The effects of a phonetic pronunciation course on the perception of a foreign language by students of phonetics and logopedics

Authors

• Katja Haapanen Phonetics and Learning, Age & Bilingualism laboratory, University of Turku
• Antti Saloranta Phonetics and Learning, Age & Bilingualism laboratory, University of Turku
• Kimmo U. Peltola Phonetics and Learning, Age & Bilingualism laboratory, University of Turku
• Henna Tamminen Phonetics and Learning, Age & Bilingualism laboratory, University of Turku
• Maija S. Peltola Phonetics and Learning, Age & Bilingualism laboratory, University of Turku

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23997/pk.161700

Keywords:

Namibian languages, perception of an unfamiliar language, phonetic awareness, phonetics, speech perception

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of a phonetic pronunciation course on the perception of Khoekhoegowab
speech by Finnish listeners, with no previous exposure to the language, from two different degree
programs. The two groups of listeners were university students of phonetics and logopedics and they
completed a questionnaire before and after the course. The experiment consisted of four Khoekhoegowab
speech samples that were recorded in Namibia. The students answered three questions after listening to
each sample: what features did you recognize, what unfamiliar features did you pay attention to, and,
why did you pay attention to these features? The students’ answers were subjected to content analysis.
The results showed that, before the course, the logopedics’ students focused less on segmental features
than phonetics’ students did. Both groups increased their use of phonetic terminology after the course,
which was reflected especially on the perception and description of click consonants.