Gesture to Learn, Hum to Speak: Promoting L2 Pronunciation through Non-Verbal Techniques

• Published in: English teaching & learning
• Main Authors: Tseng, Gloria, Liu, Yeu-Ting, Fan, Sonya Ya-Chu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 06.05.2025
• ISSN: 1023-7267; 2522-8560
• DOI: 10.1007/s42321-025-00208-0

This study examines how beat gestures and humming influence the pronunciation skills of Taiwanese students learning English. Ninety-three Mandarin-speaking participants were assigned to one of three groups: speech-only practice, practice with beat gestures, or practice with humming. The study was conducted over twelve days, consisting of a six-day pre-treatment phase followed by a six-day pronunciation training period, during which participants engaged in daily practice using TED Talk videos adapted to their assigned experimental condition. Pronunciation was assessed before and after training. The results showed that both beat gestures and humming led to significant pronunciation improvements compared to speech-only practice. While no statistically significant differences emerged between the two techniques, effect size comparisons suggest that beat gestures were particularly effective for intonation and rhythm, whereas humming showed a slight advantage in improving segmentals and stress patterns. Participant feedback indicated that beat gestures were more engaging and intuitive, whereas humming required more effort to master but was ultimately effective. This highlights a distinction between learner engagement and cognitive demands in pronunciation learning. These findings suggest that incorporating nonverbal elements, such as beat gestures and humming, into pronunciation instruction can enhance both phonological skills and learner motivation, depending on the instructional focus. 本研究探討節拍手勢和哼唱技巧如何影響台灣學生的口語能力(特別是發音方面)。研究為期十二天，分為六天的前測準備階段與六天的發音訓練階段。實驗中將93位以華語為母語的參與者分為三組：純語音練習組、節拍手勢練習組和哼唱練習組。為確保實驗的嚴謹性，這些參與者都是來自台灣北部某大學的大一學生，英語程度介於CEFR B1至B2之間。在實驗進行期間，參與者每天使用依照這三種實驗條件改編的TED演講影片進行30分鐘的訓練，並在訓練前後透過專業語音分析軟體及三位評分者評估其發音表現。研究結果顯示，相較於純語音練習，節拍手勢和哼唱練習在所有發音層面都有顯著進步。進一步分析發現，節拍手勢在提升外語語調和節奏方面特別有效，而哼唱技巧則在個別音素和重音模式方面表現較佳。更值得注意的是，參與者回饋指出節拍手勢較具吸引力且有趣，而哼唱技巧則令人愉悅且有效。這些發現突顯了教學者在提升不同面向的口語能力時，需要在學習效果（effectiveness）和學習者參與度（learner engagement）之間進行教學考量的取捨，最適教學法的選擇取決於教學現場的需求與目標。綜合上述發現，本研究主張，將非語言元素（如節拍手勢和哼唱）納入發音練習中，能顯著提升英語學習者的語音技能，尤其適合應用在大學英語課程中。