Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature Vol. 6(1), Feb-Mar 2013, 35-55 Bettering Pronunciation through Reading Aloud and Peer Appraisal Gloria Tost Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain Peer appraisal during repeated English reading aloud is a procedure for improving students’ English language for reading clarity and pronunciation. The current study evaluates the feasibility and impact of partner reading out loud to improve English pronunciation, fluency and expression with three adult students of level 1 of English in the Official School of Languages located in a town near Barcelona. This study used recorded materials during the interactions, the transcript of the reading of three students and students’ observations to evaluate and reflect upon the impact of peer appraisal among participants. Results indicated that peer-mediated repeated oral reading interventions carried out by students’ cooperation was effective in assisting students to begin to improve their levels of reading pronunciation and fluency. The findings herewith analysed should be the base to further on the effects of meditated oral reading to better English speaking and reading at large. Introduction and Focus of Observation The aim of the present study is to evaluate the development and influence of peer appraisal in oral reading skills. In partners or small groups of three people, oral reading students are placed together for the purpose of supporting each other through repeated oral reading of a given text. Partners listen, follow along and provide pronunciation of words or assistance while taking turns reading out loud, switching roles every time the text ends. Partner oral reading is used in this study as a strategy to promote the development of better English pronunciation and fluency, based on the effort students need to make for clarity and intonation when reading to others. Repeated partner oral reading may be a key component to aim at facilitating the development of reading fluency skills, including reading aloud with appropriate expression, accuracy and with a reasonable speed. The present study suggests that oral reading with partner appraisal may be a useful instructional strategy to improve English pronunciation and fluency. The effectiveness on repeated partner oral reading is observed and examined on the following grounds. More capable readers were paired with less capable readers, but each student may alert his or her partner/s to errors on pronunciation, clarity and provide feedback among the group. Students were obliged to fill in a form of self- and peer- Article submitted 23 June 2012, accepted 10 October 2012, final version received 3 January 2013 36 Tost assessment. This process allowed students to be much involved in the process of assessment and this in itself may lead to learners’ autonomy and higher motivation (Dickinson, 1987). The study was based on two hypotheses: 1) there would be a difference in the reading aloud achievement/improvement between the first oral reading and the third; 2) students’ cooperation would benefit in the overall oral reading improvement. From these hypotheses, the following research questions were formulated: Do students improve their English pronunciation and fluency by reading out loud to a partner? Do pairs of asymmetric students bring benefits to the improvement of English pronunciation and fluency? In light of the above questions, the goal of the present article is to reason through the cooperative oral reading task betterment in English pronunciation, fluency and expression. It is argued that reading out loud to peers improves vocabulary pronunciation and specific vocabulary is better acquired. The current study addresses gaps in the literature by examining the effectiveness of peer-appraisal repeated oral reading among adult beginners of L2 of English when implemented in pairs or small group of students. The teacher implementing the research hypothesised that peer-appraisal in oral repeated reading would lead to improvement in reading pronunciation and fluency performance. Context The present study was performed in the Official School of Language in a town close to Barcelona with a class of over twenty students. The participants were enrolled in level 1 English. The students’ ages ranged between 18 to 55 years. Most of the students had studied English at one point or another in their lives and they had decided to start over in order to set proper grounds of their English and progress in their learning. Theoretical Framework The influence of social interaction in the classrooms and positive relationships among peers is examined, using partner oral reading as a cooperative way of learning strategy to promote the development of better English pronunciation, fluency and automatic reading throughout an exercise of oral reading. The degree to which the partners displayed social cooperation is important in the analysis of the learning process examined in this paper. Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature. 6.1. (Feb-Mar 2013): 35-55. ISSN 2013-6196. 