Elimination of aspiration of the Spanish voiceless stops in the pronunciation of English-speaking learners of Spanish August 30, 2008 C&I 578 Instructional Design Dr. Toledo

Elimination of aspiration of the Spanish voiceless stops in the pronunciation of English-speaking learners of Spanish Key words : voiceless stop aspiration L2 second language acquisition pronunciation

Key words :

voiceless stop

aspiration

L2 second language acquisition

pronunciation

Elimination of aspiration of the Spanish voiceless stops in the pronunciation of English-speaking learners of Spanish One of the most common mistakes made by native English speakers who learn Spanish as second language is pronouncing the Spanish voiceless stops /p, t, k/ with aspiration - /p h, t h, k h /. For example, if asked to read the Spanish name Pepe, native English-speaking students read: [p h e.p h e].

One of the most common mistakes made by native English speakers who learn Spanish as second language is pronouncing the Spanish voiceless stops /p, t, k/ with aspiration - /p h, t h, k h /.

For example, if asked to read the Spanish name Pepe, native English-speaking students read: [p h e.p h e].

Elimination of aspiration of the Spanish voiceless stops in the pronunciation of English-speaking learners of Spanish Research question : will the aspiration disappear after introducing a pronunciation exercise and after practice? Hypothesis: English-speaking students who practice the Spanish voiceless stops with a pronunciation exercise will not have aspiration.

Research question : will the aspiration disappear after introducing a pronunciation exercise and after practice?

Hypothesis: English-speaking students who practice the Spanish voiceless stops with a pronunciation exercise will not have aspiration.

Elimination of aspiration of the Spanish voiceless stops in the pronunciation of English-speaking learners of Spanish Target population Nine seniors at BHS participated in the study Five students were in the experimental group (2 nd and 3 rd levels of Spanish, and AP Spanish) Four students comprised the control group All participants’ native language is English

Target population

Nine seniors at BHS participated in the study

Five students were in the experimental group (2 nd and 3 rd levels of Spanish, and AP Spanish)

Four students comprised the control group

All participants’ native language is English

Elimination of aspiration of the Spanish voiceless stops in the pronunciation of English-speaking learners of Spanish Pre-test and Post-test Pedro poco para pipa Pepe cara cosa cura canto queso tanto Tito todo tema tumba The participants in both groups were asked to read the same list of Spanish words.

Pre-test and Post-test

Pedro

poco

para

pipa

Pepe

cara

cosa

cura

canto

queso

tanto

Tito

todo

tema

tumba

The participants in both groups were asked to read the same list of Spanish words.

Elimination of aspiration of the Spanish voiceless stops in the pronunciation of English-speaking learners of Spanish Pronunciation exercise Hold up a sheet of paper in front of your face close to your mouth. Say sounds /p/, /t/, /k/ so that the paper does not move from the air coming out of your mouth. Now say the following words (the above list) trying to produce the same result. The exercise lasted seven minutes at a time

Pronunciation exercise

Hold up a sheet of paper in front of your face close to your mouth.

Say sounds /p/, /t/, /k/ so that the paper does not move from the air coming out of your mouth.

Now say the following words (the above list) trying to produce the same result.

The exercise lasted seven minutes at a time

Elimination of aspiration of the Spanish voiceless stops in the pronunciation of English-speaking learners of Spanish

Elimination of aspiration of the Spanish voiceless stops in the pronunciation of English-speaking learners of Spanish

Elimination of aspiration of the Spanish voiceless stops in the pronunciation of English-speaking learners of Spanish – Results and Conclusion The data in Table 1 show that each student’s pronunciation in the experimental group improved in regard to eliminating aspiration when pronouncing the Spanish voiceless stops. For three out of five of those participants the pronunciation on the post-test was 100% correct. The data in Table 2 show that there was virtually no change in the participants’ pronunciation from the pre-test to the post-test. These results confirm the hypothesis.

The data in Table 1 show that each student’s pronunciation in the experimental group improved in regard to eliminating aspiration when pronouncing the Spanish voiceless stops. For three out of five of those participants the pronunciation on the post-test was 100% correct.

The data in Table 2 show that there was virtually no change in the participants’ pronunciation from the pre-test to the post-test.

These results confirm the hypothesis.