Document Type
Presentation
Publication Date
February 2018
Publication Title
Current Approaches to Spanish and Portuguese Second Language Phonology (CASPSLaP)
Disciplines
Curriculum and Instruction | First and Second Language Acquisition | Phonetics and Phonology | Spanish Linguistics
Abstract
A common feature of second language Spanish, particularly in the case of native English-speaking learners, is to shorten or reduce segments within words (Schwegler & Kempff, 2007). This is particularly noticeable with multi-syllabic words (e.g., ingeniería, floristería, cafetería), and mispronunciations during second language interaction influence speech intelligibility. To address this pronunciation challenge and provide learners with opportunities for practice of words that demonstrate this reduction, we designed a two-way information gap task to draw learners' attention to these words in second language Spanish interaction. We specifically used principles of task-based language teaching and learning (e.g., Ellis, 2009; M. H. Long, 2015; Robinson, 2011; Skehan, 2014) to make pronunciation of these words task essential or necessary for completion of the task (cf. Solon, Long, & Gurzynski-Weiss, 2017).
Recommended Citation
Sergio Ruiz-Pérez, Lorena Alarcón, and Avizia Long. "En busca del diamante: Using tasks to mitigate word reduction in spoken learner Spanish" Current Approaches to Spanish and Portuguese Second Language Phonology (CASPSLaP) (2018).
Included in
Curriculum and Instruction Commons, First and Second Language Acquisition Commons, Phonetics and Phonology Commons, Spanish Linguistics Commons
Comments
Presented as part of Ignite: Best Practices and Innovation in Pronunciation Instruction. The materials for this lesson are also available online at this link.