Teaching Tips

Bridging the Theory to Practice Gap: Incentivizing Teachers to Access the Research Via Short Form Videos

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Abstract

The gap between research in second language phonology and pronunciation teaching and learning has long been recognized. Fortunately, the field has never been better positioned to make scholarship accessible. The ubiquitous use of electronic devices as well as the popularity of social media are coming to be recognized for the potential benefits they bring to language teaching. This teaching tip advocates and demonstrates the use of short form videos to incentivize teachers to access research on speaking and listening challenges common to learners from a wide variety of L1 backgrounds. Links are provided to two videos highlighting these topics: a segmental challenge involving a minimal pair contrast with a high functional load; a challenge with suprasegmental phonology whereby the listener fails to grasp the speaker’s intent despite being able to understand all the words in an utterance. A sample pre- and post-video viewing survey and action steps are included to address the suprasegmental topic: teaching the pragmatic functions of intonation.

Keywords: Pronunciation teaching, Technology, Short form video, Intonation

How to Cite:

Reed, M., & Liu, Di. (2023). Bridging the theory-to-practice gap: Incentivizing teachers to access research via short form videos. 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.16093