O n f e r e n c e

Tetyana Sayenko 
Nagoya University of Commerce and Business, Nagoya, Japan 
[e-mail]
Using IMovie Application in Teaching English Pronunciation to 
Japanese Students 
Bio data 
Tatyana Sayenko
is a Professor of English. She has PhD in Linguistics. Her academic 
and research interests are in the areas of theoretical and experimental phonetics, 
phonostylistics, speech communication, poetics and rhetoric, translation, and CALL. 
Abstract
Some technological innovations can truly optimize the use of long-establishes 
methodsthat proved to be effective in teaching and evaluation of L2 oral performance. 
Video recording devices are among them. This paper discusses the results of the 
experimental study based on the use of iMovie application in teaching English 
Pronunciation to Japanese students. Twenty 3rd-year university students majoring in 
English participated in the experiment. The results of the study suggest that watching 
and analyzing video recordings of their speech allowed the students to notice and correct 
the mistakes they made, and thereby made it easier for them to improve their 
pronunciation: articulation, rhythm, intonation, loudness, and voice projection. Thus, 
iMovie application may be successfully used to optimize foreign language teaching and 
learning. However, qualified 
teacher’s guidance would be n
ecessary to get the desired 
results. 
Short paper 
Introduction 
Rapid development of electronic technology and computer applications inspires foreign 
language teachers and researchers to use some of the tools in the sphere they were not 
originally designed for, namely for different aspects of foreign language teaching. 
Fortunately, some technological innovations can truly optimize the use of longestablishes 
methods that proved to be effective in teaching and evaluation of L2 oral performance. 
Video recording devices are among them. Movies may be used not only to illustrate 
patterns of foreign verbal and non-verbal behavior, but also to record and evaluate 
students’ progress in mastering a foreign language.
Actors and public speakers have never underestimated the importance of audiovisual 
control to refine their articulation and pronunciation. Unfortunately, although iMovie 
application is available now to most of computer users, it is not widely used for speaking 
accuracy development in L1 and L2 classrooms. 
“Digital natives” use the application just to contact their peers and to exchange 
spontaneous video messages in L1. In the foreign language classroom, iMovie application 
is usually not used at all. Educational DVDs, documentary and fiction movies may be 
used only to offer examples of different patterns and genres of speech for analysis, 
imitation, or discussion. Students ‘performance is not recorded. 

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At the very best, it may be analyzed and evaluated by the teacher and students’ peers in 
class. However, unless the students can take a detached view of their speaking 
performance and get involved in the evaluation process, they may remain unaware of the 
nature of their mistakes and the ways to refine their pronunciation 
–
speech sounds 
articulation, rhythm, intonation, loudness, and voice projection. The goal of this study 
was to check the validity of the hypothesis that detached view of the their own speaking 
performance can increase the effectiveness of teaching L2 to university students. In this 
paper, we offer the results of the experimental teaching of English Pronunciation with the 
use of iMovie application at Nagoya University of Commerce and Business (Nagoya, 
Japan).