An investigation of pronunciation-specific cognition of pre-service LX English language teachers

Ilkan, Meltem (2025) An investigation of pronunciation-specific cognition of pre-service LX English language teachers. PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London.

Abstract

The term Second Language Teacher Cognition (SLTC) refers to the mental lives of language teachers (Walberg, 1977), and it refers to teachers' beliefs, thoughts, and knowledge (Borg, 2003). Previous research has focused extensively on SLTC in general. However, the relative impacts of independent variables on specific SLTC for pronunciation teaching and teacher training to confidently teach pronunciation remain understudied. Therefore, this study is the first quantitative study to quantitatively examine the determining factors of teacher cognition specific to pronunciation. This study examined 65 pre-service LXELTs’ (traditionally called NNESTs) pronunciation-specific SLTC during undergraduate education at a North Cyprus university. To better understand the factors contributing to the development of pronunciation-specific SLTC in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) setting and to study changes in the cognition of participants, this study takes a quasi-exploratory approach to examine SLTC from two different perspectives. The first perspective is a cross-sectional examination to determine the relative impact of independent factors —i.e., previous experience, current LX use, subject matter knowledge, foreign language pronunciation anxiety, proficiency (self-, other-). The proficiency in the pronunciation of the participants was elicited using a narrative task and was evaluated by the raters for accent, comprehensibility, and fluency. The follow-up study examines changes in SLTC over time, which constitutes the second perspective. To examine changes in SLTC over time, focus group participants (n = 53) received training in pronunciation and pedagogy over one academic semester. Using a Sequential Exploratory Design (Creswell, 2003), pre- and post-test questionnaires were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Individual interviews (n = 34) followed this to shed light on the quantitative data (Ivankova et al., 2006). Quantitative findings showed that pronunciation self-efficacy positively predicts SLTC, whereas general English class hours, which do not focus on pronunciation, negatively predict SLTC. The follow-up study showed that training positively affected the pronunciation-specific SLTC of the participants. In line with the general literature on pronunciation-specific SLTC (e.g., Burri, 2015b), training focusing on pronunciation improvement and pedagogy played a key role in shaping the SLTC of participants and encouraged them to take a more positive approach to teaching pronunciation. Qualitative data provided information on various other aspects of SLTC that quantitative data could not capture. Thematic analysis of the interviews showed that participants believe that numerous factors affect pronunciation learning and teaching, including previous LX learning experiences. Among the anticipated problems with teaching pronunciation was the problem of being an LXELT. Although quantitative data could not establish a correlation between subject matter knowledge (SMK) and SLTC, qualitative data revealed links between SMK and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). In general, the participants reported feelings of improvement in their pronunciation and their knowledge of pronunciation teaching. However, there were still a considerable number of remaining insecurities around pronunciation teaching as an LXELT.

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