Voice and Mirroring in SLA: Top-Down Pedagogy for L2 Pronunciation Instruction

RELC Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 003368822095391
Author(s):  
Darren LaScotte ◽  
Colleen Meyers ◽  
Elaine Tarone
Keyword(s):  
Native Speaker ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
International Teaching Assistant ◽  
Pronunciation Instruction ◽  
International Teaching ◽  
Instructional Goal ◽  
L2 Pronunciation

There are two broad approaches to the research and teaching of second-language (L2) pronunciation—‘bottom-up’ and ‘top-down’—which roughly align with structural and communicative approaches to language teaching. A bottom-up approach, explicitly focusing on de-contextualised linguistic forms, is structuralist and predominated in the second half of the 20th century; a top-down approach to L2 pronunciation takes a more communicative orientation, defining the instructional goal not as acquiring a native-speaker accent, but rather as ‘intelligibility.’ In consideration of this pronunciation goal (i.e. intelligibility) and recent L2 acquisition theoretical frameworks emphasising the role of social and contextual factors in shaping interlanguage (IL) systems, we argue that a top-down approach is paramount to L2 pronunciation instruction. Drawing on variationist research on IL phonology and a brief recount of International Teaching Assistant pronunciation course programs in the US, we present the Mirroring Project as an effective top-down pedagogical approach for L2 pronunciation instruction.

scholarly journals Training with rhythmic beat gestures benefits L2 pronunciation in discourse-demanding situations

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 609-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daria Gluhareva ◽  
Pilar Prieto
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Discourse Comprehension ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Pronunciation Instruction ◽  
Brief Training ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Post Test ◽  
The Impact ◽  
L2 Pronunciation

Recent research has shown that beat gestures (hand gestures that co-occur with speech in spontaneous discourse) are temporally integrated with prosodic prominence and that they help word memorization and discourse comprehension. However, little is known about the potential beneficial effects of beat gestures in second language (L2) pronunciation learning. This study investigates the impact of beat gesture observation on the acquisition of native-like speech patterns in English by examining the effect of a brief training with or without beat gestures on participants’ ratings of accentedness. In a within-participants, pre-/post-test design, participants (undergraduate students learning English as a foreign language) watched a training video in which an L2 instructor gave spontaneous responses to discourse prompts. The prompts belonged to one of two categories (easy and difficult), and were presented by the instructor either with or without accompanying beat gestures. Participants’ own answers to the prompts were recorded before and after training and evaluated by five native speaker judges. The results of the comparison between the participants’ pre-training and post-training speech samples demonstrated that beat gesture training significantly improved the participants’ accentedness ratings on the set of difficult (more discourse-demanding) items. The results of the study support the role of beat gestures as highlighters of rhythmic information and have implications for pronunciation instruction practices.

Gesturing integrates top-down and bottom-up information: Joint effects of speakers' expectations and addressees' feedback

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna K. Kuhlen ◽  
Alexia Galati ◽  
Susan E. Brennano
Keyword(s):  
Actual Behavior ◽  
Informational Needs ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Joint Effects

AbstractSpeakers adapt their speech based on both prior expectations and incoming cues about their addressees' informational needs (Kuhlen and Brennan 2010). Here, we investigate whether top-down information, such as speakers' expectations about addressees' attentiveness, and bottom-up cues, such as addressees' feedback during conversation, also influence speakers' gestures. In 39 dyads, addressees were either attentive when speakers told a joke or else distracted by a second task, while speakers expected addressees to be either attentive or distracted. Independently of adjustments in speech, both speakers' expectations and addressees' feedback shaped quantitative and qualitative aspects of gesturing. Speakers gestured more frequently when their prior expectations matched addressees' actual behavior. Moreover, speakers with attentive addressees gestured more in the periphery of gesture space when they expected addressees to be attentive. These systematic adjustments in gesturing suggest that speakers flexibly adapt to their addressees by integrating bottom-up cues available during the interaction in light of attributions made from top-down expectations. That these sources of information lead to adjustments patterning similarly in speech and gesture informs theoretical frameworks of how different modalities are deployed and coordinated in dialogue.

Psychology and Culture: Top Down Versus Bottom Up?

PsycCRITIQUES ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 50 (19) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Cole
Keyword(s):  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up

Optimalisasi Ekonomi Syariah Untuk Peningkatan Kesejahteraan Masyarakat Dalam Pengentasan Kemiskinan Mewujudkan Goodgovernance

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Sadari Sadari ◽  
Nurhidayat Nurhidayat ◽  
Rafiqah Rafiqah
Keyword(s):  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up

Humanisme religius telah mengantarkan pada era kesadaran bahwa peradaban manusia harus memiliki dua arus yang saling menunjang. Selama ini arus balik dalam bidang ekonomi hanya menonjolkan arus balik vertikal atas kebawah (model top down) yang didominasi oleh sistem ekonomi kapitalis dan sosialis, sedangkan di sisi lain mengesampingkan arus balik vertikal dari bawah ke atas (model bottom up) yang didominasi oleh sistem ekonomi syariah, sehingga dampaknya adalah adanya kesenjangan ekonomi yang sangat tajam. Paper ini mewujudkan peran penting, yakni menghubungkan dua arus tersebut secara timbal-balik, yakni mempertemukan arus pertama dengan arus balik kedua, sehingga akan menghasilkan dampak yang positif, progresif, kreatif dan produktif, kemudian pada akhirnya akan dapat meng-optomal-kan ekonomi syariah untuk menciptakan goodgovernance, post goodgovernance secara berkelanjutan, tentunya dengan bantuan peran media kontemporer yang kian update. Ekonomi syariah juga merupakan pilar dan nilai dasar, dari sikap keyakinan dan sikap rasionalitas untuk sanggup menciptakan terwujudnya pemberdayaan dan kesejahteraan sekaligus pengentasan kemiskinan dalam masyarakat di Indonesia.

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