37 Tost The study highlights the importance of the advantages of working with peers in order to improve English reading aloud which benefits the overall students’ English skills Ginsburg-Block, Rohrbeck, & Fantuzzo (2006) have identified a range of learning gains in oral reading –when carried out with a partner- which include reading accuracy in expression, fluidity and pronunciation. Topping (2001) conducted a project in Scotland which supports the idea that pair oral reading has overall advantages in learning for students. Improvements are reported from this study in motivation, confidence and enjoyment, and also benefits in relation to self-esteem. Repeated oral reading is a strategy that works by rereading aloud a short and meaningful text a few times; this allows the acquisition of a satisfactory level of expression and fluency in reading (NICHHD, 2000; Samuels, 1979). Begeny and Marterns (2006) explain the effectiveness of oral reading improvement through peer-mediated approach of reading out loud when implemented by students reading passages to one another for a predetermined number of repetitions or until a level of fluency is acquired. Many studies have found that oral Repeated Reading (RR) results in increased fluency. Freeland, Skinner, Jackson, McDaniel, and Smith (2000), and Therrien (2004) found that oral RR improved the reading fluency and comprehension of students when repeated exercises were performed during a considerable period of time. Peer-mediated strategies have received a lot of research support; among the advantages of peer-mediated strategies are the identification of errors, the practising of giving responses to problems, problem solving, correction, feedback and encouragement from peers (Utley & Mortweet, 1997). Yurick and colleagues (2006) conducted three experiments to examine the effects of peer-mediated oral RRs on students; the findings suggested that the improvement of reading aloud fluency became generalised due to repeated performance. There are other studies which confirm the moderate to strong relationship between students’ fluency when reading out loud and his/her achievement in reading performance (Wood, 2006). The value of oral reading is described by Shinn & Good (1992) as the ability of decoding oral texts automatically with accurate word recognition, speed and prosody. Fuchs, Fuchs, Hosp & Jenkins (2001) explain oral reading fluency as a “direct measure of phonological segmentation and recoding skill as well as rapid word recognition” (p. 241) Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature. 6.1. (Feb-Mar 2013): 35-55. ISSN 2013-6196. 38 Tost Self, along with peer assessment is also valued in the learning process. There are many researchers who give evidence of the importance of such processes. Buchanan (2004) acknowledges that such assessments can be a force that pushes students to engage more actively in their own learning. She says: “self and peer assessment can promote more active engagement with the course than simply sitting back and waiting for a grade” (p. 169). Buchanan quotes Schunk (2000) saying “developing self and peer evaluation strategies help students gain control over their learning… [and] allows them to focus more effort in studying those areas where they need more time” (p. 379). Roberts (2006) stresses the advantages of working in a group to promote higher level of achievement; he mentions the work of Bransford, Brown, & Cocking (1999) who emphasise the importance of peer review and negotiation for its social dimension of cognition. Slavin (1996) expresses the benefits in higher-order thinking while Cohen (1994) improves communication and conflict management. Johnson & Johnson (1994), and strategic problem-solving skills. Furthermore, small-group students’ collaboration in reading aloud has been proven to enhance motivation to learn, it favours skill’s improvement and work persistence (Bruffee, 1999). Peer evaluation is an important component of collaborative learning because it allows students to give feedback to each other. Cooperative groups have been proven to facilitate development and interpersonal skills, increase retention of information and generate higher achievement among students overall (Johnson & Johnson, 1987). In order to analyse the benefits of reading aloud in second language in a framework of collaborative learning, it is important to look at the relevance interdependence among peers and their social interaction. Learning to read out loud fluently and automatically with decent pronunciation in a second language is important in order to gain control over oral reading speed and improve speaking pronunciation. Method For the evaluation of the effectiveness of cooperative reading aloud to peers and the improvement in English pronunciation, fluency and clarity students are first given specific activities which are related to the expression of the text and comprehension of background. To do so, students are presented a power point of phonetic sounds where they have to practise aspiration by placing a piece of paper in front of their lips to feel the air puff movement when aspirating. They have to practise voicing by feeling the vibration in Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature. 6.1. (Feb-Mar 2013): 35-55. ISSN 2013-6196. 39 Tost their throat when using voiced vowels and by contrast feeling how the air escapes with voiceless sounds. They also have to practise silent L, long vowels and diphthongs. Moreover, grammatical forms worked on previous sessions are to assist students to the understanding of the text. Students are asked questions related to the topic they are going to read in order to engage in oral discussions, and begin to use spontaneously some vocabulary that may be present in the reading text. Once ready to begin the task students join in asymmetric groups, decided by them (and the teacher’s judgement), of one strong reader and two weak readers. The reading session may be conducted in the classroom or in the school library. Students are provided with a reading text designed for the task and purpose of improving specific vocabulary pronunciation. Students are also given an assessment sheet to write short observations. Students may also join other groups in the class in order to comment, contrast and verify different points of view. The goal of the activities is to evaluate the effectiveness of cooperative reading aloud to peers. Effectiveness is measured by students’ mutual assistance to improve in English pronunciation, fluency and