Improving EFL Learners’ Speech Segmentation Skills: The Impact of Connected Speech Instruction on Speech Perception and Listening Comprehension

Abstract

Language education methodology has evolved in a quest for better bridging the gap between language teaching in educational institutions and language acquisition in the real world. Given the primacy of the oral form of language, addressing this disconnect in speaking and listening instruction merits special emphasis. Learning the English language entails awareness of the segments (the sounds in the phonological system), the supra-segmental features (stress, intonation, and rhythm), and the phonotactics (the sound sequences allowed and the processes the sounds undergo in natural language use). In developing phonological awareness in learners of English as an additional language, it is how words learned in citation form—in isolation—morph when used in natural rapid speech that is often overlooked. A body of research has explored the effect of teaching features of connected speech on improving learners’ speech production. The present study aims to investigate this impact on speech perception (decoding streams of spoken language). Towards this end, 35 adult Moroccan intermediate EFL learners’ connected speech decoding skills were assessed through a quasi-experimental study. These learners’ spoken-word recognition and listening comprehension proficiency were gauged prior to and after six weeks of instruction in features of connected speech—linking, assimilation, elision, and weak (reduced) forms through listening comprehension and dictation tests. The statistical analyses indicate significant differences between pretest and posttest scores in both listening comprehension and dictation, reflecting considerable gains in speech segmentation ability. These results afford actionable insights for classroom practice, syllabus design, and assessment frameworks. Raising awareness of rapid and fluent speech processes through integrating features of connected speech in listening comprehension instruction can alleviate speech perception challenges for EFL learners and improve their communicative competence.