EFL students’ beliefs and practices regarding pronunciation self-regulated learning

Abstract

The past three decades have witnessed growing interest in pronunciation research focused on a range of topics such as the effects of explicit phonetic instruction on second/foreign language (L2) learners’ pronunciation uptake, teachers’ pronunciation teaching practices and beliefs, pronunciation representation in prescribed textbooks, and L2 students’ perceptions of their teachers’ pronunciation instruction. However, L2 learners’ beliefs and practices regarding pronunciation self-regulated learning (PSRL) is under-explored. The present study examines how Vietnamese tertiary EFL learners practice PSRL and what beliefs they hold about it. Data were collected from a questionnaire completed by 215 EFL students at a Vietnamese public university and semi-structured interviews with ten of the students. Results showed that the students demonstrated a strong commitment to self-practicing English pronunciation and that their PSRL practices centered on segmental features through listen-and-repeat activities from YouTube pronunciation lesson videos and textbook audio-recordings. The study further showed that the students believed PSRL had a positive impact on their own pronunciation but called for phonetic instruction to guide their self-practice, followed by teachers giving feedback on their pronunciation. Implications for L2 pronunciation instruction and PSRL are discussed.