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The Introduction of Rhythm Instruction in the English As a Foreign The Introduction of Rhythm Instruction in the English as a Foreign Language Classroom to Improve the Comprehensibility and Fluency of English for Specific Purposes Students. Leticia Quesada Vázquez ADVERTIMENT. L'accés als continguts d'aquesta tesi doctoral i la seva utilització ha de respectar els drets de la persona autora. Pot ser utilitzada per a consulta o estudi personal, així com en activitats o materials d'investigació i docència en els termes establerts a l'art. 32 del Text Refós de la Llei de Propietat Intel·lectual (RDL 1/1996). Per altres utilitzacions es requereix l'autorització prèvia i expressa de la persona autora. En qualsevol cas, en la utilització dels seus continguts caldrà indicar de forma clara el nom i cognoms de la persona autora i el títol de la tesi doctoral. No s'autoritza la seva reproducció o altres formes d'explotació efectuades amb finalitats de lucre ni la seva comunicació pública des d'un lloc aliè al servei TDX. Tampoc s'autoritza la presentació del seu contingut en una finestra o marc aliè a TDX (framing). Aquesta reserva de drets afecta tant als continguts de la tesi com als seus resums i índexs. ADVERTENCIA. El acceso a los contenidos de esta tesis doctoral y su utilización debe respetar los derechos de la persona autora. Puede ser utilizada para consulta o estudio personal, así como en actividades o materiales de investigación y docencia en los términos establecidos en el art. 32 del Texto Refundido de la Ley de Propiedad Intelectual (RDL 1/1996). Para otros usos se requiere la autorización previa y expresa de la persona autora. En cualquier caso, en la utilización de sus contenidos se deberá indicar de forma clara el nombre y apellidos de la persona autora y el título de la tesis doctoral. No se autoriza su reproducción u otras formas de explotación efectuadas con fines lucrativos ni su comunicación pública desde un sitio ajeno al servicio TDR. Tampoco se autoriza la presentación de su contenido en una ventana o marco ajeno a TDR (framing). Esta reserva de derechos afecta tanto al contenido de la tesis como a sus resúmenes e índices. WARNING. Access to the contents of this doctoral thesis and its use must respect the rights of the author. It can be used for reference or private study, as well as research and learning activities or materials in the terms established by the 32nd article of the Spanish Consolidated Copyright Act (RDL 1/1996). Express and previous authorization of the author is required for any other uses. In any case, when using its content, full name of the author and title of the thesis must be clearly indicated. Reproduction or other forms of for profit use or public communication from outside TDX service is not allowed. Presentation of its content in a window or frame external to TDX (framing) is not authorized either. These rights affect both the content of the thesis and its abstracts and indexes. UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI The Introduction of Rhythm Instruction in the English as a Foreign Language Classroom to Improve the Comprehensibility and Fluency of English for Specific Purposes Students. Leticia Quesada Vázquez The Introduction of Rhythm Instruction in the English as a Foreign Language Classroom to Improve the Comprehensibility and Fluency of English for Specific Purposes Students LETICIA QUESADA VÁZQUEZ TESI DOCTORAL - TESIS DOCTORAL - DOCTORAL THESIS 2019 UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI The Introduction of Rhythm Instruction in the English as a Foreign Language Classroom to Improve the Comprehensibility and Fluency of English for Specific Purposes Students. Leticia Quesada Vázquez UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI The Introduction of Rhythm Instruction in the English as a Foreign Language Classroom to Improve the Comprehensibility and Fluency of English for Specific Purposes Students. Leticia Quesada Vázquez Leticia Quesada Vázquez The Introduction of Rhythm Instruction in the English as a Foreign Language Classroom to Improve the Comprehensibility and Fluency of English for Specific Purposes Students DOCTORAL THESIS Supervised by Dr. Joaquín Romero Gallego Submitted to the Department of English and German Studies UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI Tarragona, 2019 UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI The Introduction of Rhythm Instruction in the English as a Foreign Language Classroom to Improve the Comprehensibility and Fluency of English for Specific Purposes Students. Leticia Quesada Vázquez The research leading to these results has received funding from a Martí i Franquès doctoral grant from Rovira i Virgili University and project FFI2017-84479-P from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Business ii UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI The Introduction of Rhythm Instruction in the English as a Foreign Language Classroom to Improve the Comprehensibility and Fluency of English for Specific Purposes Students. Leticia Quesada Vázquez FAIG CONSTAR que aquest treball, titulat “The Introduction of Rhythm Instruction in the English as Foreign Language Classroom to Improve the