Abstract
This study examines how teaching phonological rules influence the learners’ pronunciation. To conduct the study, 60 learners who are randomly selected among 100 learners at the upper-intermediate level learners. They are third year students majoring in Translation in the academic year of 2020-2021. Their age was ranging between 20 and 40 years old. They were Persian speakers who were learning English as a foreign language (EFL). After taking Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT), the learners whose band score was ranged from 37 to 50 were selected as upper-intermediate learners and assigned to experimental and control groups of 30 learners. Both groups received virtual classes due to COVID-19 pandemic. The experimental group received phonological rules taught in the virtual classroom explicitly and the control group received teaching pronunciation through traditional teaching method and implicit instruction. Generally, both groups learned how to pronounce the same words, stressed syllabuses, use correct intonation in their speeches, and understand words in reduced speech. The scores of both groups were collected at the end of treatment sessions and analyzed through independent and paired samples t-test to compare the learners’ means. Results indicated that the experimental group outperformed the control one. Implications of the study suggest that teaching explicit pronunciation rules are necessary to teach suprasegmental features including stress and intonation.
Presenters
Bahamn GorjianAssociate Professor, ELT, ELT Dept., Abadan Brach, Islamic Azad University, Abadan, Iran, Khuzestan, Iran
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Phonological rules, Explicit instruction, Pronunciation, Upper-intermediate Learners
