Crowther, DustinIsbell, Daniel R.2024-07-032024-07-032023-08https://hdl.handle.net/10125/108510This study examined the effectiveness of one-on-one pronunciation tutoring sessions in improving the accuracy of phoneme production, comprehensibility, and accentedness of English pronunciation for an adult Japanese English learner. The principal aim of the investigation was to enhance the comprehensibility and accentedness of speech through the provision of explicit instruction on both segmentals and suprasegmentals features, with a particular emphasis on eight specific target phonemes (/θ/, /ð/, /l/, /ɹ/, /f/, /p/, /b/, and /v/). One Japanese adult English learner participated in the pronunciation tutoring sessions and received 16 hours of intensive English pronunciation instruction. The learner practiced the eight target sounds through tongue twisters, minimal-pair, and English Accent Coach activities, and shadowing practice. The post-test results showed improvement in accentedness, indicating that the participant's English pronunciation had become closer to nativelikeness. There was also a noticeable difference in comprehensibility between the pre-test and post-test scores. However, the accuracy of phoneme production did not improve across all eight target sounds. Upon closer analysis, it was found that five of the sounds (/θ/, /p/, /ð/, /b/, and /ɹ/) showed improvement, while the other four sounds did not. Overall, this study provided insights into the effectiveness of one-on-one pronunciation tutoring sessions for an adult Japanese English learner seeking to improve English pronunciation. The findings suggested that explicit instruction and consistent practice could lead to significant improvements in comprehensibility and accentedness, even if the accuracy of phonemes was not improved across all target sounds.