EFFECTS OF EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION ON THE PRODUCTION OF [s] AND [z] IN ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (L2) BY UPPER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LEARNERS

Authors

  • Samara Leandro de Oliveira Federal University of Goiás
  • Rhanya Rafaella Rodrigues Federal Institute of Goiás
  • Elena Ortiz Preuss Federal University of Goiás https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8149-7738

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20873.25306

Keywords:

Explicit Instruction, Alveolar Fricatives, English Language, Oral Production

Abstract

Abstract: This study aims to evaluate whether explicit instruction is effective in the production of the alveolar fricative consonants [s] and [z] in English as a second language by students in the final years of elementary school. The research also aims to observe if the effects of the pedagogical intervention are maintained in the long term. To this end, 22 learners were equally divided into two groups: the Experimental Group (8th grade), which received explicit pronunciation instruction in a communicative context, and the Control Group (9th grade), which did not receive explicit instruction. Data were collected through a diagnostic pre-test and post-tests (immediate and delayed), which included a reading aloud activity of words in the carrier phrase “Say {target word} too”. The results showed that explicit instruction was effective in the production of the fricatives [s] and [z] in English; however, the effect was maintained in the long term only for the production of the alveolar fricative consonant [s].

Author Biographies

Samara Leandro de Oliveira, Federal University of Goiás

She is an English Language teacher at Ágape School. She holds a Master's degree from the Graduate Program in Letters and Linguistics at the Faculty of Letters of the Federal University of Goiás (2024). She is a specialist in Literacy and Literacy Education from Pitágoras Unopar University (2022) and in English Language from Faculdade Venda Nova do Imigrante (2020). She graduated in Pedagogy from Pitágoras Unopar University (2020) and in Languages, with a focus on Portuguese, English, and their respective Literatures, from the State University of Goiás (2018). Since 2022, she has been a member of the Language Processing Laboratory (LAPROLIN), under the coordination of Prof. Dr. Elena Ortiz Preuss (UFG) and Prof. Dr. Mirian Santos de Cerqueira (UFG), with a focus on Second Language Acquisition (SLA). Her research interests focus on experimental acoustic phonetics; phonological acquisition; second language acquisition (SLA); teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) and Brazilian Portuguese (BP); phonological theories and analysis models; explicit instruction and perceptual training of phonetic-phonological aspects; development of teaching materials for pronunciation; cognitive approaches to language acquisition, as well as explicit and implicit processes in SLA.

Rhanya Rafaella Rodrigues, Federal Institute of Goiás

Basic, Technical and Technological Education Teacher (EBTT) at the Federal Institute of Science, Education and Technology of Goiano, Ceres Campus. PhD in Letters and Linguistics from the Graduate Program in Letters and Linguistics at the Federal University of Goiás (UFG). She holds a Master's degree and a specialization in Linguistics, with an emphasis on Second Language Acquisition. She graduated in Languages - Spanish Teaching Degree (UFG). She works as a Permanent Teacher and Coordinator in the Professional Master's Program in Professional and Technological Education (IF Goiano). She is a member of the Editorial Board of the IF Goiano Publisher. She is part of the research groups Laprolin; LiCultIn and Research Subjects in EPT. Her main research interests are: the acquisition and development of reading comprehension in first and second language; the role of prosody in fluency and reading comprehension; the association between reading and educational opportunities; the interface between psycholinguistics and education; the effects of individual differences and educational practices in EPT.

Elena Ortiz Preuss, Federal University of Goiás

She holds a PhD in Language Studies from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS (2011) and a master's degree in Letters from the Catholic University of Pelotas - UCPEL (2005). She completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Georgetown University (Washington D.C., USA; 2013). She is a Full Professor at the Federal University of Goiás - UFG, where she served as Deputy Provost for Graduate Studies and Director General of Graduate Studies (2018-2019). She represents UFG at the Disciplinary Center for Teaching Portuguese and Spanish as L2/FL (PELSE) of AUGM. She coordinates the Psycholinguistics Working Group of ANPOLL (2023 - present). She is part of the coordination of the Psycholinguistics and Interfaces Project at ALFAL (Association of Linguistics and Philology of Latin America) and the Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics Committee of ABRALIN (2020- present). She coordinates the LAPROLIN - Language Processing Laboratory of UFG (2020 - present). She is a collaborating researcher at the Bilingualism and Cognition Laboratory (Labico) of UFRGS (2013 - present). She has experience in the field of Letters, Experimental Psycholinguistics, Bilingual Psycholinguistics, Applied Linguistics, with emphasis on the Spanish Language. Her research interests include: L2 acquisition and processing; lexical access and production of bilingual speech; pedagogical intervention in language acquisition; executive functions and language; neuropsycholinguistic interface and education.

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Published

2026-02-25

How to Cite

Leandro de Oliveira, S., Rafaella Rodrigues, R., & Ortiz Preuss, E. (2026). EFFECTS OF EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION ON THE PRODUCTION OF [s] AND [z] IN ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (L2) BY UPPER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LEARNERS. Porto Das Letras, 11(3), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.20873.25306

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 3 (2025): Linguística e Literatura em contexto educacional

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DOSSIÊ

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