This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a software-administered shaping procedure in guiding English monolinguals to acquire accurate Mandarin pronunciation. A single-subject reversal ABAB design was used to evaluate treatment effects. A purposely-developed algorithm generated an accuracy score defined as the similarity between a participant’s utterance and the target pronunciation. The shaping procedure provided performance-dependent reinforcement, while the control condition provided performance-independent reinforcement at a density yoked to the shaping procedure. A no-feedback condition assessed spontaneous language learning ability prior to treatment. Data were evaluated via visual analysis and complemented with effect size analyses and repeated-measures ANOVAs. There were no overall treatment effects. However, three individuals demonstrated a statistically significant difference between treatment and control. A follow-up study compared shaping to no feedback using a simplified procedure and simpler stimuli. A multiple-baseline design was used. The results showed no treatment effects. Possible contributing factors and directions for future research are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MANITOBA/oai:mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca:1993/30582 |
| Date | 18 June 2015 |
| Creators | Leung, Hiu-Nam Jaime |
| Contributors | Jakobson, Lorna (Psychology) Virues-Ortega, Javier (Psychology), Pear, Joseph (Psychology) Moussavi, Zahra (Biomedical Engineering) |
| Source Sets | University of Manitoba Canada |
| Detected Language | English |
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