THE EFFECTS OF TFLAT PRONUNCIATION TRAINING IN MALL ON THE PRONUNCIATION ABILITY OF IRANIAN EFL LEARNERS

Effat Sufi, Hamed Babaie Shalmani

Abstract


The integration of technology into teaching and learning has contributed highly to the process teaching and learning as English language teachers and learners have recognized the place of technology in education and the way it can be effectively used to support various kinds of learning and teaching. The present research intended to find if teaching L2 pronunciation through mobile apps produce a statistically significant effect on the learning of pronunciation ability among Iranian intermediate EFL learners compared to teacher fronted instruction of pronunciation. In so doing, a sample of 30 intermediate EFL learners was selected based on their performance on QPT. The participants were randomly assigned to experimental group and control group of 15. A pretest piloted before with the reliability index of (0.86) was administered. Then, both groups received a 6-session treatment that were the use of the TFlat as a mobile courseware and the use of teacher-fronted instruction of pronunciation of units that included short vowels, long vowels, double vowel sounds, voiced consonants, voiceless consonants in experimental group and control group, respectively. A posttest was then administered to the groups. The results of the study indicated that the use of the TFlat courseware improved greatly the pronunciation ability of the students compared to the ability of the students in the control group in the same period the course of the study. The findings can be used specifically by EFL teachers who are interested in improving their students’ pronunciation ability.

 

Article visualizations:

Hit counter

DOI

Keywords


technology, TFlat courseware, L2 pronunciation, EFL learners

Full Text:

PDF

References


Banister, S. (2010). Integrating the iPod touch in K-12 education: Visions and vices. Computers in the Schools, 27(2), 121-131.

Beatty, K. (2003). Teaching and researching computer-assisted language learning. Essex, England: Pearson Education Limited.

Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D. M., & Goodwin, J. M. (1996). Teaching pronunciation: A reference for teachers of English to speakers of other languages. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Chang, C.K., & Hsu, C. K. (2011). A mobile-assisted synchronously collaborative translation-annotation system for English as a foreign language (EFL) reading comprehension. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 24(2), 155-180.

Chen, H. R., & Huang, H. L. (2010). User acceptance of mobile knowledge management learning system: Design and analysis. Educational Technology & Society, 13(3), 70-77.

Chinnery, G. (2006). Going to the MALL: Mobile assisted language learning. Language Learning and Technology, 10(1), 9-16.

Colpaert, J. (2004). From courseware to coursewear? Computer Assisted Language Learning, 17(3-4), 261-266.

Engelen, J. (2008). AT and DfA standardization: What is currently going on? Springer Berlin: Heidelberg.

Eskenazi, M. (1999). Using automatic speech processing for foreign language pronunciation tutoring: Some issues and a prototype. Language Learning & Technology, 2(2), 62-76.

Golonka, E. M., Bowles, A. R., Frank, V. M., Richardson, D. L., & Freynik, S. (2014). Technologies for foreign language learning: A review of technology types and their effectiveness. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 27(1), 70-105.

Hariri, M. (2012). A review of literature: A gender-based study of pronunciation accuracy. Research Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology, 4, 4861-4864.

Hişmanoğlu, M. (2005). Teaching English through literature. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 1(1).

Huang, Y. M., Huang, Y. M., Huang, S. H., & Lin, Y. T. (2012). A ubiquitous English vocabulary learning system: Evidence of active/passive attitudes vs. usefulness/ease-of-use. Computers and Education, 58, 273-282.

Hwang, W. Y., & Chen, H., S. L. (2011). Users’ familiar situational contexts facilitate the practice of EFL in elementary schools with mobile devices. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 1, 1-25.

Kelly, G. (2000). How to teach pronunciation. London: Longman.

Kukulska-Hulme, A., Evans, D., & Traxler, J. (2005). Landscape study on the use of mobile and wireless technologies for teaching and learning in the post-16 sector. Retrieved from http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearninginnovation/outcomes

Kukulska-Hulme, A., & Shield, L. (2008). An overview of mobile assisted language learning: From content delivery to supported collaboration and interaction. ReCALL, 20(3), 271-289.

Kukulska-Hulme, A., & Traxler, J. (2005). Mobile learning: A handbook for educators and trainers. London: Routledge.

Kukulska-Hulme, A., & Traxler, J. (2007). Designing for mobile and wireless learning. In H. Beetham & R. Sharpe, (Eds.), Rethinking pedagogy for a digital age: Designing anddelivering e-learning (pp. 180-192). London: Routledge.

