JoLIE 9:2/2016
THE ROLE OF INDIVIDUAL/PERSONAL DIFFERENCES
IN EFL PRONUNCIATION LEARNING[1]
Magdalena Pospieszyńska-Wojtkowiak
State University of Applied Sciences in Konin, Poland
Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics
Gdańsk University of Technology, ALOPHONE Project
Abstract
The article tries to depict the influence of individual variation upon foreign language learning. Due to relative scarcity of research into the field, it is easier to find how certain individual features affect students’ choice of learning styles/strategies or how these contribute to the students’ success in such skills as reading, writing or listening but it is more difficult to find how the individual variation influences the speaking skill in general and pronunciation in particular. Although research studies into the field of foreign language pronunciation explain how and to what extent personal differences (inhibition, anxiety, apprehension) apply to pronunciation learning, some of them are neither statistically significant nor pedagogically ethical. The article also explains the place of pronunciation teaching in the EFL pedagogy – how it affects the quality of spoken language and how it helps understand certain linguistic phenomena. The author analyses and tries to understand the role of pronunciation instruction in the globalization era and focuses on the ‘intelligibility’ concept.
Key words: Individual differences; Personal differences; EFL; Pronunciation learning; Pronunciation teaching.
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How to cite this article: Pospieszyńska-Wojtkowiak, M. (2016). The role of individual/personal differences in EFL pronunciation learning. Journal of Linguistic and Intercultural Education – JoLIE, 9(2), 121-138. DOI: https://doi.org/10.29302/jolie.2016.9.2.10
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[1] This work was prepared thanks to the Polish National Science Centre, Dec. No. 2015/17/B/ST6/01874.