Narrating the sound of self: The role of pronunciation in learners’ self-constructions in study-abroad contexts

This paper discusses the findings of an empirical study that explores the relationship between study-abroad experiences, learner identity, and pronunciation. We argue that the role of pronunciation as a personal domain of meaning-making warrants more attention than it has hitherto received. To this end, we investigate the narratives of Canadian learners, studying abroad in Germany, in relation to discourses of language learning, culture, and identity, using a Critical Discourse Analysis approach. Our data, which we gained from semi-structured interviews and e-journals, shows that learners’ perceptions of pronunciation are closely linked to their views of the native-speaker ideal, impacting their self-constructions and interpretations of learning experience. In conclusion, we argue for a more differentiated understanding of pronunciation and its implications for language teaching and study abroad.