An Experimental Study on Flapping in English Teaching

Abstract

This study examines the feature of flap occurring in word-level and phrase level in American English. The subjects are university students who are non-native speakers of English. 103 students participated. Sentences were made with flapping /t/, /d/. Results showed that experimental groups were improved significantly more than comparison group. Experimental group showed a higher score of mean at the post-test analysis. Moreover, results from each group also revealed that different mean score indicated a statistical significance. The results of the statistical analysis indicated that the two groups were significantly different in mean score at the post-test. These results showed that stylistic variation in flapping should be explicitly taught so that users are aware of it. In the absence of sufficient exposure to English, EFL learners can only acquire appropriate usage norms through instruction.