Exploring advanced learners’ beliefs about pronunciation instruction and their relationship with attainment

Abstract

It has long been recognized that learners’ beliefs about different aspects of foreign language learning and teaching are bound to impinge on the effectiveness of these processes, and pronunciation is by no means an exception. The present paper reports the results of a study which aimed to offer insights into such beliefs and determine the relationship between perceptions of different aspects of pronunciation instruction and attainment, both with reference to speaking skills in general and this target language subsystem. The data were collected from 110 second- and third-year students of English philology enrolled in a 3-year BA program. The participants’ beliefs were tapped by means of a specifically designed questionnaire containing Likert-scale items, intended to provide information about the overall importance of pronunciation instruction, the type of syllabus, the design of classes devoted to pronunciation, the introduction of pronunciation features, the ways of practicing these features, and the role of error correction in this area. Openended questions were also included to determine the reasons why the participants liked or disliked learning pronunciation as well as the instructional practices towards which they held positive and negative attitudes. The information about attainment came from the spoken component of the end-of-the-year practical English examination.