Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching
Volume 13 (2022) Issue 1
Teaching Pronunciation through Community Outreach
Frédérique Grim (Fort Collins (Co), USA)
Abstract (English)
The concept of proficiency is integral in shaping second language educators’ practices and curricula and has become a common focus in professional development, conferences, journal articles and magazines. Some educators believe that if learners are comprehensible, grammatical accuracy should not be the primary goal in instruction in order to mirror the reality outside of the classroom. However, should pronunciation be considered an essential factor for being more comprehensible in L2 proficiency? Pronunciation has received little attention when describing proficiency (ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012), even though it can easily impair communication (Derwing & Munro 2009). This study describes an action-research project based on a story-time program incorporated in a French Phonetics class with the goal to improve the French pronunciation of 24 learners. The overarching goal was to integrate learners into a community-based project to give their L2 an authentic application while engaging with the community. The following questions were asked: Can the preparation for a story-time program support college French learners’ pronunciation awareness and improvement? Can the preparation for a story-time program impact learners’ motivation and understanding of their engagement’s outcome on their community?
Keywords: Pronunciation instruction, proficiency, community outreach
Abstract (Français)
Le concept de compétence fait partie intégrante de l'élaboration des pratiques et des programmes d'études des enseignants de langue seconde et est devenu un objectif commun dans la formation professionnelle, les congrès, les articles de revues et les magazines. Certains éducateurs pensent que si la prononciation des apprenants est compréhensible, leur précision grammaticale ne devrait pas être l'objectif principal de l'enseignement pour refléter la réalité en dehors de la salle de classe. Cependant, la prononciation doit-elle être considérée comme un facteur essentiel pour être plus compréhensible en L2 ? La prononciation a reçu peu d'attention dans la description des compétences orales (ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012), même si elle peut facilement nuire à la communication (Derwing & Munro 2009). Cette étude décrit un projet de recherche-action basé sur un programme de lecture de contes incorporé dans un cours de phonétique française, ayant pour but d'améliorer la prononciation française de 24 apprenants. L'objectif primordial était d'intégrer les apprenants dans un projet communautaire pour donner à leur L2 une certaine authenticité tout en s'engageant avec la communauté. Les questions suivantes ont été posées : La préparation d'un programme de lecture de contes peut-elle soutenir la sensibilisation et l'amélioration de la prononciation des apprenants de français d’université ? La préparation d'un programme de lecture de contes peut-elle avoir un impact sur la motivation des apprenants et leur compréhension de leur engagement sur leur communauté ?
Mots-clés: Enseignement de la prononciation, compétence, proficiency, sensibilisation de la communauté
1 Introduction
The thought of ‘having an accent’ might refrain second language (L2) learners from speaking in class to avoid a feeling of embarrassment. Indeed, believing that one’s accent is too strong or incomprehensible could incite some learners to stay quiet and therefore, they might miss opportunities to communicate in their L2 (Beinhoff 201, Derwing & Munro 2009, Drewelow & Theobald 200,; Rindall 2010, Rindal & Piercy 2013). Learners need to understand that the act of communication can still be successful with an acceptable degree of accent (Sturm, Suzuki & Miyamoto 2019), and raising awareness of their own pronunciation and the question of how to bring it closer to native speakers’ speech quality could be highly beneficial. The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines (2012) remain vague in regard to pronunciation, but it is clear that the terms of “understand”, or “understood”, in the following statements, imply an acceptable pronunciation on the part of L2 speakers:
novice-level speakers may be difficult to understand even by the most sympathetic interlocutors accustomed to non-native speech (ibid.: 9)
intermediate-level speakers are understood by interlocutors who are accustomed to dealing with non-native learners of the language (ibid.: 7), and
advanced-level speakers have sufficient control of basic structures and generic vocabulary to be understood by native speakers of the language, including those unaccustomed to non-native speech (ibid.: p. 5) (Did you italicize these words?)
Like practicing grammatical functions in context, pronunciation can be instructed and practiced through a multitude of input and output activities to raise learners’ awareness of common challenges (Schmidt 2010). Within a meaningful and authentic context, indicating pronunciation difficulties might encourage learners to practice specific sounds, phonetic patterns,or intonations to decrease their ‘accent’, gain confidence, and have more success in their communication acts.
One growing context that provides authenticity and opportunities to a language is experiential learning (also referred to as community-based learning or service learning) which has found greater implications for L2 settings. Increasingly, educators see the value of using the L2 outside class to experience real-life situations (Clifford & Reisinger 2019, Gascoigne 2001, Grim 2010, 2011, 2017). Students benefit by being exposed to authentic L2 use, by being involved in their local community, by providing support in poorly resourced environments or agencies, and by increasing their motivation in L2 speaking and socio-culturally sensitivity (Caldwell 2007, Clifford & Reisinger 2019, Gascoigne 2001, Grim 2010, 2011, 2017).
