Annotated bibliography #1

Ghorbani, M. R., Neissari, M., & Kargozari, H. R. (2016). The Effect of Explicit

Pronunciation Instruction on Undergraduate EFL Learners' Vowel Perception. Language and

Literacy, 18(1), 57-70.

The authors as experienced in learning, teaching, developing projects, researching that

involve the teaching English as a second language or just study of linguistic show us through

a study the effect of pronunciation instruction on undergraduate English as a Foreign

Language learners’ vowel perception since L1 sound system affects to the L2 transfer

language. The group has thirty-eight Persian females and the experimental group (EG) has

the half of the entire group, and the other half is part of the control group (CG) where they

received the same activities, however; experimental group was exposed to explicit

pronunciation instructions because of the use of analytic-linguistic approach, so with it, they

also received the phonetic alphabet, articulatory, descriptions and vocal charts, in contrast,

the control group worked with the intuitive-imitative approach where they just listened and

imitated the sounds using audios. As a result, the EG improved their vowel perception

becoming them awareness in vowels’ pronunciation, more than CG, due to the repetition and

imitation sounds was not enough to improve EFL utterance, and in a my view is evident that

this approach makes students aware of the pronunciation of the vowels considering that they

put into practice the phonetic alphabet, articulatory descriptions, and vocal charts, in that way

they can better they pronunciation.

Annotated bibliography #2

Kissling, E. M. (2015). Phonetics instruction improves learners’ perception of L2

sounds. Language teaching research, 19(3), 254-275.

This article is about a study of phonetics instructions that last three weeks so it

investigates a specific group of Spanish learners as a foreign language proving how

significant is the study of phonetics for getting a good pronunciation, and in the other side,

there is another group which they do not have these instructions. Participants have English

language and they are forty-six students who are testing the change in their perception of

eight target phones and in contrast, the control group, where there are forty-one students; in

this group, they did not receive the same exposure to the target sounds with those phonetics

instructions but they got the same production practice and feedback. Phonetics instructions

are necessary and beneficial for developing a good speech in L2 learners that is why the

exposure group got a better perception in the target language sounds. In my opinion, is

important to focus on the phonetics instructions since some sounds do not exist in some

languages consequently this is relevant for those that are a concern in the speaking skill.
Annotated bibliography #3

Fu, Z., & Ma, Y. (2019, May). Phonetic Transfer of Chinese University Students in EFL

Learning. In 2019 International Conference on Management, Education Technology and

Economics (ICMETE 2019). Atlantis Press.

The authors, as university students, made research on a group of 676 no-English speakers

Chinese university students, looking for if L1 production affects the pronunciation of their L2

(English) and what factors may have influenced the result of the phonetic transfer. For that,

the participants took 3 measured tests to look for the L1 impact for their L2 pronunciation

based on speaking and the way that they produce the sounds. In the investigation, it was

checked that participants used their knowledge and skill of L1 pronunciation when

pronouncing L2 words due to they have Pinyin, which is a system of Chinese phonetic

transcription so, they tend to transfer L1 words sounds into L2 words. Another reason why

there is a strong phonetic transfer is because of Chinese first of all they study the spelling and

then the process that speech through an imitation. This study reflected how L2 learners adopt

L1 pronunciation in some cases for that reason, it seems to me, is important this exploration

because it helps us to notice and avoid some L1 phonetics transfers to learn correctly, also it

could be possible to have phonetics transfers but should have a study testing how can we use

our L1 speaking production to develop the L2 pronunciation.

Annotated bibliography #4

Tabandeh, F., Moinzadeh, A., & Barati, H. (2019). Differential Effects of FonF and FonFS

on Learning English Lax Vowels in an EFL Context. Journal of Asia TEFL, 16(2), 499.

In this study is investigated the effects of focus-on-form (FonF) and focus-on-forms

(FonFs) on Persians who study English as a foreign language, so the authors look for the

effects on them in learning English lax vowels, for that there were 17 participants in FonF

group; where they received explicit instructions followed by focus task, 16 participants in

FonFs group; they received explicit instructions followed by controlled exercises, and to

contrast both, there were 15 participants in a control group; they did not focus in

pronunciation despite that, they received a feedback about different pronunciation aspects.

For getting in the project students made a test where those show that they have the pre-

intermediate level. During the study, participants were asked for read-aloud and describe

some pictures while they were recording the results. So the result showed that both

approaches, FonF and FonFs, made significant improvements, however only the FonF

methodology proved effective in the spontaneous task with large effects in the achievement

test, on the other hand, and the control group revealed no improvement in any tasks. With the

results, I can notice that FonF offers instructions that help to the development of EFL

productions in learners due to they ask the students to talk, by telling stories, interacting with

students while they describe pictures, after those tasks, with this specific approach they

receive helpful effects.