Productive and Receptive Awareness of English Stress Following Explicit Phonology Instruction

Abstract

This study examined changes in English stress production and perception among 26 Level 6 English majors at Taibah University, Saudi Arabia, assessed before and after eight weeks of explicit phonology instruction combining explanation, audio practice, spoken practice, and teacher feedback. A single-group repeated-assessment design was used. Production tasks involved words, sentences, and passages, and each recording was scored independently by two raters, with the mean of their scores analysed; perception was assessed with a stress-identification test marked in Blackboard. Analyses included paired-samples t-tests, Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, confidence intervals, paired effect sizes, inter-rater agreement statistics, and exploratory correlations. Mean production scores rose from 11.00 to 14.44 and mean perception scores from 11.12 to 15.42 (each out of 20). Both differences were statistically significant (p < .001), with standardized paired changes (dz) of 2.32 and 1.74, respectively. Production scores were higher at posttest for 25 of 26 students and perception scores for 24. The two raters agreed well on pretest and posttest production totals (ICC = .78 and .87) and moderately on individual change (ICC = .52), and the production gain was significant under each rater’s scores separately. Without a comparison group, these results document improvement in recorded scores during the course; they do not isolate the effect of instruction. They nevertheless support assessing production and perception separately in university phonology courses for Arab EFL learners.