Teachers’ and Students’ Perceptions on the Role of Technology in Destabilizing Fossilized Phonetic Errors: Power Pronunciation Software as an Example

Since the phenomenon of fossilization has introduced to the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), researchers have inclined much attention to the process of fossilization (Selinker, 1972; Han, 2004), types of fossilization (Rahal, 2016; Wei, 2008) and solutions to overcome this linguistic obstacle (Zheng, 2010; Valette, 1991). This linguistic phenomenon is defined as “the permanent cessation of IL learning before the learner has attained target language norms at all levels of linguistic structure and in all discourse domains in spite of the learner’s positive ability, opportunity or motivation to learn or acculturate into target society” (Selinker & Lamendella, 1979). While a considerable amount of research has focused on the pedagogical treatment to avoid this phenomenon, this presentation tries to show the effectiveness of the use of technology in destabilizing fossilized phonetic errors. It attempts to show the perception of both teachers and students towards the role of Pronunciation Power 2 in improving learners’ pronunciation and overcoming phonetic fossilization. The presentation starts by introducing the theory of Interlanguage and the concept fossilization. It then reviews previous studies conducted on phonetic fossilization and the use of technology. To answer the research questions, the researcher used a questionnaire as the primary data collection material. The informants of the study are 100 including teachers and students specialized in English. Based on the findings, it is evident that the participants have a positive attitude towards the promising role of the selected software in reducing fossilization. Additionally, it seems that the reasonable use of technology can help learners master correct pronunciation and rehabilitate persistent errors. The present study has pedagogic implications on language teaching. It raises teachers’ awareness on this linguistic phenomenon and the possible solutions to avoid it.