Katelyn Gordon and Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Kelling, Germanic Department

This study compares pronunciation gains in German consonants over an 11-week period across three different learning environments, namely study abroad (SA), German House and a classroom setting. In particular, we focused on gains students make on 6 German sounds, including the “ch”-sounds ([ç] ich ‘I’ vs. [x] as in acht ‘8’), /ts/ as in zehn ‘ten’, German /r/ and /l/ and use of “sh” before /p/ and /t/ word initially, e.g., Sport pronounced like Schport. We asked the following questions: 1) Which consonants are students more likely to improve during an 11-week period? 2) Does one learning environment facilitate more improvement over another? 3) To what extent do difficulties pronouncing these German consonants impact the ratings that native speakers give to the German pronunciation of these learners?

In order to answer these questions, I measured students’ improvement in consonant pronunciation through pre- and posttest recordings made at the beginning and end of an 11 week period by students each learning environment. These recordings made by the students include a short passage (The Sun and the Wind) along with 97 sentences. I examined and listed all instances of the “ch”-sounds ([ç] ich ‘I’ vs. [x] as in acht ‘8’), /ts/ as in zehn ‘ten’, /pf/ as in Pfeffer ‘pepper’, German /r/ and /l/ and use of “sh” before /p/ and /t/ word initially, e.g., Sport pronounced like Schport ,found in these 97 sentences and the passage. I collected pre-test recordings for 13 students living in the German house and 13 students learning German in a traditional classroom setting in August and September 2012 and collected the post-test recordings in December 2012. I analyzed the consonant productions by transcribing the sounds in question from the sentences wherever they appear. For instance, if the word was Stein, I transcribed whether they correctly said “sh” or the incorrect “s”. I then tabulated the answers as either correct or incorrect according to consonant-category, while also tabulating the rates of specific types of errors, e.g., “s” where “sh” was intended. I then compared the results of the pre- and post-tests.

This project is part of a larger study conducted by Drs. Hans-Wilhelm Kelling and Laura Smith, in which another student, Katharina Burton, is examining the improvements that students made in correct vowel pronunciation and comparing it between three learning environments, namely study abroad (SA), German House and a classroom setting.

The second part of this project includds putting together a native speaker rating survey using Qualtrics. Native speakers heard individual words and will be asked how well the speaker said the words. For each consonant category, we will play 5 tokens that are said ‘correctly’ and 5 tokens for each of the top two types of errors, e.g., for the “r”, we would play 5 tokens of a good German “r” production as well as 5 tokens where the learner has produced a German-like “r” that is not deemed a good pronunciation but still German-like, and 5 tokens where the learner has used the American “r”. We then compared the ratings to determine what types of errors are rated worse than others in contributing to foreign accent.

I have been called to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the Brazil João Pessoa mission and will no longer be able to take part in this study. I have completed all of the recordings and a majority of the analysis for consonant pronunciation improvement; however, Drs. Kelling and Smith along with Katharina Burton will complete the rest of the analysis and use it as part of their larger study.

In my study, I focused on comparing only two out of the three learning environments: the German house and classroom setting. After comparing the pronunciation gains in German consonants between the two different learning environments, the preliminary results suggest that the students living in the German House showed overall greater improvements in their consonant production, particularly for the sounds /ts/ and /x/ (from [k] to [x]). I also observed that beginners had a more drastic improvement in pronunciation as compared to advanced students; however, advanced students still showed improvement. This observation was even more prominent in the German House. This suggests that students who are domestically immersed produce more accurate consonant pronunciation than students in a classroom setting.

This study will be presented at the Second Language Research Forum (SLRF) this Fall in Provo, Utah from October 31st through November 2nd. I am also applying the German Studies double major and if I am accepted into the program, this study will be the foundation of my capstone paper after I return from my LDS mission in January 2015.

This data will help promote programs such as Foreign Language Housing as a cost effective immersion alternative for Study Abroad. This study demonstrates how beneficial the German House is in promoting correct pronunciation for its residents and facilitates a great language learning environment for students.