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ERIC Number: EJ1400211
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 31
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1362-1688
EISSN: EISSN-1477-0954
Embodying Rhythmic Properties of a Foreign Language through Hand-Clapping Helps Children to Better Pronounce Words
Baills, Florence; Prieto, Pilar
Language Teaching Research, v27 n6 p1576-1606 2023
This study tested the effects of hand-clapping to the rhythm of newly learned French words on the pronunciation of these words by 7- to 8-year-old Catalan children. In a short training experiment with a pre- and posttest design, 28 children either repeated cognate words in French (e.g. French "aspirateur," Catalan "aspirador" 'vacuum cleaner') while clapping to the rhythmic structure of those words or only repeated the words. Participants' oral productions before and after training were rated for accentedness by three French native speakers. Results showed that in both groups, participants' pronunciation improved after training, and crucially, children in the clapping group improved significantly more than those in the non-clapping group. Additionally, an acoustic analysis of the duration of word-final vowels indicated that only children in the clapping group significantly lengthened the final vowel after training, thus producing more target-like durational patterns. Our results suggest that a brief embodied intervention based on highlighting the rhythmic structure of words through hand-clapping has the potential to enhance pronunciation in a foreign language. The implications for second language teaching of pronunciation are discussed.
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2993
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Spain
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A