Spanish Pronunciation Modeling by Presenters of Various Language Learning Backgrounds

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine if heritage speakers can effectively instruct pronunciation to their non-native speaker peers to support faculty. The researcher of this study assessed non-native speaker participants’ pronunciation of Spanish using pronunciation instruction and instructor background as variables (N=111: 91 underwent instruction, 20 in control group). Participants underwent a pretest. The experimental group then received pronunciation instruction addressing phonemes that do not exist in American English or that manifest differently in the target language, such as the trilled “r” and consonant combinations such as “br,” focusing especially on those with a relatively higher functional load. The control group did not receive concentrated pronunciation instruction. Posttest results showed improvements in accuracy of phoneme pronunciation. Results from the delayed posttest showed a slight decline in accuracy among students of native speaker teachers and non-native speaker teachers, however, a slight rise among those of heritage speaker student peer presenters and the control group. This quasi-experimental research has implications for teachers of all languages in that they could potentially be able to leverage heritage- and native-speaker students as resources in the classroom while providing them with instructional leadership opportunities without a sacrifice in instructional quality.