The present article describes how college French students, registered in a college French phonetics course, participated in a story-time program at a public library, and the impact the preparation and delivery had on their pronunciation in terms of improvement and confidence. Two recordings were performed to check for pronunciation variation, surveys were administered, and self-reflective journals were examined to compare students’ awareness of their own pronunciation challenges. A brief literature review on the role of experiential L2 learning and the role of pronunciation instruction is followed by a description of the action-research project. The data collected present two angles: students’ impressions on the one hand and the instructor’s rating of oral production on the other.
2 Literature Review
2.1 Experiential learning in L2 Learning
To better understand the setting for this action-research project, a brief review at how experiential learning impacts L2 teaching is necessary. For the past two decades, several studies have supported the integration of experiential learning in L2 instruction. Experiential learning, also called community-based learning, is considered “both a pedagogy and an activity in which students perform a community service as part of their academic coursework” (Gascoigne 2001: 54) or a term that “provides models of how to engage in curricular and co-curricular experiences with local community” by considering “intellectual and social issues through engagement, discussion and reflection” (Clifford & Reisinger 2019: 6). Even though experiential learning can be applied through different lenses, some of the course outcomes are often associated with a service offered to the community.
In the following, some examples of what experiential learning can look like in an L2 context will be given. In Gascoigne’s article (2001), pre-service students of French, German and Spanish developed lesson plans for an authentic audience, implemented them, were exposed to teaching in a low-stakes situation, and applied concepts learned in their L2 teaching methodology class. In turn, their transition to the student teaching practice was facilitated, and children were exposed to a new language and a new culture in an enjoyable environment. In her article, Caldwell (2007) focused on a Spanish story-time program that provided students with invaluable skills and made them feel better trained for global work, helped them to develop better collaboration skills and higher proficiency, to increase their self-confidence and to feel more engaged in their community. Grim (2010, 2011, 2017) led several groups of students through service-learning projects, all related to teaching a world language to elementary-school children during the day or in after-school programs. Students prepared lesson plans following in-service teachers’ practices and wrote reflective journals on the outcomes of each lesson. In Caufield & Woods (2013), the benefits of the teaching experience provided by this community outreach included that students displayed stronger self-confidence, received experience (which, in turn, motivated some of them to explore teaching as a profession), improved their language proficiency, developed their motivation, acquired a stronger sense of civic engagement, and broadened their socio-cultural as well as their linguistic awareness. All these programs seem to point out to the benefits of taking students outside the classroom and exposing them to authentic situations that make use of the L2 (Bloom & Gascoigne 2017). Experiential learning involving second languages can look different, with varying degrees of engagement, but it always revolves around creating interactions between learners and communities and connecting both parties involved (Clifford & Reisinger, 2019). Examples range from reading to and with children in schools or at libraries, developing literacy material in support of an existing community program, tutoring L2 or English learners, assisting primary or secondary school teachers, translating materials for local organizations, interpreting for non-English-speaking community members, and connecting with youth, families or elderlies who have an L1 other than English (Bloom & Gascoigne, 2017, Clifford & Reisinger 2019, McKenna & Rizzo 1999, Mollica, Nuessel & Cedeño 2004). The ideas are almost limitless as long as they involve a cultural and / or language connection. Clifford & Reisinger (2019) make the point that, at times, language use might be minimal, but that intercultural communicative competence holds a role for students which is just as crucial as linguistic competence, and which can have transformative effects.
As seen previously, one experiential learning context is represented by story-time programs found at schools for language learners or at libraries for Spanish speakers (Caldwell 2007, Fasciono & Redmond 2018, Reisinger 2018). Those programs that take place in libraries are thriving across the United States, which parallels the growth of Spanish speakers overall. However, this framework can be transferred to other languages and present a perfect opportunity for L2 learners and the community. Indeed, adding an array of languages in story-time programs is beneficial for several reasons:
In most communities, a variety of languages other than English are found, spoken by native speakers and L2 enthusiasts;
Additional input is provided to heritage speakers of those languages;
Local children can benefit from exposure to new cultures, languages and diversity;
Bilingual schools in the area will welcome a community program to support their efforts;
Existing linguistic and cultural community networks are strengthened and new ones can emerge;
Children’s literacy skills are enhanced;
The respective community develops an appreciation for the local college students who become a more integral part of that community;
College students practice their L2 skills in an authentic context;
Story-time programs provide an opportunity for students to communicate in all three modes of communication (Which ones?);
College students can add a new experience on their résumés;
College students network with a community group they typically do not encounter.
(ACTFL World-Readiness Standards of Learning Languages 2015, Clifford & Reisinger 2019, Fasciono & Redmond 2018, Grim 2020, Neuman, Moland & Celano with The Every Child Ready to Read 2017, Reisinger 2018)
This positive overview of the story-time programs opens a door to oral practice for L2 learners. In preparation for these performances, pronunciation takes a forefront role as a clear enunciation is key for sharing a story successfully.
