Seeing Sounds: Memojis and L2 Speech Perception in Noisy Conditions

The technological revolution in pronunciation teaching encompasses dimensions ranging from accessibility to personalization. Memojis provide learners with auditory and visual representations of sound articulation, offering an easy-to-use tool for pronunciation practice. The present study examined the effects of eyebrow raising on the perception of Spanish lexical stress in simulated noisy environments. Sixty Spanish learners completed an auditory experiment in which eyebrow raising was aligned with the prominent syllables in the target word in all sentences (e.g., en octubre dudo "in October, I doubt") and louder noise was added to select syllables. Participants were more adept at identifying lexical stress when accompanied by eyebrow raising and louder background noise. These findings highlight the importance of multimodal communication, which could be beneficial in situations where the acoustic signal is compromised. Implications extend to teaching materials: Providing L2 learners with resources that incorporate both auditory and visual cues may enhance their perception skills.