French pronunciation instruction using the PACE model

Abstract

As an overwhelming amount of research has demonstrated that educator preparation programs do not adequately prepare instructors to teach pronunciation, this study aims to help teachers of foreign languages to implement and improve pronunciation instruction (PI) in their classroom by adapting PACE (Presentation, Attention, Co-construction, and Extension), the commonly used model for grammar instruction. The present study explores the efficacy of this model in improving learners' ability (1) to associate target phonemes with the appropriate phonological context and (2) to produce target phonemes distinctly in a spontaneous speech task. Data suggest that a modified PACE model for PI can be effective in both intermediate- and advanced-level courses. The possibility of adapting an existing and well-known method for teaching grammar would allow teachers to implement and/or improve their PI with minimal additional training.