Browsing by Subject "Adult basic education"

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    “You Just Have to Teach It Differently”: English Language Teachers’ Practice and Knowledge of Pronunciation Instruction
    (2024-06) McCurdy, Suzanne
    Oral communication skills are vital for adult English language learners, especially in daily activities and when securing employment (Parrish, 2015). Pronunciation instruction has been shown to improve learners' intelligibility and communication abilities (Darcy & Rocca, 2022; Thomson & Derwing, 2015), underscoring the significance of pronunciation in adult EAL curricula (Zielinski & Yates, 2014). Nevertheless, most pronunciation research has concentrated on literate learners at intermediate and advanced proficiency levels in university or adult settings (e.g., Gordon & Darcy, 2022; LaScotte & Tarone, 2022; Zielinski & Pryor, 2020), neglecting adult language learners with low print-literacy levels and interrupted formal education. This oversight mirrors a larger marginalization of these learners and their teachers within second language acquisition research (Young-Scholten, 2015). Consequently, there is an urgent need for research focused on the pronunciation practices utilized by teachers in literacy-level classrooms and their underlying knowledge base. This qualitative comparative multicase study sought to address this gap by investigating the pronunciation practices and personal practical knowledge (Connelly & Clandinin, 1984; Golombek, 1998) of three literacy-level teachers. This research employed an inductive, constant comparative method to analyze data (observations, interviews, teacher reflections, and classroom artifacts) and construct three detailed case portraits. A cross-case analysis was conducted to discern trends and themes across participant portraits, leading to the identification of three overarching themes: pronunciation as a full-body experience, the significance of structure, and confidence in learners’ capabilities. These findings highlight the participants’ use of gesture and body movement in pronunciation instruction, their focus on providing structured instruction to promote pronunciation acquisition, and that the participants position their students as capable learners. The findings show a strong reliance on literacy-level teachers’ knowledge of learners to guide pronunciation instruction. In addition, teacher-controlled activities and techniques were dominant in the teachers’ pronunciation practice as a group. Along with this, the degree to which their pronunciation instruction included teacher-controlled activities align with each participant’s amount of formal training pronunciation instruction. Findings also show a tension between the participants’ beliefs that literacy-level learners are highly capable and the relative lack of instruction beyond teacher-controlled activities. In light of these findings, theoretical and pedagogical implications are discussed.