Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Musa Nushi ¹
• Parisa Zibaei ²
• Mehran Hosseinkhani ²

¹ Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of letter and Humanities, Shahid Beheshti University

² Shahid Beheshti university, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Pronunciation remains a persistent challenge for English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. This is particularly important in contexts where segmental/suprasegmental features differ from those of learners’ first language. Translanguaging is widely recognized as a beneficial pedagogical approach in language education. It is defined as learners’ strategic use of their full linguistic repertoire, including first and additional languages, to support meaning-making and learning. However, its application to pronunciation instruction has received limited empirical attention. This quasi-experimental mixed-methods study examined the effectiveness of translanguaging-based instruction in developing Iranian EFL learners’ segmental/suprasegmental pronunciation features and explored participants’ perceptions of this approach. Twenty upper-intermediate Iranian EFL students were assigned to experimental and control groups. Over 27 instructional sessions, the experimental group received translanguaging-based pronunciation instruction, while the control group followed a communicative English-only approach. Data were collected through pretest–posttest pronunciation tasks, acoustic analysis using Praat, and semi-structured interviews, and they were analyzed using non-parametric statistical tests and thematic analysis. The quantitative results revealed significant improvements in several suprasegmental features, including linking, epenthesis, deletion, sentence stress, and word stress, whereas gains in segmental features were limited. Acoustic analysis indicated significant changes in F2 onset frequencies for the diphthongs /oʊ/ and /eɪ/. Qualitative findings showed that students perceived translanguaging as enhancing comprehension and reducing anxiety. They also reported that it created a more supportive learning environment and varied in effectiveness across pronunciation features. Findings suggest that translanguaging is particularly effective for suprasegmental pronunciation development and offers pedagogical value for creating a learner-centered EFL pronunciation instruction.

Keywords

• English as a foreign language learners
• pronunciation
• segmental features, suprasegmental features, translanguaging

Main Subjects

• Phonetics & Phonology