Improving Second Language Speaking and Pronunciation Through Smartphones

The ability to speak English fluently and confidently plays a vital role in enhancing employment opportunities of graduate students of India. Though English has been a second language for over decades in the country, teaching speaking skills with intelligible pronunciation to the first generation of learners remains a major challenge. The limited number of classes allotted for English speaking and pronunciation and lack of resources make it more challenging. Previous research suggests that Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) offers anywhere and anytime learning opportunities for second language learners. However, there is little research on how mobile learning enhances speaking skills and pronunciation of tertiary level students from rural areas who lack exposure to English outside the classroom. The present paper aims at studying the impact of MALL in improving a) speaking skills b) segmental and suprasegmental features of pronunciation and c) the viability of bring your own device (BYOD) approach. Mixed methods approach has been adopted for collecting the data from twenty-five (n=25) randomly selected students who underwent training with BYOD. The results showed a positive effect on the speaking skills and the overall intelligibility of the participants. The use of smartphones also resulted in improved learners’ engagement in the language learning. Teachers at tertiary level could benefit from the study, adopt digital technologies in L2 teaching and learning and further extend the scope of the study with their experiences. Keywords—Speaking, Pronunciation, Intelligibility, Mobile Assisted Language Learning.


Introduction
Teaching speaking and pronunciation involves a variety of challenges to teachers. Gilbert stated that drilling sounds repeatedly leads to a monotonous experience in the classroom, discouragement and may lead to total avoidance of learning altogether [1]. The teaching of English pronunciation has witnessed many changes in pedagogy to make learners active participants in the learning process [2]. Mobile learning offers unprecedented opportunities for language teaching and learning. It is a revolution in learning technologies providing learning at finger tips anywhere and anytime on the planet with access to, usability of and the pedagogic application of hand-held devices at a substantially lower price than the conventional desktop computers [3].
Mobile learning offers immense opportunities for delivering quality education in underdeveloped and developing countries as mentioned in the UNESCO policy guidelines for mobile learning [4]. Though there have been many studies around the world on the use of mobile technologies for language learning, the use of smartphones for language learning and teaching is still in the nascent stages in India and there is little research in Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL). The present study aims at studying the role of MALL in the context of enhancing speaking competence and pronunciation.

Literature Review
New technologies increased accessibility to authentic learning materials making it one of the most important areas of research as stated in [5]. Mobile learning technologies and the use of social media with instant messaging and multi-modal communication and information sharing provide platforms for interaction with peers and collaborative learning to hone their L2 skills [6].
Listening to native speakers is an invaluable resource for learning second language speaking skills. Modeling native speakers enhances accuracy levels in pronunciation and reduces mother tongue influence. Reading aloud the conversation transcriptions after listening to the native speakers provides meaningful practice in improving pronunciation. Teaching pronunciation through mobile technologies had a positive impact as revealed in research studies [7].
Self-recording has proved immensely useful for learners to reflect on their speaking ability and know where improvisation is required. Research studies on self-recording and reflection have proved the usefulness of the method [8]. When the self-recordings are shared with the other learners and the teachers, learners will be benefited by peer review and guidelines from teachers. Collaborative learning using the mobile technologies has a positive effect on second language learning [9].
Smartphones offer many affordances and support language learners in noticing and recoding noticed features 'on the spot' and help them develop their second language system [10]. Bring your own device (BYOD) has gained acceptability as one of the cost-effective models in implementing many MALL projects as stated above in the UNESCO policy guidelines [4]. In addition, the device ownership makes a lot of difference in how learners use the device and BYOD (bring your own device) helps personalizing their learning [11]. However, there is little research on improving speaking and pronunciation of tertiary learners using BYOD approach.

Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study is limited to studying the following research questions:

Methodology
The study adopted a mixed method approach with a single group of twenty-five (n=25) participants spanning for a semester. BYOD approach was adopted and the participants brought their own devices to the English language lab.

Participants
The research study was undertaken at a reputed engineering college affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. The participants (n=25) were the first-year students who were pursuing engineering undergraduate course in Electronics and Communication Engineering. They were from rural areas and small towns in the West Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh.

