The effectiveness of audiobooks on pronunciation skills of EFL learners at different proficiency levels

Abstract

This study mainly explored the effectiveness of audiobooks on pronunciation skills of university level EFL students at different proficiency levels. This study also aimed to find out whether a difference in students’ pronunciation skills as a result of exposure to audiobooks occurs based on their proficiency levels. Lastly, students’ perceptions about audiobooks and their effectiveness on pronunciation learning and teaching were also investigated in the study. This study was conducted with the participation of 65 students from elementary, pre-intermediate, and intermediate levels at Uludağ University School of Foreign Languages. Among the most problematic phonemes for Turkish EFL learners to pronounce correctly, six phonemes were selected to be explored in the study. Three audiobooks from three different proficiency levels were chosen for the study and participants listened to each of the audiobooks. In order to investigate the effectiveness of audiobooks on pronunciation skills both on sound recognition and production levels of university EFL students, sound recognition and production tests, which were prepared by including the selected problematic phonemes, were administered to the students before and after audiobook listening period. Before and after the audiobook listening session, the students were administered a questionnaire with the intent to find out their perceptions about the effectiveness of audiobooks on their pronunciation. In order to address the second research question which is about the effects of audiobooks on pronunciation skills, the mean values and standard deviations were calculated and compared between the first and second test performances of the students. In order to answer the second research question which is about the effects of audiobooks on pronunciation skills of EFL learners at different level, the test results of the elementary, pre-intermediate and intermediate level students were compared to investigate any difference in the effectiveness of audiobooks on pronunciation skills according to proficiency levels. Analysis of the data revealed that audiobook listening is effective on both recognition and production aspects of pronunciation skills of university EFL students, and it appeared to have a greater effect on pre-intermediate level students than it did on elementary and intermediate level students. The results from the questionnaire showed that students had positive perspectives about audiobooks and their effects on pronunciation. Finally, the study emphasizes the importance of audiobooks, suggesting that teachers can incorporate them as an alternative approach to traditional pronunciation teaching practices.