Mobile-Assisted Shadowing: Transforming Pronunciation for Arab English Learners

Abstract

Shadowing helps improve various aspects of pronunciation of second language learners. The present action research study investigated the effect of mobile technology-enhanced shadowing on the pronunciation of Arab learners of a second language. Sixteen Arab learners of English used iPods to shadow short dialogues for eight weeks. The study participants were asked to practice at least four times per week for 10 minutes per practice as they recorded the shadowing session. Extemporaneous speaking and shadowing tasks were administered as pre-test, mid-test, and post-test. This was followed by 2 native speakers of English who rated the tests. Speakers rated extemporaneous speaking tasks for fluency, accentedness, and comprehensibility and rated the shadowing task for the ability of learners to imitate a speech model. Based on the study's results, there was a significant improvement in three speaking measures, namely, the ability of learners to imitate a speech model, comprehensibility, and fluency, but not in accentedness. Results indicated that the participants improved significantly on all speaking measures apart from accentedness. These results show that mobile-enhanced shadowing can be engaging and effective in teaching second-language pronunciation and that teachers should incorporate it into second-language classrooms. Given these results, teachers and lecturers should embrace shadowing in second-language classrooms. Further, pedagogical implications are proposed, and study limitations are discussed accordingly.