Materials
Participants used Android smartphones with their own personal data connection to access the learning resources online. The following resources were used during the period of the study. Websites:

Procedure
The participants were administered a pre-test and a post-test before and after the period of the study. Both the tests were conducted on the IELTS Speaking Test pattern.
In addition, semi-structured personal interviews were conducted to ascertain the perceptions and experiences of the participants.
The training programme included a) a daily listening task at home, b) reading aloud and recording the same modeling after the native speakers during the lab hours, c) listening to their recording for self-reflection and review and e) rerecording the conversation until they felt they had reached a satisfactory level. The final recorded version was shared with other participants and the teachers on WhatsApp group for their review and comments.
There were three periods in a week throughout the semester spanning for 15 weeks. All the participants completed fifteen conversation transcriptions out of twenty provided to them. In addition, participants practiced pronunciation using the mobile apps at home during the training.

Results
The scores of pre and post-tests were analyzed using the paired t-test to ascertain if there is any significant difference in the performance of the participants before and after the training programme. The calculated value is greater than the table value. cal t > tα/2. Hence, the null hypothesis is rejected and the alternative hypothesis is accepted indicating significant difference in the performance of the participants.
In one-on-one personal interviews 21 participants out of 25 have clearly showed difference by speaking confidently and intelligibly. A significant difference was observed in the reduction of repetitions and self-corrections after the training. Improvement in coherence and fluency was also noticed. Assessment tests for ten points were administered for each segmental and suprasegmental feature separately. Figure 2 indicates the overall improvement in all the suprasegmental features. Improvement was noticed in word stress, sentence stress and intonation. However, the change was marginal in linking and reducing features.

Research question 2
To study how BYOD approach helped the participants in improving their listening and speaking skills, and semi-structured interviews were conducted.

Fig. 3. Usefulness of BYOD for language learning
iJIM -Vol. 14, No. 11, 2020 As shown in Figure 3, twenty one out of twenty-five participants felt BYOD was very useful and provided them with personalized learning experience for listening and speaking as they can save and download whatever they liked to learn on their own devices. Participants felt that mobile apps provided more flexibility in learning as they could carry their mobile devices wherever they went. On the other hand, it is not possible to personalize the desktop computers in the language lab.

Discussion and Conclusion
The study explored the impact of using smartphones in improving speaking and pronunciation of the participants using BYOD approach. As stated in the previous research in the field, smartphones provide anytime and anywhere access to authentic learning materials making it easy for the learners. BYOD also allowed them to learn anytime and anywhere and they were not restricted to particular place and time as in the case of language lab. Moreover, the mobile pedagogical affordances have transformed the way of delivering lessons and facilitated student engagement in a variety of course contexts [13]. In addition, it enabled the teachers to understand the difficulties of individual learners and their particular language background as stated in [10].
The ubiquitous presence of mobile phones, greater number of affordances of mobile technologies and the ease of access to learning materials at their fingertips make mobile technologies more attractive and motivating for the second language learners. If English faculty members can adapt to mobile learning technologies in the right direction, it is possible to engage the tertiary students actively in the learning process as stated in [14], and the benefits outweigh the perceived disadvantages.

Authors
Dr. Akkara Sherine has 30 years of experience in Teaching and Administration. She is currently working as the Head of the Dept. of Languages and Rankings at Hindustan Institute of Technology & Science (HITS), Chennai, India. She has presented papers at several Higher Education Conferences at Malaysia, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Johannesburg, Philippines and Greece. She has more than 30 publications in reputed journals including Scopus indexed. sherinej@hindustanuniv.ac.in Mallampalli Mallikarjuna Sastry is doing research in enhancing English language skills using mobile technologies at Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, Chennai, India. He has participated and presented papers in more than ten national and international conferences. His research interests include Mobile Assisted Language Learning, Teaching with Technologies, Teacher Training, Listening to Learners and Learning from Learners. mmsastry66@gmail.com Anumula V Surya Seshagiri is doing research on teaching speaking skills to the unprivileged students with a special focus on pronunciation at Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, Chennai, India. He has presented papers on teaching L2 pronunciation in national and international conferences. His research interests include Teaching with Technology, and Pedagogy of L2 Pronunciation. surya.adept@sasi.ac.in