2.2 The Role of Pronunciation Instruction
From a growing research literature, both learners and instructors believe that integrating explicit instruction of pronunciation is essential during class, and data proves that, in many instances, instruction makes a difference (Correa & Grim 2014, Derwing & Thomson 2019, Derwing & Munro 2009, Grim & Sturm 2016, Miller & Grim 2015, Lord 2005, Saalfeld 2011, Sturm 2013a, 2013b, 2019, Sturm, Suzuki & Miyamoto 2019, Thomson 2018, Trofimovich & Baker 2006). In several of these studies, it was found that it was not only instructors who believed pronunciation to be essential, but learners who prioritized feedback on and instruction of pronunciation over other areas of learning. For instance, in Grim & Sturm (2016), students showed stronger interest in pronunciation instruction than their instructors and rated it higher in importance than areas such as cultural knowledge. In addition, Derwing & Munro (2009) point out that accents can be perceived by others with racial biases or other discriminations, making learners uncomfortable with their speech quality and, in consequence, pushing them to attempt to reach a more native-like accent. Other studies share positive outcomes to explicit pronunciation instruction at the segmental or supra-segmental level (Munro & Derwing 2009, Saalfeld 2011, Sturm 2019).
This focus on pronunciation is interconnected with the current proficiency movement. The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines (2012) mention words such as “sympathetic interlocutors” or “interlocutors who are accustomed to dealing with non-native learners of the language”, which implies a certain level of comprehension. Indeed, pronunciation must be explicitly tackled if “sympathetic interlocutors” ought to minimally understand learners despite their phonological challenges (Munro & Derwing 2009). Alongside the instructional environment (e.g., communicative, comprehensible input, natural approach), learners want to be more aware of and improve on phonological characteristics to make their communicative utterances more understood. Finding techniques and new instructional opportunities are key to bringing students to a better understanding of their lacunas. This is where the current action-research project offers an interesting perspective to working on pronunciation, while developing communicative skills. The goal of this study is to report outcomes of L2 college students’ pronunciation and impressions over the preparation of a story-time program integrated in a course on French phonetics and pronunciation.
The data were collected to answer the following questions:
Can the preparation for a story-time program support the pronunciation awareness and improvement of college French learners?
Can the preparation for a story-time program impact college French learners’ motivation and their understanding of the outcomes of their engagement on their community?
3 Methodology
The current study is based on an action-research project: a small-scale, classroom-based study, using authentic class assessment. Despite quantitative limitations, the task, organization and objectives of the project are shared to the profession, as they offer an additional tool to advance learners’ communication abilities. It is to be noted that throughout this paper, the researcher and the instructor of the course are the same person.
3.1 The Context: World Language story-time
The Poudre River Library District in Fort Collins, Colorado (USA, offers two weekly Spanish story-time sessions. However, due to the international nature of the community, which largely comes from the local university and some large international enterprises, a discussion about integrating other languages was started in the fall of 2014 and it was decided that a trial would be done in conjunction with an advanced French university class. After a highly successful story-time presentation that filled up a room, the library suggested integrating more world language story-times in subsequent semesters in a variety of languages. Therefore, a collaboration between the public library and the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at Colorado State University was developed. The idea was to propose a university-led story-time program to the community each month in a different language. The dedication in preparing students for just one presentation is time consuming, so only a few language instructors volunteered to be part of it. However, since the start of the program in 2014, American Sign Language, Arabic, Chinese, French, Japanese, and Russian story-times have been offered at least once. Programs in French have been presented once every semester since 2014 (prior to the disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic). The university is a convenient access to the linguistic pool of enthusiastic L2 speakers and has been a logical resource for this program. The story-time presentations follow the same structure to provide a consistency branded by the public library. For 30 minutes, there is a rotation of songs and stories, to keep the children engaged as much as possible. Typically, this means about three stories are read, recited and / or acted out. The songs are meant to get children to be active, and the storytellers strive to involve their audience by asking questions, acting, and dramatizing the stories. The last 30 minutes give a chance to the children to make a craft project related to the theme of the stories. Stories can be shared in a variety of ways, through acting and dressing up, using puppets or miming, or through a simple reading (Grim 2020 for additional details).
In this particular action-research project, the story-time program has been integrated in a 3rd-year college course focused on French Phonetics aiming at the teaching of phonetics and phonology (with the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)) and improving learners’ pronunciation of French. In addition to some theoretical foundations, the course has more recently focused on proficiency development to provide the tools and practice to learners for improved pronunciation and, in turn, communication skills. The course materials are based on cultural topics to generate stronger interest and encourage students to speak more about relevant and present-day topics (Violin-Wigent Miller & Grim 2013). In addition to the course materials and the assessment already in place, the story-time program has been added to the curriculum of the course to provide an authentic opportunity to develop students’ language skills in the community beyond their peers and classroom instruction. Typically, each French story-time program has attracted 10 to 20 children with their parents, most being native or heritage speakers (from bilingual households), or coming from the local French bilingual school.
