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Developing second language oral ability in foreign language classrooms: The role of the length and focus of instruction and individual differences

Saito, K; Hanzawa, K; (2016) Developing second language oral ability in foreign language classrooms: The role of the length and focus of instruction and individual differences. Applied Psycholinguistics , 37 (4) pp. 813-840. 10.1017/S0142716415000259. Green open access

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Abstract

The current study aimed to examine how instruction can impact the global, segmental, prosodic, and temporal qualities of second language (L2) oral ability in foreign language (FL) settings (i.e., a few hours of target language input per week). Spontaneous speech was elicited via a timed picture description task from 56 Japanese freshman college students who had studied English through FL instruction from Grades 7 to 12 without any experience abroad. The tokens were rated for global accentedness and then submitted to segmental, prosodic, and temporal analyses. According to statistical analyses, (a) the participants' oral performance widely varied in relation to the length and focus of FL instruction, the frequency of their conversations in the L2, and aptitude; and (b) their diverse proficiency levels were predicted in particular by the amount of extra FL activities inside (i.e., pronunciation training) and outside (i.e., cram school) of high school (but not junior high) classrooms. The results in turn suggest that whereas extensive FL instruction (>875 hr) itself does make some difference in L2 oral ability development, its pedagogical potential can be increased by how students optimize their most immediate FL experience beyond the regular syllabus.

Type: Article
Title: Developing second language oral ability in foreign language classrooms: The role of the length and focus of instruction and individual differences
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1017/S0142716415000259
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716415000259
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Culture, Communication and Media
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10107199
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