Carmit Romano-Hvid

Learning English pronunciation with computer technology: an investigation of the relationship between learning strategies and achievement

This paper will report on work in progress of a PhD research project investigating what language learning strategies learners put into use, when faced with the task of improving their English pronunciation. The overall goal is to discover whether there is a relationship between the strategies that learners employ and their level of achievement. To meet this goal, a hypermedia courseware application to teach aspects of English phonology and pronunciation was developed. It provides learners with the freedom to access the learning materials in the way they feel most natural and comfortable with. The role of the computer is two-fold: Firstly, it provides the learner with a self-contained environment for learning. Secondly, it automatically collects and summarises data; while the learner interacts with the program the computer records the user's actions at each step. Post analysis of the data produces numerical and graphical representations, from which characteristic patterns of learners' behaviour can be identified.

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