Content area

Abstract

Many ESL teachers have difficulty teaching pronunciation skills to adult Chinese English Language learners in United States university level academic programs. The problem was that pronunciation teaching and learning is critical to language acquisition; yet, not many adult English language university students receive explicit pronunciation instruction. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the outcomes of explicit pronunciation instruction on Chinese English Language Learners, and to discover whether explicit pronunciation teaching and learning affected student confidence and motivation levels in a University English Language Program in Michigan. A qualitative case study was used to explore the ESL teacher experiences and ELLs’ experiences with explicit pronunciation with a final purposeful sample of 10 adult Chinese ELLs and five of their instructors in a state university English language program in Michigan. Data were collected using a qualitative student questionnaire, faculty interviews, and observations. Nvivo 12 was utilized to analyze data for pattern matching and thematic content analysis to address the constructs. Four major themes emerged from faculty interviews: (a) generalizability, (b) L1 interference, (d) individual understanding, and (e) limited curriculum. Three major themes from the student questionnaires emerged: (a) increased confidence, (b) increased motivation, and (c) effective communication. Recommendations for practice included: (a) university English language programs better evaluate current teaching practices of explicit pronunciation to ensure the most effective practices are incorporated into their curriculum, (b) teacher training programs to incorporate pronunciation teaching and learning into their teacher preparation programs, and university English language programs should consider increased pronunciation training for instructors as a reasonable are of professional development, (c) university English language programs consider structuring their introductory courses according to first language, and (d) university English language programs incorporate additional curriculum that focuses on explicit pronunciation teaching and learning aimed at increased intelligibility and comprehensibility outside of the university and academic setting. Recommendations for future research included exploring explicit pronunciation instruction with adult Chinese and their faculty at various English Language programs across Michigan, of privatized ELPs as well, and of students of various native language backgrounds.

Details

1010268
Literature indexing term
Title
A Qualitative Case Study of Explicit Pronunciation Instruction with Chinese English Language Learners in Michigan
Number of pages
150
Publication year
2020
Degree date
2020
School code
1443
Source
DAI-A 81/8(E), Dissertation Abstracts International
ISBN
9781392530757
Committee member
Friedman, Kathleen
University/institution
Northcentral University
Department
School of Education
University location
United States -- California
Degree
Ph.D.
Source type
Dissertation or Thesis
Language
English
Document type
Dissertation/Thesis
Dissertation/thesis number
27738745
ProQuest document ID
2378066271
Document URL
https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/qualitative-case-study-explicit-pronunciation/docview/2378066271/se-2?accountid=208611
Copyright
Database copyright ProQuest LLC; ProQuest does not claim copyright in the individual underlying works.
Database
ProQuest One Academic