Predictors of Pronunciation Accuracy in Second Language Learning1

Sixty‐one non‐native speakers of English were measured on 20 variables suspected of displaying significant relationships to pronunciation accuracy. The English pronunciation of the non‐native speakers was then rated under controlled conditions by a panel of 14 native English‐speaking judges. The variables which proved to be most strongly related to pronunciation accuracy were native language, strength of the speaker's concern about his pronunciation, and amount of conversation carried on at work and at school with native speakers of English. Among the variables found to have negligible relationships to pronunciation accuracy were amount of formal classroom training in the pronunciation of English, extroversion, and sex.