Enhancing EFL speaking and pronunciation skills: Using explicit formal instruction in a Kurdish university

Rizgar Qasim Mahmood
The University of Wollongong, Australia

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of explicit formal instruction (EFI) on speaking and pronunciation skills among a Kurdish university's first-year EFL students. The researcher was teaching a communications unit, where the focus was on speaking skills and pronunciation: speech rate (words per minute), fluency (number of pauses and fillers), and accuracy (sound production, accurate word pronunciation, grammar, and sentence structure). During two semesters (24 weeks) learners received EFI and explicit pronunciation training (EPT). The data were collected through video recordings at two points in time: at the beginning of the course and the end of it and an interview. The results revealed that EFI and EPT had significant effects on learners' speech rate and fluency improvement, whereas their accuracy was affected but not as much as speech rate and fluency. This study offers several pedagogical and theoretical implications.
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Author: Rizgar Qasim Mahmood earned a masters degree in linguistics and TESL at California State University, Northridge, USA. After graduating in 2019, he devoted himself to teaching as an assistant lecturer at Salahaddin University, Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan until 2022. Currently, he is pursuing his PhD in applied linguistics and second language acquisition at the University of Wollongong, Australia, exploring the effectiveness of pronunciation instruction and corrective feedback on the development of L2 learners' pronunciation. His research includes the areas of corrective feedback, pronunciation, speaking skills, native and non-native English teachers, and teacher development and cognition. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5987-8884 Email: rqm841@uowmail.edu.au, rizgar.mahmood@su.edu.krd Please cite as: Mahmood, R. Q. (2023). Enhancing EFL speaking and pronunciation skills: Using explicit formal instruction in a Kurdish university. Issues in Educational Research, 33(4), 1421-1440. http://www.iier.org.au/iier33/mahmood.pdf