Article Sidebar

Submitted
Feb 11, 2019
Published
Feb 10, 2019
Download
PDF
Statistic
Read Counter : 852 Download : 466

Main Article Content

Abstract

The article discusses a pilot project that explored the implementation of a virtual environment for the improvement of English pronunciation, funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) as part of a wider e-learning program for Higher Education. A speech recognition software program, SpeechAce, was embedded within the e-learning course to provide live practice and feedback on pronunciation to 372 undergraduate students at the University of Naples “L’Orientale” in 2016-2017. The project team was composed by Professors of English Oriana Palusci and Katherine E. Russo, who designed and coordinated the project, and e-tutors Jacqueline Aiello and Anna Mongibello, who generated the online course on Moodle and monitored students’ activities. The virtual class was created to foster awareness of English sounds and to practice pronunciation, an area that is often neglected in the Italian education system due to the large number of enrolled students. This paper first describes the project in depth and draws on the quantitative analysis of the students’ performance in combination with authentic online listening input. Then, data collected in pre- and post-program questionnaires are analyzed to examine the impact of participation in the online project on self-perceived pronunciation proficiency and L2 self-confidence, and to unveil participants’ opinions and experiences in this virtual environment.

Keywords

Higher Education English as a foreign language L2 Pronunciation Learning Management Systems Voice Recognition

Article Details

The author declares that the submitted to Journal of e-Learning and Knowledge Society (Je-LKS) is original and that is has neither been published previously nor is currently being considered for publication elsewhere.
The author agrees that SIe-L (Italian Society of e-Learning) has the right to publish the material sent for inclusion in the journal Je-LKS.
The author agree that articles may be published in digital format (on the Internet or on any digital support and media) and in printed format, including future re-editions, in any language and in any license including proprietary licenses, creative commons license or open access license. SIe-L may also use parts of the work to advertise and promote the publication.
The author declares s/he has all the necessary rights to authorize the editor and SIe-L to publish the work.
The author assures that the publication of the work in no way infringes the rights of third parties, nor violates any penal norms and absolves SIe-L from all damages and costs which may result from publication.

The author declares further s/he has received written permission without limits of time, territory, or language from the rights holders for the free use of all images and parts of works still covered by copyright, without any cost or expenses to SIe-L.

For all the information please check the Ethical Code of Je-LKS, available at http://www.je-lks.org/index.php/ethical-code

Author Biographies

Jacqueline Aiello, Università degli Studi di Napoli "L'Orientale"

Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Dipartimento di Studi Letterari, Linguistici e Comparati

Anna Mongibello, Università degli Studi di Napoli "L'Orientale"

Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Dipartimento di Studi Letterari, Linguistici e Comparati
How to Cite
Aiello, J., & Mongibello, A. (2019). Supporting EFL learners with a Virtual Environment: A Focus on L2 Pronunciation. Journal of E-Learning and Knowledge Society, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.20368/1971-8829/1444