Reading and writing

TL;DR: A recent study suggests that explicit instruction in pronunciation can improve articulation of certain sounds in Spanish.

Abstract: A recent study on the acquisition of Spanish pronunciation (Elliott, 1995) suggests that students can improve their articulation of certain sounds in Spanish, at least on certain tasks, if they are given explicit instruction in the area of pronunciation. The present author observes from his experience of teaching Spanish phonetics and phonology that there always seem to be some students whose pronunciation and intonation improve over the course of the term, others whose skills seem to undergo little change, and still others whose pronunciation and intonation actually seem to deteriorate. In the study reported here, involving 37 undergraduate students following a ten-week Spanish phonetics and phonology course, he set out to examine which factors might help to determine whether or not a student's pronunciation is likely to improve.