Abstract

The purpose of this research was to replicate previous studies (Foote et al., 2017; Martinsen et al., 2017) investigating the technique of shadowing and its impact on English language learners’ oral fluency and intelligibility. The target population for this study was intermediate-level English language learners as prior shadowing research has focused on advanced learners (Foote et al., 2017) and beginner learners (Lu, 2021). The study involved both a control group (n=10) and a treatment group (n=10), with each group participating in a semester-long class at Brigham Young University’s English Language Center (ELC). Both groups participated in pre and post testing during the second and second to last week of instruction. The experimental group then received 10-weeks of shadowing treatment with transcripts as part of their curriculum of instruction in their listening/speaking class. The control group did not. Speech samples from the pre and post tests were rated for fluency, comprehensibility, accentedness, and the quality of imitative speech with each of the criteria rated by naïve native English speaking raters on a nine-point Likert scale as has been used in other pronunciation studies (Derwing & Munro, 2013). A repeated-measures ANOVA was used to evaluate the results. The data showed that all participants improved significantly from the pre-test to post-test in fluency and comprehensibility, while reducing their accentedness. For the criteria of imitation, the ratings were not significant for the control group and treatment group, although the treatment group showed a trend upward in their improvement. Previous studies investigating shadowing have largely indicated significant improvement in the treatment group’s ability to shadow as well as its influence on changing raters’ perceptions of the speakers’ fluency and comprehensibility. Several of these previous studies, however, did not include control groups, which calls into question the validity of their results if all students can improve in these criteria over the course of a semester, as shown in this study. Qualitative feedback from this study’s participants suggests that overall, students enjoy the technique of shadowing and believe it should be incorporated into an oral communication curriculum.

Degree

College and Department

Humanities; Linguistics

Rights

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