L2 English pronunciation instruction: techniques that increase expiratory drive through enhanced use of the abdominal muscles, and transfer of learning

Michael Yeldham

doi:10.1515/applirev-2023-0049

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L2 English pronunciation instruction: techniques that increase expiratory drive through enhanced use of the abdominal muscles, and transfer of learning

Michael Yeldham

Published/Copyright: June 24, 2025

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From the journal Applied Linguistics Review Volume 16 Issue 6

Abstract

Research by this author has indicated that instruction of techniques that increase expiratory drive through enhanced activity of the abdominal muscles can benefit Chinese speakers’ English phoneme pronunciation. One of these two techniques, referred to as the measured contraction technique (MCT), involves sustained contraction of the abdominal muscles aimed at maintaining the length of long vowels/diphthongs. The other technique, referred to as the sharp contraction technique (SCT), involves a burst of muscular effort designed to help enhance production of voiced consonants. In that earlier research, the learners were taught the techniques specifically for their production of the long vowel/diphthong sounds /i:/, /u:/ and /eɪ/, and voiced fricative consonants /z/, /ð/, /v/ and /ʒ/, sounds which typically challenge Chinese speakers. The data for that research was gathered through a reading-aloud test (pre-test through to delayed post-test), and in this current study that test data was further analyzed to see whether the benefits from the techniques transferred to other, typically problematic sounds for these learners: those being various other long vowels/diphthongs, and also syllable-final voiced consonants. The study concluded there was some transfer of learning, particularly for the MCT, somewhat supporting the value of the techniques. The results could be largely explained through transfer of learning theory, which was used to frame the study, and implications of the study are discussed for L2 pronunciation instruction.

Keywords: abdominal support techniques; Chinese learners of English; English pronunciation instruction; phoneme pronunciation; transfer of learning

Corresponding author: Michael Yeldham, School of Foreign Language Education, Jilin University, 2699 Qianjin St, Chaoyang, Changchun, 130012, China, E-mail: mayeldham@hotmail.com

Appendix 1

The anonymous reviewer of this article suggested I re-examine the explanations for the techniques’ effectiveness in Yeldham (2023, 2024), pointing out they generally seemed contrary to current scientific understanding of speech breathing. One concern by the reviewer was that in normal, fluent speech most speakers do not appear to make discrete abdominal movements for particular syllables/segments, and thus it was unclear how the techniques could target, and thus improve, the production of the sounds. Another concern was that most of the targeted sounds, particularly the voiced fricatives, do not usually require a great deal of expiratory drive to produce (Catford 1977).

In addressing the first concern, an observation by Kneil (1972, cited in Messum 2007) appears pertinent, this observation being that such discrete abdominal movements might occur for isolated syllables in slow rates of speech, especially when the system relaxes between syllables (with less buildup of sub-glottal pressure). In accordance with this, research has shown that compared with L1 English speakers, Chinese speakers speak more slowly, take many more breaths when speaking, and have longer silent spans. The first two factors were examined and found for Chinese speakers in their L1 (Keithly et al. 2006), while all three factors were found for Chinese speakers when speaking L2 English (Pavlovskaya and Hao 2020).^[13] Such characteristics suggest that Chinese learners of English may be able to utilize the techniques in running speech, thus possibly targeting and improving their pronunciation of segments.

Also, in addressing both concerns raised above, it must be highlighted that my participants were not fluent speakers – on whom much of the speech-breathing literature seems to be based – but rather L2 learners somewhat struggling with the L1, including the target phonemes. Interestingly, Messum and Young (2019) mention that their instruction of the abdominal technique to improve L2 learners’ sentence stress, also “conditions and underpins much of the rest of English pronunciation, leading to aspiration on /p/ /t/ and /k/ in some contexts, the classes of tense and lax vowels, etc.” (p. 25), suggesting the technique may also be used to improve L2 learners’ segmental pronunciation, including to lengthen deficient long vowels. Regarding voiced fricatives, for L1 speakers much of the voicing comes from the vocal folds rather than respiratory drive. Perhaps, though, for these L2 learners, for whom these sounds are absent in their L1, and given their apparently short breath groups, maybe here, too, they are utilizing pulsatory breathing much like Messum and Young’s (2019) L2 learners, but to bolster these segments rather than syllables. These contentions could be investigated in future research that examines the impact of the techniques on the learners’ speech breathing patterns and how this affects their production of the phonemes.

Appendix 2

The reading-aloud test passages

Zac, Jack and Jake have all been disappointed lately. Zac is very keen to get a job as a zookeeper. He likes zoos because they help to protect animals. However, he’s finding it impossible to get a job in one. That’s because he wants to work in Hong Kong, but the only jobs for zookeepers are overseas. Jack can’t find a job, either. He’s a baker, and bakers have to get up at 3 in the morning to bake their cakes. But Jack’s too lazy to wake up that early. Jake’s problem is worse. He’s always very late for work, and he’s been fired from a lot of jobs recently because of it. That almost prevents him from finding the job he really wants. If he finds it, he’ll really be over the moon.
My brother, James, and I usually put on our boots at night and go outside into our yard. We put some cheap sheets on the ground, and lie down and look up at the moon. Sometimes a third person, my mother Jane, comes along with us, and looking up into the night sky gives us a lot of pleasure. We plan to do it thousands of times in the future. It very much helps to protect our family values.

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Received: 2023-03-06

Accepted: 2025-05-26

Published Online: 2025-06-24

Published in Print: 2025-11-25

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Keywords for this article

abdominal support techniques; Chinese learners of English; English pronunciation instruction; phoneme pronunciation; transfer of learning