Enhancing EFL learners' connected speech processes through music

Abstract

Native speakers of English tend to exhibit a highly effective articulation pattern during speech production. This phenomenon results in the flow of linguistic units within a speech continuum, where words are interconnected without clear boundaries between them. Concurrently, various linguistic and articulatory simplifications occur, accompanied by processes characteristic of connected speech. These processes encompass, but are not limited to, sentence stress and rhythm, reduction, elision, intrusion, assimilation, linking, liaison, among others. Scholars often advocate for the integration of authentic connected speech into English as a Foreign Language (EFL) curriculum. Accordingly, a spectrum of pedagogical techniques and approaches has been proposed in EFL instruction to cultivate EFL students' proficiency in producing and comprehending natural connected speech. This study aims to investigate the impact of musical activities on the development of connected speech production skills among university-level EFL students. In addition to music's inherent relaxation benefits in EFL pedagogy, it nurtures learners' rhythmic and melodic sensibilities, heightens their awareness of specific (foreign) sounds, and facilitates bilateral hemispheric engagement in the brain, thus fostering improved information retention. Furthermore, singing entails the temporal overlap of successive phonetic segments, creating a continuous stream of sound and requiring meticulous word linking, thereby promoting the natural acquisition of connected speech. Findings from this research indicate that implicit music instruction positively influences connected speech production among EFL students. Specifically, the participants' speech demonstrated enhanced fluency, stronger adherence to natural linguistic rhythm and stress patterns, compared to a control group undergoing traditional text-based instruction.