ABSTRACT
Research on individual differences for second language pronunciation has increased substantially in recent years, leading to a more comprehensive view of the cognitive, socio-affective, and experiential variables that affect second language pronunciation learning. This chapter reviews research on individual differences for speech perception and speech production in both the second language and foreign language contexts. Speech production is further subdivided into research targeting specific features, such as segmental and suprasegmental features, and global dimensions of pronunciation, such as comprehensibility and accentedness. Accumulated findings in this area have implications for how instructional approaches can help learners become aware of their pronunciation and the strategies and techniques they can use to improve it. Overall, research in this domain is moving toward a more dynamic, interactive view of the individual difference factors that shape pronunciation development. Future research will therefore need to adopt longitudinal designs that are appropriate for examining time-varying relationships between individual differences and a variety of pronunciation learning outcomes.
