Perspectives of Students in the Use of an App-Based Imaging of Trill Production

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perspectives of collegiate students in regards to an app-based ultrasound biofeedback training program for production of the trill /r/ modeled within the PALS framework. An app-based training on using ultrasound biofeedback technology to help improve pronunciation of the Spanish trill /r/ was developed for remote presentation over a Zoom-based pronunciation class for collegiate learners of Spanish. Participating students shared their opinions about the material that they learned through semi-structured discussion questions. The perspectives of these students showed overall themes of visualization of the tongue, the ability to understand and explain the concepts, integration of sonographic tongue information in teaching, and the difference of in-person learning and app-based learning. In all, this study provided preliminary data on the perspectives of learners of Spanish in regards to using ultrasound biofeedback technology for pronunciation practice of the trill.