The Effect of Teaching Suprasegmental Phonology on Learners' Suprasegmental Awareness, Speaking Anxiety, and Pronunciation Learning Motivation[Latin Thesis]

Samaneh Hadadian

Although enhancing student achievements has always been the main objective for English educators and teachers, when reviewing the literature of pronunciation teaching it is realized that they have put less emphasis on pronunciation training. As a result, the majority of EFL learners suffer from serious pronunciation problems. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of suprasegmental instruction on learners’ suprasegmental awareness, speaking anxiety, and pronunciation learning motivation. In fact, we conducted this study to explore whether this special training created a change among EFL learners. This research employed a mixed-methods in design. 28 high school students were chosen as the participants of this study in the experimental group and 22 students were chosen as the control group. 3 questionnaires (suprasegmental awareness, speaking anxiety, and pronunciation learning motivation questionnaires) were administered before (in piloting phase) and after the suprasegmental course. Subsequently, a semi-structured interview was conducted with 7 volunteer students from the experimental group. The quantitative results using paired sample t-test showed a positive change in experimental group achievements from pretest to posttest, while no significant difference between control group’s pretest and posttest scores was reported. ANCOVA run to compare experimental and control groups in terms of their posttests revealed the effectiveness of the instruction. The qualitative findings also showed that the majority of learners had highly positive perceptions and attitudes toward the effectiveness of the suprasegmental instruction course. In fact, they found it an influential way to expand their knowledge in the suprasegmental pronunciation area, reduce their speaking anxiety, and increase their motivation to learn these pronunciation features.