Effects of Instruction on the Acquisition of Spanish Stress for L2 Learners

Abstract

This study looks at the effects of instruction and music on the secondary language acquisition (SLA) of Spanish stress in both spoken language and song. The study consisted of 10 native English speaking university students enrolled in an undergraduate Spanish phonetics and phonology class where they received explicit instruction on Spanish stress rules. To supplement the classroom instruction, the students had to practice singing Spanish songs at home. The results show that the students were able to make significant improvement in their ability to correctly product Spanish stress patterns in both spoken language and in music. Further analysis suggests that music can be an effective tool in facilitating SLA of Spanish stress.