Presentation

Relative Impact of Pronunciation Features on Ratings of Non-Native Speakers’ Oral Proficiency

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Abstract

In the context of second language (L2) assessment, pronunciation has proved to be a problematic and consequently not widely investigated area. Although some effects of fluency, suprasegmental, or individual segmental errors have been identified in L2 oral assessment, the relative impact of a wide array of pronunciation features on non-native speakers’ (NNSs) oral proficiency is still uncertain. The current study has investigated to what extent errors in various pronunciation features predict the rated oral proficiency of NNSs’ speech. Speech samples of 120 candidates, 1-2 minute long, taken from Individual Long Turn sections in Cambridge ESOL General English Examinations, were analyzed acoustically for measures of speech rate, pauses, stress, intonation, and segmental errors. Results showed that there was a hierarchical priority in the effect of the pronunciation features on ratings of NNSs’ oral proficiency. The finding has important implications for the field of L2 speaking assessment and pronunciation instruction.

How to Cite:

Kang, O., (2012) “Relative Impact of Pronunciation Features on Ratings of Non-Native Speakers’ Oral Proficiency”, Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching Proceedings 4(1).