Levis, J. (2005). Changing contexts and shifting paradigms in pronunciation teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 39(3), 369-377.

Levy, M., & Kennedy, C. (2005). Learning Italian via mobile SMS. In A. Kukulska-Hulme & J. Traxler (Eds.), Mobile learning: A handbook for educators and trainer (pp. 76–83). London, UK: Taylor and Francis.

Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (2006). How languages are learned. London: Oxford University Press.

Lin, C. P., Wong, L. H., & Shao, Y. J. (2012). Comparison of 1: 1 and 1: M CSCL environment for collaborative concept mapping. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 28(2), 99-113.

Lord, L. G. (2008). Podcasting communities and second language pronunciation. Foreign Language Annals, 41(2), 364-379.

Mauve, M., Scheele, N., & Geyer, W. (2001). Enhancing synchronous distance education with pervasive devices. GI Jahrestagung, 2, 1117-1122.

Michelsen, K. (2008). Tradition, innovation, or both? A research and practice model for the design of a digital revision space for the University of Cambridge First Certificate in English exam, paper 3. (Master of Arts thesis) King’s College London, School of Social Science & Public Policy.

Munro, M. J., & Derwing, M. T. (2006). The functional load principle in ESL pronunciation instruction: An exploratory study. System, 34(4), 520-531.

Naismith, L., Sharples, M., & Ting, J. (2005) Evaluation of CAERUS: A context awaremobile guide. 4th World conference on mLearning. Retrieved form http://www.mlearn.org.za/CD/papers/Naismith.pdf

Nalder, S., & Elley, W. (2003). Using audio-taped read along stories with low progress readers. Retrieved from http://www.rainbowreading.co.nz/whatis.htm

Orlikowski, W.J., & Iacono, S.I. (2001). Research commentary: Desperately seeking the “IT” in IT tesearch: A call to theorizing the IT artifact. Information System Research, 12(2), 121 -134.

Prensky, M. (2010). Teaching digital natives: Partnering for real learning. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin.

Richards, J. C., & Renandya, W. A. (2002). Methodology in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Saka, Z. (2015). The effectiveness of audiobooks on pronunciation skills of EFL learners at different proficiency levels (PhD Thesis). The Graduate School of Education of İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University.

Salaberry, M. R. (2001). The use of technology for second language learning and teaching: A retrospective. The Modern Language Journal, 85(1), 39-56.

Saran, M., & Seferoğlu, G. (2010). Supporting foreign language vocabulary learning through multimedia messages via mobile phones. Hacettepe University Journal of Education. 38, 252-266.

Seferoğlu, G. (2005). Improving students’ pronunciation through accent reduction software. British Journal of Educational Technology, 13(1), 303-316.

Seppälä, P., & Alamäki, H. (2003). Mobile learning in teacher training. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 19(3), 330-335.

Sharples, M. (2006). Big issues in mobile learning. Report of a workshop by the kaleidoscope network of excellence mobile learning initiative. Nottingham: University of Nottingham.

Song, Y., & Fox, R. (2008). Uses of the PDA for undergraduate students’ incidental vocabulary learning of English. ReCALL, 20(3), 290-314.

Stenson, N., Downing, B., Smith, J., & Smith, K. (1992). The effectiveness of computer assisted pronunciation training. CALICO Journal, 9, 5-18.

Thornton, P., & Houser, C. (2005). Using mobile phones in English education in Japan. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 21, 217-228.

Traxler, J. (2011). Research essay. International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning, 3(2), 57-67.

Trofimovich, P., & Gatbonton, E. (2006). Repetition and focus on form in processing L2 Spanish words: Implications for pronunciation instruction. The Modern Language Journal, 90, 519-535

Turker, H. (2010). Common mistakes of Turkish secondary students in pronunciation of English words and possible solutions (Unpublished master's thesis). Çanakkale on Sekiz Mart University, Çanakkale, Turkey.

Varasarin, P. (2007). An action research study of pronunciation training, language learning strategies and speaking confidence (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.

Whittingham, J., Huffman, S., Christensen, R., & McAllister, T. (2013). Use of audiobooks in a school library and positive effects of struggling readers' participation in a library-sponsored audiobook club. School Library Research, 16.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejfl.v0i0.1662

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright © 2015 - 2023. European Journal of Foreign Language Teaching (ISSN 2537-1754) is a registered trademark of Open Access Publishing GroupAll rights reserved.

This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library (Biblioteca Nationala a Romaniei). All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms.

All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).