Technology in english as a foreign language: teaching pronunciation of interdental fricatives
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Date
2022-03-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
PUCE - Quito
Abstract
The present project answers the question “What are the effects on fricative pronunciation in students when working on a specialized website?”. This study aims to analyze the effects of technology on fricatives perception and production in EFL students. This study is relevant for EFL institutions, teachers, learners interested in improving pronunciation teaching and pronunciation learning since it helps develop standard pronunciation of fricatives, which has a positive sociolinguistic impact. The objective of this project is to create a set of activities to improve pronunciation with the aid of online interactive technology. Six young adult English learners in level B2 were selected out of convenience to participate in this methodological experiment designed to measure the progress in pronunciation of fricatives. Perception and production results were analyzed separately. Results came as expected. The methodological website had a positive impact in learners. All the students improved their pronunciation perception skills. The most significant cases are Student 1 and Student 4. Student 1 went from 75% in the perception pretest to 85% in the perception posttest, registering a 10% of skill increase. Nevertheless, two students worsened their pronunciation production. This might be due to anxiety or lack of concentration in the task. Another possible cause could be technical problems while recording their audio samples. In conclusion, Internet offers several technological tools for learners and teachers, yet several additional skills are necessary for teachers to develop in order to take full advantage of technology. These additional skills are related to graphic design, website design and multimedia production among others. It is advisable to apply this project to other educational contexts to study other possible results. Students also need to be proficient enough with technology to obtain the best out of online tools. The positive effects of this study have been measured in the short term. To verify the long-term impact of the project, several posttests should be taken, in a longer time frame.
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Keywords
ADQUISICIÓN DE SEGUNDO LENGUAJE, INGLÉS - PRONUNCIACIÓN, TECNOLOGÍA EDUCATIVA