IOE alumnus’ MA work published in international peer-review journal

The paper investigates how people’s ability to process sounds could be a crucial part of their ability to learn a language, particularly when it comes to speech learning among second language learners.

The paper came about from Yujie’s work on the Teaching and Researching Speaking and Listening module as part of the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) In-Service MA. After completing the programme, Yujie continued working with Dr Kazuya Saito on the assignment, reconducting analyses and writing a manuscript examining how processing sounds can help second language learners’ pronunciation.

The paper finds that strong integration between hearing sounds and the brain’s ability to process them for motor action (i.e., auditory processing) can play a key role in being able to speak with a more nativelike pronunciation for second language learners.

The study looked at auditory processing among 47 Chinese English-as-a-Foreign-Language students. It examined the extent to which auditory processing determined the rate of success in second language learners following two weeks of choral repetition training. Choral repetition training consists of the teacher and students pronouncing sounds together.

While all participants improved their pronunciation skills, the degree of such improvement widely varied. The researchers found that their improvement, especially in the nativelikeness of pronunciation, was tied to the ability to remember and reproduce sounds (i.e., audio-motor integration).

Dr Kazuya Saito said: “In my module, I always encourage my students to not only discuss existing research, but also create and develop their own research because that’s the most important and fun part of being a scholar in applied linguistics. As a part of the assignment, Yujie proposed this ground-breaking project and collected some relevant data during his dissertation.

“After the term ended, he volunteered to join my team. We worked together and aimed at TESOL Quarterly, which is the most impactful, prestigious journal in the field of TESOL. Publishing any research there is extremely competitive. To my knowledge, Yujie is one of the very first graduate students that have ever made it for this journal. I strongly hope that his story is inspiring to all young researchers all over the world.

“We welcome ambitious, passionate students like Yujie as we help students learn how to do TESOL research to make a difference in the society.”

Links

• Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) In-Service MA
• Read the paper ‘How Does Having a Good Ear Promote Instructed Second Language Pronunciation Development? Roles of Domain-General Auditory Processing in Choral Repetition Training’
• View Dr Kazuya Saito’s research profile
• Centre for Applied Linguistics
• Department of Culture, Communication and Media
• IOE student’s MA dissertation published in international journal