Improving the pronunciation of the consonant phoneme /ʃ/ in Spanish EFL learners through didactic dubbing
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_misc/mj.202612888Keywords:
Language Teaching, Didactic Dubbing, English Pronunciation, English Phonology, Didactic Audiovisual TranslationAbstract
Despite the limited attention paid to pronunciation in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom, achieving intelligible pronunciation remains essential for effective communication. In this regard, accurate production of most English consonant phonemes is key to intelligibility (Jenkins 2000), which highlights the need to implement innovative and motivating classroom activities aimed at developing learners’ phonological competence. This study examines the effectiveness of didactic intralingual dubbing activities, one of the most researched didactic audiovisual translation modes, in improving the production of the /ʃ/ phoneme among Spanish learners of English. A three-phase quasi-experimental design (pre-test, dubbing intervention, and post-test) was adopted with a sample of Primary Education degree students (n = 71), divided into a control group (n = 34) and an experimental group (n = 37). Relevant data were collected and subsequently analysed using non-parametric statistical tests. The results reveal a statistically significant improvement in the production of the /ʃ/ phoneme in the experimental group following the intervention, suggesting that didactic dubbing promotes phonetic awareness and contributes to improved intelligibility in the EFL classroom.
Downloads
References
ALFONSO, Elena. 2021. “The Importance of Teaching English Pronunciation in Spanish Schools”. Trabajo Fin de Máster. Universidad de La Laguna.
ÁVILA-CABRERA, José Javier. 2022. “Improving Oral Production Skills in the Business English Class through Creative Dubbing”. ESP Today. Journal of English for Specific Purposes at Tertiary Level 10 (1): 99-122. <https://doi.org/10.18485/esptoday.2022.10.1.5>. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18485/esptoday.2022.10.1.5
BAEYENS, Lucas. 2023. “Improving the Pronunciation of Problematic /v/ in Spanish Learners of English Using Intralingual Dubbing Activities”. En Castro, Elke (coord.) Interrelaciones entre la imagen, el texto y las tecnologías digitales. Nuevas perspectivas en la enseñanza de las ciencias sociales. Dykinson: 1158-1182.
BAEYENS, Lucas. 2024. “Students’ Perceptions Related to the Value of Intralingual Dubbing Activities as a Motivational Tool for the Enhancement of Oral Skills in EFL Learning”. Journal of Audiovisual Translation 7 (1): 1-22. <https://doi.org/10.47476/jat.v7i1.2024.293>. DOI: https://doi.org/10.47476/jat.v7i1.2024.293
BURSTON, Jack. 2005. “Video Dubbing Projects in the Foreign Language Curriculum”. CALICO Journal 23: 79-92. <https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.v23i1.79-92>. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.v23i1.79-92
CHIU, Yi-Hui. 2012. “Can Film Dubbing Projects Facilitate EFL Learners’ Acquisition of English Pronunciation?”. British Journal of Educational Technology 43(1): 24-27. <https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2011.01252.x>. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2011.01252.x
COHEN, Louis, Lawrence MANION y Keith MORRISON. 2007. Research Methods in Education. 6th Edition. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203029053
COLUMBUS, Chris. 2001. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Warner Bros Pictures/Heyday Films/1492 Pictures.
DERWING, Tracey M. y Murray J. MUNRO. 2015. Pronunciation Fundamentals: Evidence-based Perspectives for L2 Teaching and Research. John Benjamins. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.42
EBERHARD, David. M., Gary Francis SIMONS y Charles D. FENNIG. (eds.) 2024. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 27th edition. SIL International.
EBERHARD, David. M., Gary Francis SIMONS y Charles D. FENNIG. (eds.) 2025. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 28th edition. SIL International.
FERNÁNDEZ-COSTALES, Alberto. 2021. “Subtitling and Dubbing as Teaching Resources in CLIL in Primary Education: The Teachers’ Perspective”. Porta Linguarum 36: 175-192. <https://doi.org/10.30827/portalin.v0i36.16228>. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30827/portalin.v0i36.16228
HANNA, Paul Robert, Jean S. HANNA, Richard E. HODGES y Edwin H. RUDORF. 1966. Phoneme‐Grapheme Correspondences as Cues to Spelling Improvement. United States Government Printing Office.
HE, Pin y Sukhum WASUNTARASOPHIT. 2015. “The Effects of Video Dubbing Tasks on Reinforcing Oral Proficiency for Chinese Vocational College Students”. Asian EFL Journal 17 (2): 106-133.
JACKSON, Peter. 2013. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Wingnut Films/New Line Cinema/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)/Warner Bros Pictures.
JACKSON, Peter. 2014. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Wingnut Films/New Line Cinema/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)/Warner Bros Pictures.