3.2 Participants
The participants in this action-research project were enrolled in the 3rd-year French Phonetics class at the university. Students who were registered for this class ranged from 2nd to 4th-year college French, making the proficiency range rather extensive (A2 to C1), as is often found in 3rd-year language courses. Over those two semesters, 35 students initially agreed to participate in the study. However, since there were three parts of data collection (recordings, journals and surveys) only 24 students returned fully reported data. Except for one student (who had retired from her job and had decided to take language classes for a pastime), the students were traditional students, meaning they were between 18 and 25 years old and studying to obtain a bachelor’s degree in fields such as French, French Education, German, Spanish, Linguistics, Music, Apparel Merchandise, Business, History, Legal Studies, Political Sciences, and / or undeclared majors. They had been learning French in a formal (classroom) setting for two to eleven years, with a median of six years.
3.3 Procedure and Data Analysis
The data that form the basis of this study came from four sources:
Instructor feedback on recordings:
These two assessments were required of all students registered in the course, as part of their course grade. Students submitted two recordings on the Canvas Learning Management System. The first one was to be turned in at the end of Week 7 of the semester, after two in-class practices of the stories. The second one was handed in at the end of Week 14, after all in-class practices and the performance at the library. During those recordings, students needed to read the phonetically transcribed lines of the books they chose to present for the story-time project. Due to the limitations of the course curriculum, a total of six class sessions were dedicated for practice (alone, in groups, in front of the instructor and invited native-speakers, and in front of the class). Feedback on the two recordings was key to student improvement as it allowed the instructor to listen more closely to each individual student and provide written and orally recorded feedback in order to point out challenging sounds. The comments were meant as an instructional tool, not a research tool, so the comments used in this study reflect the style of these goals. It is also important to point out that the instructor did not look over the comments or listen to the earlier oral feedback for the first recording, while assessing the second recording, in order to stay as unbiased as possible in listening for pronunciation issues.
Student journals
An additional piece of data was provided by the journals which students wrote after each of their recordings and submitted along with the recordings. They were asked to listen and explain what difficulties in their pronunciation they could perceive. In addition, in the last journal they were specifically asked to compare their pronunciation between the first and the second recording, and to highlight any changes. Their remarks were compared with the instructor's / researcher’s feedback on the recordings in order to triangulate the findings.
Scores on recordings
Using rubrics (Appendix A), these recordings were scored by the instructor. The recordings were included in the course grade so participation was expected, regardless of the action-research project. However, the scores provided quantitative data points, also used to note any improvement noticed by the instructor. Using these rubrics, the score for the first recording was out of 50, while the score for the second recording was out of 65. Both scores were converted to be out of 100 for the analysis. Based on the correctness of their pronunciation, students were given a score from 1 to 5 (5 being the highest) based on each characteristic highlighted in the rubrics. Each of those characteristics had been practiced in class as part of the phonetics course curriculum. The instructor was the sole rater for these recordings, as this project was based on classroom action research. Due to the lack of inter-rater reliability, the data are described descriptively, with no parametric statistics being used.
Survey
For the participants who consented to participating in this action-research project, a survey was collected via the Google Forms platform at the end of the semester to ask students’ demographic data, their opinions on the story-time program, their feedback, their self-assessment on improvement or not, on their own pronunciation, and on the impact they might have had on the community. The researcher sought commonalities among students' answers and gathered them into general themes.
Students' performance at the library was not graded in terms of pronunciation accuracy, as the instructor felt that the anxiety to present in public could have a major influence on the outcomes. However, part of the course grade included the fact that students performed with a positive attitude and engagement. The final course grades were not included in this study.
4 Results and Discussion
In the following section, the data collected is analyzed and compared to better reflect the impact of such an experience on learners. First, a comparison between instructor feedback and student journals will be shared. Then, the recordings and finally the surveys show the changes in learners’ production.
4.1 Instructor Feedback and Student Journals
For the sake of space, only a sample of students' feedback is displayed here, and the researcher selected five students at random. One major goal of the journals was to see if students could identify their phonetic difficulties. The feedback (middle column in Table 1) given by the instructor after the first recording pointed out, in single words or phrases, the issues that could be corrected to bring students' pronunciation closer to that of native speakers. It needs to be noted that the instructor's goal was not to make students sound like native speakers, as this is not reasonable, but to help them get closer to a native-like pronunciation. In addition, the instructor did not want to overwhelm students by giving them a large amount of challenging feedback to deal with and work on. Instead, she chose to focus on the most problematic issues. It is important to remember that this was a course specifically focusing on pronunciation and transcriptions using the IPA system, so students expected to receive feedback on their pronunciation. The written comments made by the instructor after the first recording in Week 7 of the semester are listed in Table 1 and refer to two practices of the stories performed in class. The respective student journal entries show what students felt after listening to their own recording (right column in Table 1). Sentences in italics parallel the feedback the instructor gave and show the pronunciation difficulties or improvements that were noticed by both the respective student and the instructor.
Table 1: Instructor feedback and student journal entries on Recording 1
[Translations of the French journal entries: F.G.]
Table 2 displays the comparison of Recording 1 to Recording 2 from the instructor and student journal entries:
Table 2: Instructor Comparison and Student Journal Entries on Recording 2 [translations of the French journal entries: F.G.]
