Teaching punctuation marks in phonetics class to improve undergraduate learners' spoken conversation

Effective communication encompasses not only the phonetic articulation of words but also the nuanced understanding of other conversational signals of spoken communication. Conversational signals are usually denoted by orthographic symbols in a written text called punctuation marks that facilitate intentional reading. However, the teaching of punctuation marks in conventional classrooms is mainly limited to enhancing learners’ reading ability and is popularly identified for its teaching integrated with writing skills. Distinctively, this research attempts to explore how teaching punctuation marks within phonetics classrooms affects learners’ performance in spoken conversation. To achieve this, the study adopted a mixed-method approach for data collection that guided to administration of quantitative tools of pre- and post-assessment surveys, and qualitative semi-structured interviews, besides observation of conversational proficiency. The findings suggest learners’ improved spoken communication, particular in terms of demonstrating clarity, conversational expressiveness, and interaction strategies. The study concludes that integrating punctuation into phonetics teaching can enhance learners' oral communication skills in second-language learning contexts.