The effectiveness of real-time ultrasound visual feedback on tongue movements in L2 pronunciation training

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to test the usability of ultrasound as a visual feedback tool in L2 pronunciation training. Six Japanese-speaking learners, aged 28–33 years, participating in a course in French phonetics for L2 learners, took part in the study. Four of them received three individual 45-minute lessons of ultrasound pronunciation training. The other two participants did not. Articulatory and acoustic data of French isolated /y/ and /u/ and Japanese [ɯ] were recorded before and after the ultrasound training, as well as two months later for the learners receiving the training. The analysis of the articulatory data revealed that three speakers with ultrasound feedback improved in the production of the French vowels, the contrast between them, as well as the contrast between the two French vowels and the Japanese [ɯ], suggesting that ultrasound may be a useful tool in second language pronunciation learning.