Based on the instructor’s perceptions, some learners appeared to make some improvements, while others received similar comments. This is a good example of what learners oftentimes experience: fossilization. For several decades, research (Han 2004, Scovel 2000, Selinker 1972) shows that language learners might fossilize errors, even with a clear understanding of rules. Pronunciation is an integral part of language and faces the same challenge. This can mark what we label as 'accents': fossilized pronunciation of certain sounds, often specific to one’s native language. The students in the study were in a 3rd-year French class and had in most cases been learning French for several years. For some, it appears that their pronunciation had reached a certain degree of fossilization, even though they repeatedly practiced some of the problematic sounds or features (such as liaisons or intonations). Given this, they did not seem to assimilate the feedback as planned by the instructor. However, two promising pieces when comparing the instructor's feedback and the journals are that
learners appeared to hear what difficulties they had, even if they did not correct them, as the underlined reflections show in Tables 1 and 2, and
they acquired life-long skills through learning to apply the IPA.
This is important because it shows that their level of awareness might be keener than the instructor's initial beliefs. This journaling exercise could be considered as a common tool to guide students to self-assess their proficiency. This topic will be further developed further in the implications.
4.2 Recording Scores
Based on the rubrics displayed in the Appendix, the instructor gave a score to each recording. As for the written feedback, the second recordings were scored independently from the first recordings, for the instructor to stay as unbiased as feasible when approaching each student’s pronunciation. The rubric highlighted specific characteristics covered in class, touching on the segmental and supra-segmental levels of pronunciation, such as liaisons, syllabic length, intonation, silent final consonants, lack of consonant aspiration, clarity of final consonants, the phoneme [ʀ] (liquid, fricative, uvular, such in ‘train’) lack of diphthongs, nasal vowels, clear distinction between [y] and [u]. The scores were given on a scale from 0 to 5 and added up for a possible total of 50 for the first recording and 65 for the second recording as additional features, learned later in the semester, were added (e.g., semi-vowels, liquids, final consonants). Those scores were converted to be out of 100 for the purpose of the analysis. The median, average and standard deviation were calculated:
Table 3: Rubric Scores on First and Second Recordings
Since the data came from a course and because of a lack of inter-rater reliability, the analysis is described using solely descriptive statistics. Between both means (M1 = 84.16; M2 = 89.71), a growth can be noticed and is to be expected given the learner’s intensive practice (six class periods, API transcription, at-home practice, recordings). It can be argued that this improvement does not represent authentic proficiency development as in real life, one might not practice sentences over and over. However, this could be viewed as input flood and output practices, which can play a role in language acquisition as most first language learners acquire their native language through input and repeated output (at the foundations of those ideas: Gass, Mackey & Pica 1998, Krashen 1995, Swain & Lapkin 1995). For instance, a young child will watch or listen to a story multiple times, which allows for words and sounds to enter the brain. The students in this course are, by practicing a story, i.e. a contextualized text, exposed to sounds, intonations and vocabulary that support their L2 acquisition.
In response to the first research question of whether the preparation for a story-time program supports college French learners’ pronunciation awareness and improvement, the answer is positive as not only the instructor noticed improvement, but the learners were more alert of their phonetic struggles and could, in turn, better focus on improving specific issues in their pronunciation.
4.3 Surveys
At the end of both semesters, students who consented to participating in the study were asked to fill out a survey to share their general impressions on the story-time program. This was in part for feedback on improving the program for future occurrences, but also to better understand their interest and motivation.
Students' overall satisfaction for participating in the program was strong. As seen in Table 4, several questions brought out common answers among learners, which were regrouped in more general themes by the researcher, based on the more specific answers from students:
Table 4: Survey Answers
As the survey responses exemplify, students greatly appreciated the experience, and the program was deemed a success. Students sensed that their language skills had improved, not only by practicing their pronunciation, but also by learning new vocabulary and grammatical structures through the stories. Some students also mentioned that performing in front of an authentic audience in the L2 was a great exercise for public speaking practice. These findings are sufficient to show that the project truly impacted learners very positively.
Some students did not see how their community service had impacted others other than themselves, such as providing support to children's language mastery or literacy. It is likely that their uncertainty was founded on a lack of understanding on children language acquisition and literacy development.
Students felt they had improved in their pronunciation, which would be a logical assumption given their extensive practice. Although this is not a natural way to acquire communicative skills, their comments indicated that learners might feel better at incorporating new language skills through some rote practice of structures with a focus on pronunciation.
Motivation is also a factor that was very positively viewed. Students felt that using their French in an authentic environment surrounded by native speakers and learners made it enjoyable, and they sensed that their role had a true purpose of entertaining and increasing literacy awareness. These characteristics made them truly appreciate the preparation and the presentation of their stories.
This paper cannot capture the final outcomes of the presentations through pictures or videos, but it was clear that by seeing students perform, they truly enjoyed themselves and that their fear of performing in public did not hinder their performance. All those personal feelings cannot be taken for granted, despite a possible lack of long-lasting effects on pronunciation. These personal convictions represent the intrinsic factors that truly push students to continue learning and experiencing languages (Dörnyei 2001, Gardner 2010, Noels, Pelletier, Clément & Vallerand 2000). The primary goal of this current project was not initially to increase students’ motivation, but it ended up being an unintended, yet very positive effect.