clarity. Self-assessment and peer- assessment are also considered which include students’ self-evaluation with comments sent by e-mail to the teacher (this is used to value the efficacy of the exercises). About twenty students from an adult English school in a town close to Barcelona participated in this study. All students were in Level 1 English and were between 18 to 55 years of age. None of the participants indicated any prior experience with oral reading peer cooperation. Partners were chosen asymmetrically in order to test if they could be of assistance to each other. The teacher made a random selection of stronger and weaker readers considering her knowledge of the students and the students’ criterion. Students were to help and assess one another for better English pronunciation, fluency, clarity and expression. Prior to the oral reading students were given a power point on basic phonetics to encourage better pronunciation, and also they were given comprehension background on the actual reading. Grammatical forms had been worked on previous sessions. The oral reading session was conducted in the class and in the school’s library. The reading text was created by the teacher with careful consideration of students’ progression of English, words and grammatical expressions which were of relevance. Students were provided with an assessment sheet to assess themselves and their partner/s and provide with positive or improvement comments only. Students may read the Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature. 6.1. (Feb-Mar 2013): 35-55. ISSN 2013-6196. 40 Tost comments at the end of the session for self-awareness. Additional materials included a camera for recording the students’ conversations and for any other relevant data which may be of use to analyse students’ learning process. The data were recorded with a video camera set up near the students. The study focuses on one class which lasted two hours. Permission was granted by the school with previous consent of the students. Before the research session the teacher in practice had introduced the use of camera recording in many other activities i.e. class discussions, role play, etc. The names of the participants have been changed to a fictitious name that is similar to the original names in order to indicate whether the participants are of Spanish or Catalan origin. The video was converted into audio by a program called SUPER and then the audio was transcribed by the teacher in practice using the program ELAN. Selection of data was with the following criteria taken into consideration: 1) Clarity of audio; 2) Grade of difficulty students had in expressing themselves during the reading of the text; 3) Discussions among the group (content); 4) Resolutions taken. The recorded data have been carefully transcribed in a way that reflects how it was phonetically read by the students and all the significant data which makes relevant the students’ cooperation and efforts to better English pronunciation, crucial for determining the questions for which I want to find an answer. The materials that were used for the study consisted of, principally, a didactic unit prepared by the teacher with specific vocabulary and grammar ‘A Decade of Revindication Ruled by Alternative: The 80s.’ Students were presented with a power point on basic phonetics to practise certain English vowels and consonants then they watched four short videos on phonetic sounds. Following this, students were provided with a short letter to read out loud and they were given an assessment sheet to write comments. A camera was also used to record students’ activities, a computer to process the information and the e-mails to the teacher with comments. Better Pronunciation for Better Communication: Analysis of Transcripts The studies reported in the theoretical framework indicate that peer cooperation among students can support better English learning, and in this case improvement in English reading aloud. The approach taken in this research resolves around the achievements of asymmetric partners which help each other during group interaction. The groups also Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature. 6.1. (Feb-Mar 2013): 35-55. ISSN 2013-6196. 41 Tost interact in making agreements and by giving each other feedback by means of an evaluation sheet. In the activities carried out in this study, students had to agree in word recognition and pronunciation. Agreement was reached through discussions; students expressed opinions, reflected over word pronunciation, meaning and grammar, and debated their answers if necessary. One feature that stands out in the analysis is the efforts of the three participants in the conversation as they engaged in a joint purpose which was essential for shared understanding in order to make the most of the activity. Another curious element observed is the element of trust. Trust is placed in the stronger reader, but it can also be challenged by certain contributions during the interventions, allowing weaker readers to make use of his/her reasoning (see excerpt 1 below). The activity shown in the analysis is one in which the students are engaged in a carefully prepared oral reading activity. During the activity students are able to recognise and practise elements studied in a previous class. Previous to the oral reading activity students had been presented with a power point which allowed them to understand and practise a few simple steps for improving their pronunciation towards a more native-like level. Students also had the chance to practise in groups the phonetic aspects worked during the class; before the reading aloud activity students could check with the teacher unknown vocabulary for better understanding of the text. Activity: Reading out loud to peers Length of clip: 2:59 Participants’ nicknames: Maria, Teresa and Pedro Excerpt 1 In the fragment we see below a small group of three students are involved in the oral reading activity. Maria and Pedro are the weaker readers while Teresa is the stronger reader. Teresa is not fluent in English, she has English level 1 just as the rest of her companions, but she has the challenge of assisting her peers during the intervention. The key to the transcription symbols is in the annex. The transcript imitates the participants’ utterances’ phonetically. 