For my A1 analysis, I chose to introduce the topic “Pronunciation Anxiety” and its detrimental effects on language acquisition. I also focus on mobile speech-recognition technology as a method for overcoming pronunciation anxiety.
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Discussion prompts:
- Have you ever experienced pronunciation anxiety in the process of learning a language?
- What are the factors that made you feel anxious while speaking a foreign language?
- What are the major challenges of speech-recognition systems?
- What do you think is the future of speech-recognition technology in ELL?
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I recall moving to a new school and taking a French course. The new school I went to was in a bilingual French/English community. I had previously excelled in French with an A+ grade, even winning French proficiency awards. However, when I took the French class, in the new school, the entire class was in French, and not only did they live in a bilingual community, all the students had attended a French immersion school. The teacher spoke French, and we were to speak French aloud and respond in French. I remember having to present a project, that I know was well written because I was able to conjugate verbs and write well. However, when I was at the front of the class, I recall feeling so embarrassed when speaking, and in particular when I was trying to pronounce any words that began with ‘r’. I remember there were a few giggles, and I felt like I had to laugh at myself so I made it okay for others to laugh too. I felt so confident at my other school in my French classes, because I read, wrote and spoke so well. So interesting, that I had incredible anxiety speaking the language aloud in front of more competent peers.
Thank you for sharing your experience, Agnes. Learners of second languages experience this all the time, not only inside the classroom but also outside, which is really discouraging and it can lead to frustration. You made an excellent point when you said you felt anxious speaking in front of “more competent peers”, I think that is the big issue in language learning, you are practicing a language in a place where everyone around you is basically more competent than you’ll ever be because they’re native speakers and that may lead to self-confidence issues. This could be a great topic to research!
Hi Maria, thank you for your wonderful presentation! I was particularly glad you brought up linguistic racism and bullying. These experiences can intensify in the intersection of ableism and racism. Migliarini & Stinson (2021) present “ [white] monolingual teachers often us[ing] students’ proximity to whiteness and non-disabled status as a metric for ascertaining their ability or belonging in certain language learning spaces.” I agree that identity-based anxiety can result from the students perceive their own pronunciation. I also believe that identity-based anxiety can be the result of how non-white and disabled students are perceived by white instructors. Annamma & Morrison (2018) propose a “a solidarity approach through cultural reciprocity…[that] legitimizes cultural heritage and the experiences of multilingual and historically marginalized students.”
Annamma, S. A., & Morrison, D. (2018). DisCrit classroom ecology: Using praxis to dismantle dysfunctional education ecologies. Teaching and Teacher Education, 73, 70–80
Migliarini, V., & Stinson, C. (2021). A disability critical race theory solidarity approach to transform pedagogy and classroom culture in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 55(3), 708-718. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3028
Thank you Tamaka! I really wanted to dive deeper into linguistic racism, but I found myself off track, however, I wanted to include at least one definition and an example of how participants in a study were experiencing racism and bullying because of their pronunciation. Thank you for providing these resources! I completely agree that identity-based anxiety is not completely related to how students perceive their own pronunciation, there are lots of factors in play here, and pedagogy training for this matter is not even considered yet in TESOL.
Hello Maria. Fantastic job! This is an interesting topic I didn’t know much about (conceptually, at least). I appreciate how you provided lots of information about pronunciation anxiety and then presented mobile technologies that can help people who encounter this challenge in their lives. It was interesting to read how the limits in pronunciation one experiences while speaking a second language can affect one’s identity. In my experience, I’ve noticed that what causes discomfort is not so much the accent but rather the inability to express ideas with the freedom, precision, and lexical diversity one has in a first language. Of course, I agree with you that pronunciation can also cause discomfort. Whatever the case, I think it is important to become aware of the psychological dysfunctions, so these can be overcome. For example, becoming aware of unconscious thoughts (I am stupid, I can’t do this well, etc) and bringing them to reason (I am in the process of learning, I have had much fewer hours of practice than a natural speaker).
I definitely agree about the psychological dysfunctions! The situation you explained about expressing ideas with precision while speaking a second language is actually related to speaking anxiety, which is another type of second language anxiety that I came across while researching pronunciation anxiety. I experienced and still experiencing both anxieties while speaking french in Quebec. Unfortunately, the pandemic made it worse because of a lack of opportunities to practice the second language with people in real life, and that’s why I was interested in finding a solution through technology. I don’t think the technology is there yet to completely overcome anxieties related to second language learning, but I hope it will be very soon.