This present study investigated the relationship between Chinese senior high school students’ mastery of pronunciation features and their speaking fluency. Sixty-six second-year Chinese senior high school students participated in this study. The first instrument measured subjects’ mastery of pronunciation features consisting of six categories: vowels, consonants, linking, assimilation, intonation and stress while the second one assessed their three aspects of speaking fluency by reading a text: pause, repetition and speech rate. The results of data analysis showed most subjects in this study performed well on segmental features, but their performance on supra-segmental features were weak. Moreover, subjects from the high supra-segmental group outperformed low supra-segmental group in the uses of stress, intonation and linking. Based on the results, employing consciousness-raising activities for teaching pronun- ciation were suggested for improving students’ pronunciation skills.
1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
3. Methods
4. Instrument
5. Results
6. Discussions and Implications
7. Conclusion
References
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