Teaching and Researching Second Language Speech

Temple University, Japan Campus (Spring, Fall 2014)

Course Objective


   
The study of instructed second language (L2) speech learning is concerned with how young adolescent and adult L2 learners develop phonological, lexical, grammatical and discoursal aspects of language in order to enhance the rate and ultimate attainment of their overall oral proficiency skills under classroom conditions. This course provides an introduction to theory and research on this topic by interfacing research perspectives in L2 pronunciation, listening, fluency, vocabulary, grammar, education, and psycholinguistics in an interdisciplinary manner.

Topics to be covered in the first part of the course highlights a state-of-the-art review in which aspects of language—pronunciation, fluency, vocabulary, and grammar—interact to determine native speakers’ intuitive judgment of comprehensibility in L2 speech. In so doing, we will aim to create an optimal syllabus specifying a list of crucial linguistic features that L2 learners should learn as a priority to make their own L2 speech understood successfully by both native and non-native speakers.

In the second part of the course, we will focus on examining different types of L2 teaching methods used in classrooms all over the world, and synthesizing empirical research findings deriving from L2 pronunciation, listening, fluency, and grammar teaching research. Taken together, we will ultimately aim to elaborate, test, and critique the effectiveness of different approaches to second language teaching and learning.

 
 
Course Materials

Syllabus [Download]

Class 1: Intro to L2 speech [Download]
Class 2: Intelligible pronunciation [Download]
Class 3; Lexical comprehension [Download]
Class 4: Lexical production [Download]
Class 5: Linguistic correlates of L2 speech [Download]
Class 6: Different perspectives on L2 speech (CEFR, CAF) [Download]
Class 7: Intro to instructed SLA [Coming soon!]
Class 8: Intentional (PPP) vs. Incidental (TBLT) Approaches [Coming soon!
Class 9; Prompts vs. recasts [Coming soon!]
Class 10: Pronunciation teaching [Coming soon!]
Class 11: Listening teaching [Coming soon!]
Class 12: Learning contexts: Naturalistic L2 speech learning [Coming soon!]
Class 13: Learning contexts: Foreign language learning vs. study-abroad conditions [Coming soon!]
Class 14: FINAL PRESENTATIONS [Coming soon!]