Proposal for an MA Thesis (a Research Essay) Corrective feedback to pronunciation errors in adult second language classrooms

Proposal for an MA Thesis (a Research Essay)
Corrective feedback to pronunciation errors in adult second language classrooms
ALDS 5002
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 Background There are different methods for teaching foreign languages, with theoretical and practical foundations, but because not all are equally successful, there is focus on correction of oral and written errors and feedback to improve language skills. Corrective feedback on pronunciation errors can potentially improve the ESL/EFL as there is emphasis on improving the oral comprehension skills. There is an opportunity to learn the various prosodic aspects of the language focusing on reading and writing, and at times games   when there is corrective feedback on pronunciation and choosing the most effective strategies improves language skills. The teachers highlight pronunciation errors, and the adult ESL learners are more likely to reduce errors in English pronunciation.
Research gap
My interest in this topic is borne out of my personal experience in observing adult ESL classrooms. Through my observation I noticed that little attention was paid to pronunciation. I noticed that many learners had pronunciation difficulties that caused loss of speech intelligibility and prevented them from communicating efficiently with others. Many learners complained that their teachers do not correct their pronunciation errors. At the same time many teachers felt unsure if learner’s errors should be corrected, which errors to be corrected when to correct and how? The acquisition of pronunciation in a foreign language partly depends on the influence of the L1, where the learner of L2 transfers pronunciation features of their mother tongue and reproduces them in L2 sounds.  However, transfer is one aspect that affects l2 pronunciation and there are other factors as even people with a common L1 have different success rates in acquiring L2 pronunciations. The age is one factor which explains variability in the acquisition ESL.
Significance of the study 
This study is going to provide data for ESL teachers to gain better understanding of corrective feedback on pronunciation errors. 
Pronunciation skill for ESL learners
Importance of pronunciation skill in important for ESL learners 
Corrective feedback is an integral part of assessment and since some errors affect intelligibility and correction is necessary. Saito (2015) highlighted the benefits of corrective feedback targeting pronunciation learning where form –focused instructions and correction of pronunciation errors was effective in L2 learning. Naziri & Haghverdi (2014, p. 925) stated that “pronunciation deals with sound production. Therefore sounds play crucial role in the language.”  Pronunciation remains an important component of communication competence, and there is growing interest on pronunciation in second language acquisition (SLA).  To communicate effectively in the target language the speakers learn proper pronunciation and CF remains one of the m most common techniques to improve second language skills acquisition  including pronunciation (Naziri & Haghverdi, 2014). Pronunciation is one of the factors, which results in communication breakdowns especially when there is a challenge understanding accented speech (Foote, Holtby & Derwing, 2012).  
While there are L2 speakers who desire to retain their accents as part of their identity, there is also a risk of foreign-accent discrimination among L 2 speakers in Canada (Foote, Holtby & Derwing, 2012).  In oral communication, pronunciation of the second language may affect the influence and oral abilities of the speakers since errors may hinder L2 communication, and even how the listeners judge the speaker (Lee, Jang & Plonsky, 2014). Correcting errors improves communicative competence including understanding and producing the phonological system of the L2. Pronunciation is skills that can be taught and developed in the learning process, and is part of communication competence.
Even the teacher's knowledge and pedagogical competence are important language skills and this includes their capacity to identify pronunciation errors and provide relevant feedback. Teaching the language skills then is more effective when pronunciation exercises are integrated in teaching and learning (Saito & Lyster, 2012). Even though, there is limited teacher training on pronunciation, there is growing interest to integrate pronunciation in L2 teaching and learning. Pronunciation remains a crucial component of language learning and teaching and influences the intelligibility of interactions, where learners understand how language perception and production affects their L2 competence.
Pronunciation instruction is important for ESl learners
There are researchers who doubt the importance of pronunciation instruction, but there has been growing interest on the effectiveness of CF on pronunciation. As such, recent research on pronunciation has focused on the effectiveness of exercise-based instruction in improving pronunciation performance and especially when there is transfer-appropriate processing. Lee, Jang & Plonsky (2014, p. 346) pointed out that  recent research showed that pronunciation instruction including feedback provision has a  positive effect on L2 skills, features and pronunciation, which provide counterevidence of earlier studies  that formal linguistic instruction was ineffective as was the study by Krashen (1982). 
  According to (Lee & Lyster, 2016) pronunciation-focused recasts integrated into pronun...