The Effects of L2 Pronunciation Instruction on EFL Learners’ Intelligibility and Fluency in Spontaneous Speech

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of L2 pronunciation instruction on speech intelligibility and fluency, the relationship between intelligibility and fluency, and the extent to which utterance fluency can predict perceived fluency. Participants were 30 beginning adult EFL learners who received either segmental or suprasegmental instruction. Oral data included monologues recorded at the beginning and end of an 8-week course. Speech segments were transcribed for intelligibility and rated on a 1000-point scale for fluency by 11 native speakers. They were also coded and analyzed for transcription errors and utterance fluency measures. Quantitative analyses did not reveal significant changes in intelligibility or perceived fluency as the result of instruction. However, the suprasegmental group seemed to show an upward trend in speech rate, which was found to strongly predict perceived fluency. The findings further our understanding of the effectiveness of pronunciation instruction based on an understudied population and a free response outcome measure.