Gains in Pronunciation of Lexeme‐Initial Biconsonantal Clusters Among Second Language Learners: An Individual Differences–Treatment Interaction Design

The present study investigated how instruction across explicit versus implicit conditions interacts with aptitude to affect gains in the pronunciation of lexeme‐initial biconsonantal clusters among learners of English as a second language. The study further examined whether condition‐congruent aptitudes correlate with emotions that learners experience during instruction and whether and how such emotional reactions mediate the effect of condition‐congruent aptitudes on the learners’ pronunciation outcomes. Results from the general linear model analyses indicated a significant effect of instruction on pronunciation outcomes, as well as a superiority for explicit instruction compared with implicit instruction. The results further revealed a significant effect of the interaction of aptitude and instructional condition on the learners’ pronunciation gains. Condition‐congruent aptitudes were also found to correlate strongly with different emotions that learners experienced. Furthermore, the results of the mediated regression analyses in R revealed that emotions mediated the influence of condition‐congruent aptitudes on pronunciation outcomes.