The last question in the survey (Table 5) was left open-ended to give a space for students to comment, and although not all students responded, it provided an additional encouragement:
Table 5: Answers to the Question “Do you have any last comments?”
These comments are a strong indication of how the program was received, and they were a reinforcement to offer it in subsequent semesters. Students only regretted not using their French as much as they had hoped with their targeted audience after their performance at the library, which presumably means that they realized the importance of being in a unique environment and an authentic setting where they could develop relationships and use their linguistic skills without being assessed. This is an important consideration, and more of these opportunities should be integrated to provide similar experiences to L2 learners and bring value to their L2 knowledge. Many university departments offer language clubs with conversation hours. However, these are often placed in artificial settings. In contrast, situations like the one at the public library are completely natural, authentic, and have the potential to help students feel more confident about their conversational skills.
The present action-research project supports the inclusion of storytelling activities, while its implications are numerous. Research question 2 of whether the preparation for a story-time program can impact college French learners’ motivation and understanding of their engagement’s outcomes on their community can therefore be answered in the affirmative.
5 Conclusions and Implications
Because educators are focused on improving their students’ proficiency, they seek to develop activities in class that will bring them to use the language authentically in written and oral modes. However, those modes do not only belong to the classroom or to assignments, but they can also be practiced in authentic contexts right in the community. This article has described how a story-time program in a local public library has given college students of French the opportunity to use their skills with positive outcomes on their pronunciation and intrinsic motivation. Students' satisfaction was high, and they were ready to participate in a similar program in a subsequent semester. They felt that their pronunciation had improved in general, and especially on words found in the stories they presented, and they enjoyed rehearsing their roles in children’s books. Additionally, they knew they would be bringing a unique enjoyment to the children as well.
This project has produced a number of pedagogical implications as well as research questions. First, reinforced by students’ comments, story-time programs should be considered in L2 course curricula as:
1) they bring a different genre of literature to learners, which increases accessibility,
2) they reinforce grammatical structures,
3) new lexis is presented in comprehensible context,
4) they have very entertaining characteristics (enjoyable, lively, creative, musical, kinesthetic, collaborative), and
5) they create various opportunities to communicate among peers and with native or near-native speakers of French (a language more challenging to find in many regions of the United States in an authentic setting).
As previously mentioned, this study is another call to start thinking about reintroducing explicit pronunciation instruction throughout the years of learning, including first years. This can be executed either through regular courses or simply by offering an additional credit solely focused on pronunciation instruction, using clear IPA and phonological features to raise learner awareness. Even if this does not solve all or most mispronunciations, it will set students on a path where they can focus on their facial muscles and attempt to work on problematic sounds that can impair the success of a communicative exchange.
Much research is necessary on the inclusion of this type of programs in language curricula. Indeed, assessing data with more students and with stricter and quantitative data measurements (e.g., including inter-rater reliability, more detailed comments, and audio-recording tools that can compare sounds) is needed. One tool that is not often used with students to compare their own proficiency and improvements is journaling.In the few comments presented in this paper, learners showed that they were aware of their own phonetic abilities and inabilities. Even if they might not be able to correct their errors, they appeared to recognize them. This could be supported by instructor audio comments with specific tips to make those changes. Self-assessment might be an efficient way to bring attention to some language forms.
Research has thoroughly explored the need for noticing and raising L2 awareness (Bergsleithner, Nagem Frota & Yoshioka 2013, Schmidt 2010), but journaling in a formal curriculum setting (i.e., not just for research purposes) has not very extensively been integrated in L2 learning. This action-research project provides encouraging support for such an idea. Another area that needs further research is to understand the impact written and oral feedback has on learners and the attention those learners truly give with the intent to improve their L2 pronunciation. their phonetic challenges. Could individualized one-on-one interviews between the student and the instructor be more impactful? Could students work efficiently in small groups to receive feedback, discuss, comprehend, and work on specific difficulties?
There were obvious shortcomings to this study; for example, there was only one rater (i.e. the instructor) for students’ recordings. However, this could still be considered valid to the learners’ context as typically, there is only one instructor who provides the grades. This is an action-research project and therefore, any conclusions are relevant to this group of students only and cannot be generalized. The project does, however, provide valuable insight, and offers encouragement for reduplication.
No long-term effect (over two or more semesters) was recorded to verify if the changes in pronunciation were lasting. Another issue with these specific recordings is that they were based on story-time preparation and therefore, students were repeatedly practicing the same sentences, the same words, and the same sounds. This repeated practice offered more chances for improving those specific sounds but did not allow expansion to more general lexical contexts. To rebuttal this argument, it can be stressed that if a learner remembers working on a specific sound or word, he or she should be able to transfer the exercise and the challenging features to other words. Further, the use of the IPA goes beyond any course. Anecdotally, several students told the instructor that while being abroad, they used IPA to transcribe a new word and showed gratitude for this tool acquired in class.
