Abstracts
Abstract
This study examined the relationship between targeted pronunciation instruction in French as a second language (L2) and listener-based ratings of accent, comprehensibility, and fluency. The ratings by 20 French listeners evaluating the speech of 30 adult L2 French learners enrolled in a 15-week listening and speaking course targeting segments, prosody, fluency, and connected speech processes (e.g., liaison, enchainment) were compared before and after instruction in read-aloud and extemporaneous (picture description) speaking tasks. Results showed that the learners improved in all speech ratings, especially in extemporaneous speaking. Results also revealed that accent ratings were linked to prosody (intonation accuracy, pitch range), while fluency and comprehensibility ratings were additionally linked to fluency phenomena (length of fluent run, hesitation rate). These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for L2 pronunciation learning and links between instruction, listener-rated dimensions of speech, and performance in different tasks.
Keywords:
- second language teaching,
- pronunciation,
- French as a second language,
- speech ratings,
- comprehensibility,
- accent,
- fluency
Résumé
Cette étude examine la relation entre l’enseignement explicite de la prononciation en français langue seconde (L2) et l’évaluation de l’accent, de la compréhensibilité et de la fluidité par des locuteurs du français. L’étude compare les évaluations des productions orales de 30 apprenants adultes du français L2 avant et après un cours de phonétique de 15 semaines ciblant les segments, la prosodie, la fluidité et les phénomènes de resyllabification tels l’enchaînement. Les productions provenant d’une tâche de lecture à haute voix et d’une tâche de narration spontanée d’une histoire illustrée ont donc été soumises à l’évaluation (sur échelles de type Likert) de 20 juges naïfs. Les résultats montrent que les apprenants se sont améliorés dans toutes les dimensions évaluées de leur production, particulièrement en narration spontanée. On note par ailleurs une corrélation entre les jugements liés à l’accent et ceux liés à la prosodie (précision des contours intonatifs, étendue de la variation tonale). On remarque aussi que les jugements de fluidité et de compréhensibilité sont en lien avec certains phénomènes de fluidité (moyenne du temps de parole entre les pauses, hésitations). On discutera de la pertinence des résultats pour l’apprentissage de la prononciation L2 et on abordera en parallèle la relation entre l’enseignement, les dimensions de l’oral appréciées par des juges naïfs et la performance à l’oral dans diverses tâches.
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