Workplace intelligibility: form-focused pronunciation instruction on ESL spontaneous speech

This study examined the development of global intelligibility in one’s spontaneous workplace spoken ESL in response to form-focused instruction (FFI) through the analyses of comments from both the learner and tutor and subjective listeners’ impressionistic judgments. The feedback from individuals who worked with Malcolm showed perceived improvement in Malcolm’s intelligibility, while no statistically significant change in Malcolm’s speech intelligibility was measured in the one-way repeated ANOVA. The findings were explained through the analyses of the instructional treatment, time factor, listeners’ characteristics, fast speech speed, and first language transfer. This study uncovered how an adult ESL learner responded to instruction in reality after having lived in the USA for 19 years. The participant’s age, amount of second language (L2) experience, and need for spontaneous workplace intelligibility contribute to the significance of the study.