Speaker
Description
The concept of Functional Load has been increasingly applied in research on English language teaching and assessment, with many studies using it as a primary theoretical framework to examine L2 speech intelligibility and listeners’ perceptions of foreign-accented speech. However, learners’ own perspectives on pronunciation priorities have received relatively little attention. Drawing on responses from 240 undergraduate students majoring in English at a university in Vietnam, the present study examines learners’ priorities in acquiring segmental and suprasegmental features, and their perceptions of factors affecting intelligibility in relation to Functional Load theory. The results showed that participants placed greater emphasis on segmental rather than suprasegmental features, and their perceptions of the effect of some phonemic contrasts on speech intelligibility were not always aligned with their Functional Load values. Furthermore, linear regression analysis revealed that Vietnamese learners’ perception of factors influencing L2 speech intelligibility significantly predicted their pronunciation learning priorities. The findings have important implications in pronunciation teaching and curriculum design for English language education in Vietnam, particularly from an intelligibility-oriented perspective.
Biography
Phuong Nguyen is currently a lecturer at Faculty of English, University of Foreign Language Studies, The University of Danang. Over seven years of teaching English language skills, Research methods, and Introduction to English Phonetics and Phonology to undergraduate students, she has developed strong research interests in second language vocabulary learning and pronunciation learning, particularly issues related to the depth of L2 vocabulary knowledge, L2 speech intelligibility, accentedness, and pronunciation assessment. She is conducting research on English pronunciation learning priorities of Vietnamese learners and features of Vietnamese-accented English. Through her teaching and research activities, she hopes to have a more comprehensive understanding of Vietnamese learners’ lexicon and pronunciation characteristics, contributing to more effective English vocabulary and pronunciation teaching at her institution.
| Affiliate type | University |
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