Comprehensibility and Fluency of English for Specific Purposes Students”, que presenta Leticia Quesada Vázquez per a l’obtenció del títol de Doctor Internacional, ha estat realitzat sota la meva direcció al Departament d'Estudis Anglesos i Alemanys d’aquesta universitat. HAGO CONSTAR que el presente trabajo, titulado “The Introduction of Rhythm Instruction in the English as Foreign Language Classroom to Improve the Comprehensibility and Fluency of English for Specific Purposes Students”, que presenta Leticia Quesada Vázquez para la obtención del título de Doctor Internacional, ha sido realizado bajo mi dirección en el Departamento d'Estudis Anglesos i Alemanys de esta universidad. I STATE that the present study, entitled “The Introduction of Rhythm Instruction in the English as Foreign Language Classroom to Improve the Comprehensibility and Fluency of English for Specific Purposes Students”, presented by Leticia Quesada Vázquez for the award of the degree of International Doctor, has been carried out under my supervision at the Department d'Estudis Anglesos i Alemanys of this university. Dr. Joaquín Romero Gallego Doctoral Dissertation Advisor Tarragona, September 3, 2019 iii UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI The Introduction of Rhythm Instruction in the English as a Foreign Language Classroom to Improve the Comprehensibility and Fluency of English for Specific Purposes Students. Leticia Quesada Vázquez Declaration I, Leticia Quesada Vázquez, hereby declare that this thesis is entirely my own work, carried out at Rovira i Virgili University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and that it has not been submitted as an exercise for a degree at any other university. Where other sources of information have been used, they have been acknowledged. Some parts of this thesis have been accepted for publication in Quesada Vázquez, L. (2019). Pronunciation instruction in ESP teaching to enhance students’ prosody. In S. Papadima-Sophocleous, E. Kakoulli Constantinou & C. N. Giannikas (Eds.), ESP teaching and teacher education: Current theories and practices (pp. 163-176). Researchpublishing.net. https://doi.org/10.14705/ rpnet.2019.33.932; and Quesada Vázquez, L., Romero, J. (2018). The improvement of Spanish/Catalan EFL students' prosody by means of explicit rhythm instruction. Paper presented at the International Symposium on Applied Phonetics (ISAPh) (pp. 104-109). DOI: 10.21437/ISAPh.2018- 19. Leticia Quesada Vázquez Tarragona, September 3, 2019 iv UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI The Introduction of Rhythm Instruction in the English as a Foreign Language Classroom to Improve the Comprehensibility and Fluency of English for Specific Purposes Students. Leticia Quesada Vázquez Acknowledgments Three years have gone by since I started this journey and from beginning to end I have felt loved, supported and encouraged. It is still pleasantly shocking with what confidence people have always looked at me and told me I was going to successfully complete this project. Therefore, I cannot write a word without thanking all of them. First of all, I would like to thank the Department of English and German Studies at Rovira i Virgili University, which has seen me grow academically, professionally and personally. Not only have I completed my bachelor’s, my master’s and my PhD studies at this division, but I have also had the opportunity to build my teaching career as part of its team. Those who were first my professors have ended up being my colleagues, and hence they are part of what I am as a professional today. A very special thankyou to my thesis supervisor, Joaquín Romero, to whom it feels almost impossible to express my most sincere gratitude and admiration. You have always been a mentor, you offered me my first job at university, and you insisted on me accepting this challenge. You have always believed in me and, thanks to that, I have been able to achieve each of my professional goals little by little. I am forever in your debt. I strongly appreciate the economic support provided by both the university’s Martí i Franquès doctoral grant and project FFI2017-84479-P from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Business, which provided funding to guarantee the execution and dissemination of this study. A word of gratitude to Carmen Rueda, who let me carry out my experiment in the course she is coordinating and who has always encouraged me to find my place at university; and to Irene and Nadia for their unconditional support inside and outside the v UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI The Introduction of Rhythm Instruction in the English as a Foreign Language Classroom to Improve the Comprehensibility and Fluency of English for Specific Purposes Students. Leticia Quesada Vázquez lab. I really hope we can keep working together as a consolidated research team in the near future. I also want to thank Anca, Kasia, Renata and Nune for acting as advisors with their experience, and Cai, who started this adventure with me. I would like to express my appreciation to the members of the laboratoire LIDILEM at the University of Grenoble-Alpes, in France for the warm welcome and valuable support.
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