Abstract
This article is the first of three which reports on research that was undertaken by the first author for a doctorate. It sets out the research methodology for this study. The second article provides a theoretical background of a gamified pronunciation application model for English-speaking students learning Afrikaans as a foreign language. In the third article we focus on the model on which development of the gamified pronunciation application can be based.
The research methodology – the core of this article – comprises a discussion about which research design is followed, the data collection and research instruments, the validity and reliability of the collected data, and an in-depth description of the participants. The necessary ethical clearance (project number 13068) and institutional clearance (project number IRPSD 1647) were obtained to undertake this empirical study.
In the current presentation of the task-based language learning and teaching approach, pronunciation does not receive sufficient attention since meaning is the primary focus of task-based language learning and teaching. Furthermore, there is limited classroom time to ensure listener-friendly pronunciation. Participants in this study confirmed this statement in their answers to the questionnaire they were given. This time constraint in their module prevents students from improving their pronunciation to become listener-friendly pronunciation. This is one of the main reasons for the decision to design a pronunciation application model.
The core of this application’s design must include the needs of the target users. To collect suitable data to determine the needs of the target users, the research was conducted in the following way: Case studies and descriptive research were used to execute this study. We used case studies by investigating and comparing pronunciation which is not listener-friendly with pronunciation that is listener-friendly. The pronunciation which was not listener-friendly was also compared with that of other speakers of the same first language. Case studies were further utilised to provide insight into the sounds that students do not pronounce in a listener–friendly way. In line with the requirements of triangulation, more than one data source was used. Our research is also descriptive because we collected data to record and describe the sounds that first- language English-speaking students of Afrikaans do not pronounce in a listener-friendly way.
We used the following research instruments to collect data: an extract from the story Liewe Heksie (Vels 2002:145), a questionnaire, sound recordings, and data from previous studies, including those by the first author. During an empirical study we collected qualitative and quantitative data. The questionnaire was used to collect data about the participants’ language background, impressions and evaluation of their own Afrikaans pronunciation, preferences for applications, and uses for their cell phones, among other things. One goal of the sound recordings was to identify sounds that the participants did not pronounce in a listener–friendly way. The sounds that were not pronounced in a listener-friendly way were used in conjunction with the questionnaire answers and previous studies, including those of the first author. This procedure ensured triangulation and this increased the validity and reliability of our findings.
The focus in our article shifts to the participants in the study. The participants in this study are possible target users of the application. They were 22 students who follow the module Afrikaans Language Acquisition 178 (first-year students) and Afrikaans Language Acquisition 278 (second-year students) in the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch at Stellenbosch University. According to the Yearbook (Part 4, 2020:243) of the university, students may enrol in this course only if they have had no training in Afrikaans or if they passed Afrikaans as a second additional language at school. In an integrated manner the following is done in these modules: simple interaction with texts, reading and listening skills, expansion of vocabulary, and relevant language study.
For the study we focused mainly on first-language speakers of English, although we also collected data from students whose first language is not English. The reason for this was to gain insight into what non-first-language English speakers expect from a language learning application, since they are also learning Afrikaans. Every participant was awarded a participant number (for example P3) to ensure anonymity.
Most of the participants indicated the following in their questionnaire: Pronunciation is a language priority for them and they want to improve their pronunciation. It is important for them to convey their message clearly and they do not want to offend first-language speakers with pronunciation that is not listener-friendly. They have cell phones, and they are willing to use a gamified application to improve their pronunciation. Some of the participants already use their cell phones for learning-related activities. They have strong preferences regarding a pronunciation application that they can use. The application must, among other features, be cheap (it must not use data); be simple and fun to use; and must be effective in helping them achieve their pronunciation goals.
According to the data collected during the needs analysis (sound recordings and questionnaire), the first-language English-speaking students do not pronounce the following sounds in a listener–friendly way: /i/, /ɔ/, /œy/, /ø/, /u/, /ə/, /o/, /y/, /k/, /x/, /œ/, /œu/, /e/, /ɛ/, /r/, /f/, /oi/, /a/, /v/, /w/. Sounds that are often substituted are /y/ with /o/, /u/ and /e/; /i/ with /e/; /œ/ with /u/; and /u/ with /o/.
The following findings were also made about the pronunciation of the participants. Participants replace sounds with sounds which they think sound like those in their first language as well as with sounds that are closest to them. They also pronounce sounds in the exact way as they are in their first language. These findings are in line with Li’s (2016:98) views. It is also clear that participants with the same first language tend to have the same trends and markers in their pronunciation which is not listener friendly. One reason for this could be that they use their first language as reference to pronounce Afrikaans words. These findings are in line with those of Avery and Ehrlich (1992:xv), Romero and Manjarres (2017:123) and Gibson and Bernales (2020:82). Other findings show that the participants sometimes do not notice the sound /ə/ because in English words like “page” and “rose” are not pronounced with two syllables as opposed to “klere” and “bewyse” in Afrikaans. This leads to participants’ not pronouncing /ə/ at the end of a word or open syllable. It is also clear that participants are not always aware of the sounds that they struggle with. This was detected in the comparison of the questionnaire and the sound recordings. It is thus important not to rely only on the evaluation of participants concerning their pronunciation needs, but to consult an additional source like pronunciation recordings.
The contribution of this article series includes a user-centred pronunciation application model that can be used by any interested parties. A list of sounds for foreign language speakers which gives them guidance on how to pronounce sounds is provided as an appendix. It is also discussed how games can help students become aware of pronunciation differences between their first language and their target language. Findings were made regarding students’ language priorities; their preferences and requirements for a pronunciation application; Afrikaans sounds which English-speaking students do not pronounce in a listener-friendly way and remarks on them. These findings can be applied in the foreign-language classroom as well as in the mobile-assisted language learning field.
Keywords: Afrikaans language acquisition; Afrikaans pronunciation; mobile applications; case studies; educational technology; gamification; mobile technology; mobile-assisted language learning; needs; research methodology; user-centred
- The featured image by Mohamed Hassan with this article was obtained from Pixabay.