Finding opportunities and experiences for our language learners that will push them to increase their motivation for learning is crucial to lead them towards success. The field of language teaching has continued to focus on improving our students' proficiency and to help them communicate more successfully outside the classroom. Story-time provides the opportunity to support their L2 use in true authentic settings because learners:
are pushed to pronounce and enunciate sounds that are often overlooked in other classes in which pronunciation is not a focus;
are connected with an authentic use of their L2;
network with native speakers and language enthusiasts;
see their self-confidence increase;
serve their community which, in turn, gives them a sense of civic engagement;
are enjoying themselves in the process (as their theatrical performances have proven);
Although this was not the purpose of this article, it is important for educators and learners to check their motivation in these types of outreach programs in order not to increase the social chasm that might already exist between community groups, such as university and migrant communities (Clifford & Reisinger 2019). University students and professors might think that serving the community is a righteous act. However, understanding the community they serve, with no sense of superiority, is key for positive community reception. In the end, it is just a skill a group of language learners can share to encourage another group (i.e. the community) to access children’s literature and simply establish a connection between generations (college students and children, college students and adult community members).
This article is not meant to particularly target French or a special phonetics course but it means to encourage passionate educators teaching any course content to bring their students outside the classroom to practice their L2 linguistic skills, while making a positive impact on themselves (self-confidence), their experiences (résumés), their motivation to serve and network (community outreach), and their linguistic improvement (pronunciation and proficiency).
Although the original intent of this action-research project was to have a global impact by serving the community, it demonstrates that such an involvement can affect learners’ linguistic skills as well as their confidence level. A second reason is that this was also a perfect opportunity to not only connect college students with the surrounding community, but also for community members to network with others who share a common passion for French. Local public libraries are welcomed venues to meet those student and community needs. (1)
Appendix
Rubrics for Recordings 1 and 2 (initially in the target language)
Recording 1:
Recording 2 :
References
Beinhoff, B. (2013): Perceiving identity through accent: Attitudes towards non-native speakers and their accents in English. Bern: Peter Lang AG.
Bergsleithner, J., S. Nagem Frota & J. Yoshioka (2013): Noticing and Second Language Acquisition: Studies in Honor of Richard Schmidt. National Foreign Language Resource Center, University of Hawaii.
Bloom, M. & C. Gascoigne (2017): Experiential learning for L2 students: Steps for a service-learning program in a local community. In: Creating experiential learning opportunities for language learners: Acting locally while thinking globally. Multilingual Matters.
Caldwell, W. (2007): Taking Spanish outside the box: A model for integrating service learning into foreign language study. In: Foreign Language Annals 40/3, 463-471.
Caulfield, J. & T. Woods (2013): Experiential learning: Exploring its long-term impact on socially responsible behavior. In: Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning 13/2, 31-48.
Clifford, J. & D. Reisinger (2019): Community-based language learning: A framework for Educators. Georgetown University Press.
Correa, M. & F. Grim (2014): Audio recordings as a self-awareness tool for improving L2 pronunciation: sample activities. In: Currents in Teaching and Learning 6, 2.
Derwing, T. M. & M. J. Munro (2009): Putting accent in its place: Rethinking obstacles to communication. In: Language Teaching 42, 476-490.
Derwing, T. M. & R. I. Thomson (2019): Reflections on the development of L2 pronunciation research in Canada. In: Canadian Modern Language Review. (https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/cmlr.2019-0282; 25-04-2022).
Dörnyei, Z. (2001): Motivational strategies in the language classroom. Cambridge (UK): Cambridge University Press.
Drewelow, I. & A. Theobald (2007): A comparison of the attitudes of learners, instructors, and native French speakers about the pronunciation of French: An exploratory study. In: Foreign Language Annals 40/3, 491-520.
Fasciono, H. & M. L. Redmond (2018): Leveraging community connections. In: The Language Educator 13/4, 26-27.
Gardner, R. C. (2010): Motivation and Second Language Acquisition: The Socio-Educational Model. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
Gascoigne Lally, C. (2001). Service/community learning and foreign language teaching methods: An application. In: Active Learning in Higher Education 2/1, July, 53-63.
Gass, S. Mackey, A. & T. Pica (1998): The role of input and interaction in second language acquisition. In: The Modern Language Journal 82/3, 299-307.
Grim, F. (2010): Giving authentic opportunities to second language learners: A look at a French service-learning project. In: Foreign Language Annals 43/4, 605-623.
Grim, F. (2011): J’apprends et j’enseigne le français: Étudiants de français dans leur communauté. In: French Review 85/2, 1132-1140.
Grim, F. (2011). Socio-cultural sensitivities and service-learning. In: Modern Journal of Language Teaching Methods 1/1, 15-19.
Grim, F. (2017): Experiential learning for L2 students: Steps for a service-learning program in a local community. Book chapter. In: Bloom, Melanie & Carolyn Gascoigne (Eds.): Creating experiential learning opportunities for language learners: Acting locally while thinking globally. Multilingual Matters.
