Presentation

The Effects of Phonetics Training on the Intelligibility and Comprehensibility of Native Spanish Speech by Second Language Learners

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Abstract

Traditionally, second language (L2) phonetics training has been used primarily as an aid to pronunciation improvement for L2 learners. The impact that such training has on L2 listening comprehension, on the other hand, has not received systematic attention in the literature. This paper addresses this issue by presenting a study that examined the impact of phonetics training on the intelligibility and comprehensibility of native Spanish speech as perceived by L2 learners. Two learner groups (control, experimental) participated. For the pre-test, both groups listened to sentences produced by native Spanish speakers and wrote down what they said (a measure of intelligibility). In addition, they rated how easy they thought the speaker was to understand (a measure of comprehensibility). The experimental group then received six weeks of instruction on specific phonetic characteristics of the Spanish dialect spoken by the native speakers and engaged in focused listening and pronunciation practice. Both groups then took the post-test, which was identical to the pre-test. The results demonstrated that the experimental group showed significant improvement with respect to the intelligibility of some of the phonetic aspects trained. This research thus illustrates the benefits of phonetics training for helping L2 learners improve listening comprehension skills.

How to Cite:

Rasmussen, J. & Zampini, M. L., (2009) “The Effects of Phonetics Training on the Intelligibility and Comprehensibility of Native Spanish Speech by Second Language Learners”, Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching Proceedings 1(1).