ABSTRACT
Until the turn of the twenty-first century, the topic of second language (L2) pronunciation had been marginalized in the larger disciplines of applied linguistics and second language acquisition (SLA) and often treated as a sub-skill of speaking. Examining major refereed journals (e.g. Applied Linguistics and TESOL Quarterly) for the preceding 30 years, for example, only a limited number of published articles have focused on pronunciation-related topics (with the notable exception of a special issue of TESOL Quarterly in 2005). Since 2005, there has been an explosion in research in this area (see Thomson & Derwing, 2015). This has coincided with the inception of the annual Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching Conference, which began in 2008, and the 2015 launch of the Journal of Second Language Pronunciation, the first journal entirely devoted to L2 pronunciation. Even meetings of applied linguistics associations have witnessed a marked increase in the number of papers related to this topic. Despite these significant achievements, Thomson and Derwing (2015) note that much of the recent work is not rigorous enough to use as the basis for strong conclusions about L2 pronunciation and its teaching. A comprehensive understanding of this domain and stronger links between research and practice are needed (Derwing & Munro, 2005) to best meet English language learners’ needs (Celce-Murcia, Brinton, Goodwin & Griner, 2010).
