Teaching L2 speech fluency with learner-corpus-based awareness-raising activities

Abstract

Second language (L2) speech fluency has been found to develop especially in study-abroad contexts, while few studies have examined fluency development in formal instruction. Furthermore, the instructional approaches have rarely targeted fluency specifically. The present study examines the effects of a teaching experiment utilizing learner-corpus-based awareness-raising activities on L2 fluency development in formal instruction. Eighteen Finnish university students of English, divided into control and experimental groups, provided speech samples at the beginning and end of an L2 English pronunciation course. The samples were analyzed with a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative analyses demonstrated mostly minor differences in fluency development across the groups. Qualitative analyses demonstrated individual learning trajectories regarding stalling mechanisms. The findings suggest that while corpus-based awareness-raising activities can be beneficial for supporting L2 fluency development, a more extensive teaching approach is needed for full effects. The study has implications for L2 fluency research and pedagogy.