PODCASTING:

AN EFFECTIVE TOOL

FOR HONING LANGUAGE

STUDENTS’

PRONUNCIATION?

CRITINA CIRAUQUI

DIEGO MARTINEZMARTA RUBIO

ANA SATRUTEGUI

INDEX• RESEARCH ON PRONUNCIATION

• PODCASTING

• METHOD

• RESULTS

• GENERAL DISCUSSION

Research on Pronunciation

Comprehension studies •The age has a big effect on pronunciation•Training help to improve it (20% error to 5%)•The Prosody how we say words (stress, pitch, rhythm, etc.).•We need to teach also prosody as well as pronunciation.

Technology to improve Pronunciation•Visual displays help you to show specific sounds and the patterns of prosody.•Automated speech recognition (ASR) tools, are very useful because they show your sounds comparing them with native speaker sounds.•Drawback lack of contextualization•Podcast are better contextualized

PodcastingPodcasting in education•Gives opportunities to create and publish for a real audience. •They can receive feedback from other partners and from their teacher.•Students can listen their voice several times and realize and correct their mistakes.•Schools and universities are using mp3 to listen to podcast and improve pronunciation.

Podcasting Projects Specific to Pronunciation•Contextualized podcast create meaningful tasks and contextualized pronunciation.•Focus on oral productions: audio diaries, interviews with NSs and talk shows.•Study iPod users retained (40%) more words than paper-pencil users (27%).•Students perceived listening to podcasts as worthwhile and enjoyable.•Students valued very positively podcasts and admitted very few technical problems.

METHOD

PARTICIPANTS 22 participants: 12 learning German and

10 learning French. Intermediate level Between the age of 18 and 22 years old 12 of them were in French or German

speaking countries several times The project was lasted for 16 weeks

MATERIALS To assess scripted and extemporaneous

tasks.

Two different types of elicitation techniques

students recorded 8 podcasts They received 60-90 minutes of technical

training to reate and upload podcasts to their blogs.

SCRIPTED PRONUNCIATION PODCAST It is divided into pre-; scripted 1,2,3; post-) Students recorded 5 of them related to

their studies abroad. In pre and post, they worked on identical

texts.The texts for podcast 1,2,3 were chosen to

prepare students for the contextualized podcast tasks.

Students made their recording and these were included in their blogs.

EXTEMPORANEOUS PODCASTS

Students recorded 3 podcasts.

The same texts used for pronunciation podcasts were served as a model for students.

PRONUNCIATION ATTITUDE INVENTORY PRE-TEST PAI survey was based on 12

questions in order to assess students 'attitudes toward pronunciation. And 9 questions about background information.

POST-TEST PAI survey: it consisted of the same 12 questions, 8 additional likert-type questions and 6 open-ended questions specific to students’ attitude toward the podcasting project.

PROCEDURE Students had to listen to classmates’

podcasts. Extemporaneous podcasts were assessed by

the instructor using a rubric which was based on content, coherency, organization, pronunciation, fluency, accuracy and creativity.

For the script pronunciation podcasts, NS assistant gave students the written assessment with the feedback on their recordings and blogs.

RESULTS

Student´s podcasts (8 each) were stored on a CD

Students were judged by two raters in each language:

One NS of the target language One NNS (the NNS tested at or above an

advanced low proficiency level) for each language.

DATA ANALYSIS

SCALESCOMPREHENSITIVITY:

5 POINTSACCENTEDNESS:

5 POINTS

Completeley Nativelike

Mostly Almost nativelike

FairlyBetween nativelike and nonnative

Almost not More nonnative

Not comprehensible Non nativelike

• Strong accent does not necessarily affect comprehensibility.

• Accentedness and comprehensibility are considered in pronunciation studies.

• The samples in our study ranged from 2-4 minutes in length.

• Judges were instructed to rate samples using only whole numbers between 1 and 5.

COMPREHENSIBILITY RATINGS

GERMAN• No significant

differences• 44% of the

students improved in comprehensibility

• 30% improved from the pre- to the post-test

FRENCH• One significant

difference• 9% of the students

received higher comprehensibility ratings

• 10%improved from the pre- to the post-test

•

ACCENTEDNESS RATINGSGERMAN• Significant

difference• 10% of the

students improved in accentedness

• 50% improved from the pre- to the post-test

FRENCH• One significant

difference• 70% of the

students received higher accentedness ratings

• 10%improved from the pre- to the post-test

PROBLEMSGERMAN• 62% differentiation

[ʏ], [yː], [ʊ] and [uː]• 56% differentiating

[z] and an [s] • 44%pronouncing [ʁ]• 42% differentiating [ç]

and [x] (• 33%pronouncing [oe]• 25% pronouncing [v]• 12% enunciating “-

tion”

FRENCH• 18% making liaisons • 44% pronouncing the

French [r] 49% silent sounds

• 21%pronouncing the sounds [y]

• 14% pronuncing [ø]

GENERALDISCUSSIO

N

WHY THOSE RESULTS?PRONUNCIATION IN TERMS OF ACCENTEDNESS:

• Insufficient amount of time.• No pronunciation practice class.• No specific pronunciation tasks.

IN TERMS OF COMPRENHENSIBILITY:

Most of the students were already almost comprehensible.

LAST RESEARCH QUESTION: If students had a positive attitude towards pronunciation and felt their pronunciation improved.

• They valued communication.• They valued grammar and vocabulary over pronunciation.

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Podcasting and repeated recordings are not enough.

How FL teachers can include podcasting?

1.Focused and consistent practice in class.2.Giving feedback to the students.3.Computer assisted visual feedback.

More pronunciation classroom practice is required.

PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

Practice in comprehension and Accentedness through the use of new technology. Podcasting must be used in class in order to provide feedback to the pupils.

Working with phonetics and a training on specific sounds will be required.

Impact of podcasting and benefits of podcasting for improving pronunciation will be worth investigation.

CONCLUSION