and pronunciation
intelligibility levels. Future studies incorporating motivational elements are required to
establish how they correlate with pronunciation accuracy in particular. Similarly, research
seeking to establish correlations between (a new version of) PLSs, grouped into factors
through factor analysis, and pronunciation accuracy is recommended. Lastly, language
aptitude – viewed, conceptualised, and quite possibly measured differently, considering
differentiating elements (Robinson, 2007; Winke, 2013), is to be further examined to
establish whether it can explain pronunciation accuracy in a larger sample of participants.
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Table of contents

Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………… 2

Abstract………………………………………………………………………… 3

Table of contents….…………………………………………………………… 5

List of tables…………………………………………………………………… 10

List of abbreviations.…………………………………………………………… 13

Chapter 1: Introduction……………………………………………………… 15

1.0 Introduction…..…………………………………………………………… 15

1.1 Rationale for the study..…………………………………………………… 16

1.2 Significance of the study..………………………………………………… 20

1.3 Aims of the study.…….…………………………………………………… 23

1.4 Organisation of the study.………………………………………………….. 25

Chapter 2: The context………….…………………………………………… 26

2.0 Introduction to the context………………………………………………… 26

2.1 English in Chile..…………………………………………………………… 26

2.2 Chile’s English teaching policies …………………………………………… 28

2.3 The Chilean university system..…………………………………………… 31

2.3.1 Teacher education in Chile….…………………………………………… 33

2.3.1.1 English language teacher education.…………………………………… 34

2.3.1.1.1 The context of the study……………………………………………… 36

2.3.1.2 Pronunciation in teacher training in Chile ……………………………… 38

Chapter 3: The literature review..……………………………………………. 41

3.0 Introduction to the literature review…..…………………………………… 41
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3.1 English pronunciation teaching..…………………………………………… 41

3.1.1 The status of pronunciation in TESOL: An overview …………………… 42

3.1.2 The spread of English ………..…………………………………………… 48

3.1.2.1 English as a lingua franca ….…………………………………………… 53

3.1.2.2 Native speaker vs. non-native speaker debate ………………………….. 55

3.1.2.3 Pronunciation in an ELF context ………………………………………. 58

3.1.3 Pronunciation assessment and evaluation ……….………………………. 67

3.2 L2 aptitude …..……………………………………………………………... 72

3.3 Language Learning Strategies (LLSs): an overview ……………………… 77

3.3.1 A critique of LLSs .……………………………………………………… 80

3.3.2 LLS research …………………………………………………………….. 82

3.3.3 Pronunciation learning strategies ….…………………………………….. 85

Chapter 4: The methodological framework ……………………………….. 88

4.0 Introduction ……………………………………………………………….. 88

4.1 Research paradigms ….…………………………………………………… 89

4.1.1 Research methodologies and research methods ….………………….... 90

4.2 Data collection process .…………………………………………………… 92

4.2.1 The participants ……………………………………………………….... 92

4.2.2 The sample and sampling procedure ..………………………………….. 94

4.2.3 The data collection instruments …………..……………………………. 95

4.2.3.1 The MLAT ……………………………………………………………. 95

4.2.3.2 The SPLS ………..…………………………………………………… 98

4.2.3.3 The pronunciation test ………………………………………………... 103
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4.2.4 Reliability of the instruments …………………………………………... 108

4.2.5 Validity of the instruments ……………………………………………... 112

4.2.6 The data collection process …………………………………………….. 114

4.2.7 The data analysis procedure ……………………………………………… 115

4.2.8 Ethical considerations ………..………………………………………….. 116

4.2.9 Limitations of the study ………………………………………………….. 117

Chapter 5: Findings and discussion ………….……………………………… 120

5.0 Introduction ………………………………………………………………… 120

5.1 Results ……………….………….………………………………………… 120

5.1.1 PLS frequency of use ……………………..…….……………………… 120

5.1.1.1 PLS frequency of use: findings and discussion …………………….… 124

5.1.2 PLS duration of use ………………………..…………………………… 129

5.1.2.1 PLS duration of use: Findings and discussion. ………………………… 133

5.1.3 Language aptitude: Findings and discussion ……………………………. 137

5.2. Correlations between PLS frequency/duration of use, aptitude and pronunciation 137

5.2.1 PLS frequency and duration of use, aptitude, and pronunciation ………. 139

5.2.2 Variable correlations: Findings and discussion …………………………. 145

Chapter 6: Conclusions, implications, and future research..……………… 150

6.0 Introduction ………………………………………………………………. 150

6.1 Summary of main research findings ……………………………………… 150

6.2 Emerging themes …………………………………………………………. 151

6.2.1 Strategy development and strategy training at the teacher education level 151

6.2.2 The significance of aptitude …………………………………………….. 154
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6.2.3 Accuracy vs. intelligibility ……………………………………………… 156

6.3 Limitations of the study …………………………………………………… 157

6.4 Future research ………………………………………………………………. 158

References ……………………………………………………………………… 161

Appendices ………………………..………………………………………….... 182

Appendix 1: ALTE levels

Appendix 2: Assessment model pronunciation for ELF

Appendix 3: Example of Haslam’s SPLS

Appendix 4: Instrument by Tseng et al

Appendix 5: Example of Eckstein’s SPLS

Appendix 6: Specifications for pronunciation test

Appendix: 7: Pronunciation Test

Appendix: 8 Rubric 1, accuracy

Appendix: 9 Rubric 2, intelligibility

Appendix: 10 Pronunciation scores

Appendix: 11 Ethical approval signed

Appendix: 12 Institutional permission for study

Appendix: 13 Highest frequency of PLSs

Appendix: 14 Longest duration of PLSs

Appendix: 15 Frequency mean scores per PLS

Appendix: 16 Duration mean scores per PLS

Appendix: 17 SPLS final version

Appendix: 18 Outputs of correlations
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Appendix: 19 PLS duration by percentage points

Appendix: 20 PLS frequency by percentage points

Appendix: 21 Language aptitude scores

Appendix: 22 ICC after discrepancies, with the whole sample

Appendix: 23 Consent Form

Appendix: 24 Information Sheet for Participants
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List of tables
Table 1 Opposite views on pronunciation teaching/learning ………………… 47
Table 2 The participants’ profile …………………………………………….. 94
Table 3 Sample of a learning strategy ………………………………………. 103
Table 4 Interclass correlation of pronunciation scores ……………………… 107
Table 5 Intercorrelations of parts of the MLAT in males …………………… 109
Table 6 Intercorrelations of parts of the MLAT in females ………….……… 110
Table 7 Internal consistency reliability …………………………….……….. 111
Table 8 Validity coefficients of MLAT for college students …….………… 113
Table 9 Sample of PLSs analysed under five statistics………………………. 122
Table 10 Most frequently used PLSs ………………………………………. 122
Table 11 Frequency of use of St. 10 ……………………………………….. 123
Table 12 Most frequently used PLSs by percentage points ………………... 123
Table 13 Sample of PLSs analysed under five statistics …………………… 130
Table 14 PLSs used for the longest period of time ………………………… 131
Table 15 Duration of use of St. 2 ………………………………………….. 131
Table 16 PLSs used for the longest period of time by percentage points … 132
Table 17 Correlations between all variables and accuracy ……………….. 141
Table 18 Correlations between all variables and intelligibility …………… 142