The effect of explicit instruction and auditory/audio-visual training on Chinese learners' acquisition of English intonation

Overview & Synopsis

This paper examines the effectiveness of auditory vs. audiovisual training when coupled with explicit instructions on improving perception of intonation meanings by Mandarin-speaking learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). 40 subjects who were involved in the 3-week training process received instructions of intonation forms and functions based on the British approach. While half of them used Audacity (auditory-only) to manage the following self-paced practice, the other half used Praat (audiovisual). The perception experiment was administered by eliciting judgement of interpretations of contrastive intonation patterns with pre-, post-, and delayed post-test design, in comparison with two control groups (10 native RP speakers and 20 Mandarin speakers). It is found that auditory and audiovisual training had similar effect in facilitating perception of intonation meanings, indicating that visualisation does not necessarily improve the processing of intonation. This provides a reconsideration of the preference for audiovisual approach to intonation teaching.