Grim, F. (2020): A story to tell… The three modes of communication through a community-engagement program. In: Coastal Review: An online peer-reviewed journal 11/1.
Grim, F. & J. Sturm (2016): Where does pronunciation stand in the 21st century foreign language classroom? Views of educators and learners. In: Proceedings of the 7th Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching Conference. Texas A&M-Commerce. Dallas (TX), 51-65.
Han, Z. (2004): Fossilization in Adult Second Language Acquisition. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Krashen, S. D. (1985): The Input Hypothesis: Issues and Implications, New York: Longman.
Lord, G. (2005): (How) Can we teach foreign language pronunciation? On the effects of a Spanish phonetics course. In: Hispania 88, 257-267.
McKenna, M. and E. Rizzo (1999): Outside the classroom: Student perceptions of the benefits of service-learning. In Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community 18, 111-123.
Miller, J., & F. Grim, F. (2015): Spoken French in a pronunciation course: Impressions and applications. In: Levis, J., R. Mohamed, M. Qian & Z. Zhou (Eds.). Proceedings of the 6th Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching Conference, Santa Barbara, CA,. Ames, IA: Iowa State University, 213-224.
Mollica, A., F. Nuessel & A, Cedeño (2004): Current trends and issues in service-learning in the Spanish curriculum. In: Mosaic 8/3, 10-16.
Munro, M. J. & T. M. Derwing (1995): ‘Processing time, accent, and comprehensibility in the perception of native and foreign-accented speech’. In: Language and Speech 38/3: 289-306.
Neuman, S., N. Moland & D. Celano (2017): Bringing literacy home: An evaluation of the every child ready to read program. American Library Association. 26-06-2020. http://everychildreadytoread.org/building-on-success-every-child-ready-to-read-2nd-edition/.
Noels, K. A., L. G. Pelletier, R. Clément & R. J. Vallerand (2000): Why are you learning a second language? Motivational orientations and self-determination theory. In Language Learning 50/1, 57-85.
Rindal, U. (2010): Constructing identity with L2: Pronunciation and attitudes among Norwegian learners of English. In: Journal of Sociolinguistics 14/2, 240-261.
Reisinger, D. (2018): Developing and sustaining community partnerships. In: The Language Educator 13/4, 31-34.
Rindal, U. & C. Piercy (2013): Being ‘neutral’? English pronunciation among Norwegian learners. In: Word Englishes 32/2, 211-229.
Saalfeld, A. K. (2011): Acquisition of L2 phonology in advanced learners: Does instruction make a difference? In: Levis, J. & K. LeVelle (Eds.): Proceedings of the 2nd Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching Conference. Ames, IA: Iowa State University, 144-152.
Schmidt, R. (2010): Attention, awareness, and individual differences in language learning. In: Chan, W. M., S. Chi, K. N. Cin, J. Istanto, M. Nagami, J. W. Sew, T. Suthiwan, & I. Walker (Eds.): Proceedings of CLaSIC 2010, Singapore, December 2-4. Singapore: National University of Singapore, Centre for Language Studies, 721-737.
Scovel, T. (2000): A critical review of the critical period research. Inn: Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 20, 213-223.
Selinker, L. (1972): Interlanguage. In: IRAL, 10/3, 209-231.
Sturm, J. L. (2013a): Explicit phonetics instruction in L2 French: A global analysis of improvement. In: System 41/3, 654-662.
Sturm, J. L. (2013b): Liaison in L2 French: The effects of instruction. In: Levis, J. & K. LeVelle (Eds.): Proceedings of the 4th Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching Conference. Ames, IA: Iowa State University, 157-166.
Sturm, J. (2019): Current approaches to pronunciation instruction: A longitudinal case study in French. In: Foreign Language Annals 52/1, 32-44.
Sturm, J., M. Miyamoto & N. Suzuki (2019): Pronunciation in the L2 French classroom: Student and teacher attitudes. In: The French Review 92/3, 60-78.
Swain, M. and S. Lapkin (1995): Problems in Output and the Cognitive Processes They Generate: A Step Towards Second Language Learning. In: Applied Linguistics 16, 371-391.
Violin-Wigent, A., J. Miller & F. Grim (2013): Sons et Sens : Phonétique française en contexte. Georgetown: Georgetown University Press.
Thomson, R. I. (2018): Measurement of accentedness, intelligibility and comprehensibility. In: Kang, O. & A. Ginther (Eds.): Assessment in second language pronunciation. New York: Routledge, 11-29.
The National Standards Collaborative Board. (42015): World-readiness standards for learning languages. Alexandria, VA.
Author:
Frédérique Grim, PhD
Professor of French and Second Language Acquisition
Colorado State University
Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
Fort Collins, CO 80523-1774, USA
E-mail: Frederique.Grim@colostate.edu
____________________
(1) Finally, on a personal side, I have a young child who is learning French from me at home, while living in an English-dominant society. Knowing a similar story-time program existed for the Spanish language in our community, I felt that offering a story-time in French would meet others with similar needs as mine in the community: the need for providing additional linguistic support and literacy input to their bilingual children, while providing a time of gathering as a community of French speakers.