Effects of imitation and self-imitation practice on L2 pronunciation progress

Abstract

The major aim of the current study is to verify whether an interdependence between self-imitation practice and L2 pronunciation improvement in the process of second-language acquisition is stronger than traditional imitation tasks. 35 Polish students of Applied Linguistics (at English level B2+) divided into two groups performed imitation and self-imitation exercises in order to improve their L2 pronunciation skills. Three acoustic parameters were considered, namely, articulation rate, speech rate and average syllable duration. The results of the research have revealed that there is a significant interdependence between L2 pronunciation improvement and self-imitation training in terms of speech rate. The outcomes of the research are in line with Ding et al. (2019), De Meo et al.’s (2013), and Felps et al.’s (2009) assertion that the better the match between learners’ voices and their modified equivalents, the more positive impact there is on L2 pronunciation training.