Presentation

Effects of self-imitation practice on L2 pronunciation with the use of a Golden Speaker Builder – an interactive tool for pronunciation training

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Abstract

One increasingly popular method of L2 pronunciation improvement is self-imitation practice, which involves mirroring one's own voice synthesized with that of a native speaker. The Golden Speaker Builder (Ding et al. 2019) is a tool that allows users to generate a personalized model voice, which mirrors the learner's voice but with a native accent. Thirty-five participants of the study performed a three-week self-imitation task by repeating some of the sentences they had previously recorded. The participants took a pre-test, a post-test after three weeks of practice, and a delayed post test. Each participant completed two qualitative questionnaires: before and after the exercises, to find out their opinion about the tool used. The results show a significant improvement in pronunciation in terms of fluency and comprehensibility, but the feedback from the questionnaire indicates that GSB cannot replace the personalized comments received directly from a teacher during pronunciation training.

Keywords: L2 pronunciation, fluency, comprehensibility, self-imitation, CAPT

How to Cite:

Kusz, E. (2023) Effects of self-imitation practice on L2 pronunciation with the use of a Golden Speaker Builder – an interactive tool for pronunciation training. In R. I. Thomson, T. M. Derwing, J. M. Levis, & K. Hiebert (Eds.), Proceedings of the 13th Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching Conference, ­­­­­­­­held June 2022 at Brock University, St. Catharines, ON. doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/psllt.15721