1. Maria: <-I yus-sed tu lov-> 2. Teresa: yusd tu(.) Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature. 6.1. (Feb-Mar 2013): 35-55. ISSN 2013-6196. 42 Tost 3. Maria: <-yusd tu lov>- 4. Maria: <-tu rid-> 5. Maria: <-mai buks(..)-> 6. (0.1) 7. Maria: <+-wiz Mozzar prayin in the bakgraun-+> 8. (0.92) 9. Maria: <-now yu nou a lot mor abaut mi-> 10. Maria: <+-wat abaut yu-+?> 11. Maria: <-wat di yu laik-> 12. Maria: <+as a xil-+> 13. Teresa: +chaild+ 14. Maria: +chaild+ 15. (0.4) 16. Maria: <-di yu hav eni feivoret toy-?> 17. Maria: music buks? 18. Maria: <+-meibi wi kud mit somtaim-+> 19. Maria: <+an sher som fotográf-+> 20. Teresa: fótografs 21. Maria: fotografs 22. (0.86) 23. Maria: <-rait tu mi sun-> 24. Maria: <+best wais-+> 25. Teresa: wishes 26. Maria: <best best wises>(..) 27. (0.14) 28. Maria: +signature+ 29. (0.1) In the fragment above Maria has started to read with difficulty, we can see it by the way she reads very slowly; she needs time to do it and to think how to pronounce each word. What is important to observe in this excerpt is the amount of effort Maria needs in order to read and pronounce in a way that can be understood. One of the recurrent errors that can be observed and keep coming up is the –ed form at the end of a verb pronounced Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature. 6.1. (Feb-Mar 2013): 35-55. ISSN 2013-6196. 43 Tost as it is spelled which Maria reads in the verb used to. Teresa, acquainted with the pronunciation of the –ed segment after verbs, corrects Maria’s pronunciation. This correction gives Maria a chance to benefit from peer feedback in two ways: by listening to her peer correct pronunciation and by having the opportunity to repeat the correct pronunciation after Teresa. Maria reads slowly and carefully; we can appreciate it by the way she takes her time to pronounce every word and repeats it when she realises she has not pronounced properly. She is concentrated looking intensively at her page1, making an effort to produce proper vocabulary. Maria is trying to process internally each word before making a decision to pronounce it; as evidence we have line 7 where she makes a pause of 0.92 seconds and line 21 where she makes another pause of 0.86 seconds. She is thinking and processing the information on the page. We observe how Maria is reading very slowly and carefully to her peers in order to make the least possible mistakes. She appears to feel doubtful of words she has little practise of pronouncing. As is exemplified in the excerpt above, a reading out loud exercise is a chance for students to practise vocabulary that otherwise they would hardly ever have the chance to use in a Catalan or Spanish setting and to practise its pronunciation. Reading aloud in the way students are doing in this activity forces students to work a system of word-sound recognition that is not required in silent reading. Students need to reach phonological awareness in order to be understood by their peers. In this way, peer work is important because it makes people conscious of the efforts required to be understood when listening to something that is being read. While reading aloud clarity, pausing, proper phrasing and expressiveness are just as important as when speaking to help the audience to understand what is being read or spoken. In excerpt 2, Teresa appears to be aware of the need to be clear to her audience. She expresses a level of difficulty in her oral reading which reflects how she possibly struggles in her speaking. She needs to make regular pauses to break up sentences to give herself some time to reflect upon what she is reading and saying at the same time. Pedro who is also listening, and makes no obvious contributions, is actually taking notes (as observed in the video) everything she says which will result in effective problem-solving dialogue in the next excerpt. Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature. 6.1. (Feb-Mar 2013): 35-55. ISSN 2013-6196. 44 Tost Excerpt 2 30. Pedro: dos dos cosas 31. Pedro: +gil es gerl no+-? 32. Teresa: gerl 33. Pedro: claro, claro 34. Teresa: claro 35. Pedro: luego está el +rid+ 36. Pedro: que era el pasado +red+- 37. Teresa: +red+ 38. (0.7) 39. Pedro: que ahora hay varios pasados por aquí y es +red+ 40. (0.59) 41. Maria: bueno despues del ( stil ese tu) no eee 42. Maria: del +yussed+ tu 43. Pedro: no este no 44. Pedro: había uno aquí que no, este 45. Pedro: +tu laik tu rid+ 46. Pedro: +yusd to laik to red+- 47. Teresa: +yusd to laik to red+ 48. Teresa: +yusd tu+ es pasado 49. Teresa: +laik tu red+ está hablando de un infinitivo 50. Eva: +laik tu rid+ 51. (0.02) 52. Maria: és tu +rid+, és el present The fragment above is significant because it illustrates how the trio cooperates with each other and learns from one another; they are engaged in cooperative work, even Teresa who is the stronger reader will be somehow assisted by Maria in an important bit of pronunciation information. In the fragment (excerpt 3) below we see how the students engage in collective thinking because there is a level of trust that allows students to interact and exchange opinions and disagreements. The participants freely agree or object to each other’s ideas Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature. 6.1. (Feb-Mar 2013): 35-55. ISSN 2013-6196.