JENKINGS, Jennifer. 2000. The Phonology of English as an International Language. Oxford U.P.
Jones, Rodney H. 1997. “Beyond ‘Listen and Repeat’: Pronunciation Teaching Materials and Theories of Second Language Acquisition”. System 25: 103-112. <https://doi.org/10.1016/S0346-251X(96)00064-4>. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0346-251X(96)00064-4
KENWORTHY, Joanne. 1987. Teaching English Pronunciation. Longman.
MUNRO, Murray J. y Tracy M. Derwing. 1995. “Foreign Accent, Comprehensibility, and Intelligibility in the Speech of Second Language Learners”. Language Learning 45: 73-97. <https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1995.tb00963.x>. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1995.tb00963.x
NEWELL, Michael. 2005. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Warner Bros Pictures/Heyday Films.
ROGERSON-REVELL, Pamela. 2011. English Phonology and Pronunciation Teaching. Bloomsbury. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350934177
SÁNCHEZ REQUENA, Alicia. 2016. Audiovisual Translation in Teaching Foreign Languages: Contributions of Dubbing to Improve Fluency and Pronunciation in Spontaneous Conversations. Porta Linguarum 26: 9-21. <http://hdl.handle.net/10481/53920>. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30827/Digibug.53920
SÁNCHEZ REQUENA, Alicia. 2018. “Intralingual Dubbing as a Tool for Developing Speaking Skills. Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts”. Audiovisual Translation in Applied Linguistics: Educational Perspectives 4 (1): 101-128. . DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/ttmc.00006.san
SCHMIDT, Richard W. 1990. “The Role of Consciousness in Second Language Learning”. Applied Linguistics 11 (2): 129-158. <https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/11.2.129>. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/11.2.129
SILVA VALENCIA, Juan Carlos. 2022. “A Comparative Linguistic Analysis of English and Spanish Phonological System”. GIST Education and Learning Research Journal 25: 139-155. <https://doi.org/10.26817/16925777.1152>. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26817/16925777.1152
SUBIABRE UBILLA, Paulina B. 2020. “La adquisición de segmentos del inglés desde la sociolingüística: la fricativa postalveolar sorda /ʃ/”. Literatura y Lingüística 41: 383-412. <10.29344/0717621X.41.2255>. DOI: https://doi.org/10.29344/0717621X.41.2255
TALAVÁN, Noa y José Javier ÁVILA-CABRERA. 2015. “First Insights into the Combination of Dubbing and Subtitling as L2 Didactic Tools”. En Gambier, Yves, Annamaria Caimi y Cristina Mariotti (eds.) Subtitles and Language Learning. Peter Lang: 149-172.
TALAVÁN, Noa y Tomás COSTAL. 2017. “iDub — The Potential of Intralingual Dubbing in Foreign Language Learning: How to Assess the Task”. Language Value 9 (1): 62-88. <http://dx.doi.org/10.6035/LanguageV.2017.9.4>. DOI: https://doi.org/10.6035/LanguageV.2017.9.4
TALAVÁN, Noa, Jennifer LERTOLA y Alberto FERNÁNDEZ-COSTALES. 2024. Didactic Audiovisual Translation and Foreign Language Education. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003293958
TINEDO-RODRÍGUEZ, Antonio-Jesús, y Alberto FERNÁNDEZ-COSTALES. 2025. “La Traducción Audiovisual Didáctica (TAD) como recurso en la formación del profesorado: un estudio de caso”. Didáctica. Lengua y Literatura, 37: 1-11. <https://doi.org/10.5209/dill.90591>. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5209/dill.90591
TLAZALO, Ana Cristina y Nora M. BASURTO. 2014. “Pronunciation Instruction and Students’ Practice to Develop their Confidence in EFL Oral Skills”. PROFILE Issues in Teachers’ Professional Development 16 (2): 151-170. <http://dx.doi.org/10.15446/profile.v16n2.46146>. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15446/profile.v16n2.46146
URIBE-ENCISO, Olga Lucía, Sol SMITH FUENTES HERNÁNDEZ, Karla Lizeth VARGAS PITA y Anderson Steve REY PABÓN. 2019. “Problematic Phonemes for Spanish-speakers’ Learners of English”. GIST — Education and Learning Research Journal 19: 215-238. <https://doi.org/10.26817/16925777.701>. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26817/16925777.701
WALKER, Robin. 2010. Teaching the Pronunciation of English as a Lingua Franca. Oxford U.P.
ZHANG, Hanwen. 2023. “A Comparison Analysis of Spanish Phonological System and English Phonological System”. Communications in Humanities Research 21: 97-103. <https://doi.org/10.54254/2753-7064/21/20231430>. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54254/2753-7064/21/20231430
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Lucas Baeyens
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
