Shadowing for pronunciation: a systematic review

Thesis

This dissertation is a systematic review of research into a popular pronunciation teaching technique: shadowing. The review explores the evidence available on the effectiveness of shadowing for improving L2 learners’ pronunciation, and learners’ evaluations of the technique. Six databases were searched for eligible studies, resulting in a total of 44 studies included after screening. Results from these studies are presented in a narrative synthesis. In general, the evidence presented suggests that shadowing training can help improve learners’ comprehensibility, intelligibility, and accentedness, as well as certain aspects of suprasegmental pronunciation control, such as fluency and prosody. Research into the impact of shadowing on segmental pronunciation control was, however, inconclusive. In terms of student perceptions, learners appear to view shadowing as interesting, enjoyable, and effective. However, results are tempered by a number of methodological issues. For instance, in studies exploring pronunciation improvement after shadowing, there was an over reliance on controlled speaking tasks, and a lack of connection between acoustic measurements and real listener judgments. In studies exploring learner perceptions of the technique, there was also a predominance of survey-based research and teacher-collected data. Future studies are advised to address these issues through the inclusion of both spontaneous and controlled tasks, a combination of acoustic measurements and listener judgments, and use of interviews and classroom observation to provide richer qualitative data. In addition, there is a need for research exploring shadowing amongst learners with a wider range of L1s, L2s, and nationalities.

Authors: Whitworth, B

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-dppaj9m8d
• Type of award: MSc taught course
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: ALSLA; systematic review; ALSLA2024; shadowing; pronunciation; suprasegmental; segmental
• Subjects: Second language acquisition; Pronunciation; Applied linguistics; Pronunciation by foreign speakers