The effect of pitch gesture observation on L2 English intonation production across learning phases

Abstract Observing pitch gestures facilitates L2 intonation perception, but its impact on intonation production and performance over time remains unclear. Using a pre-, post-, and delayed-test design, this study examined how pitch gesture observation influences L2 English intonation production. Twenty Japanese learners of English (10 in the gesture condition and 10 in the nongesture condition) completed imitative repetition and situational reading tasks. Production accuracy was assessed at three time points. The results revealed a significant interaction between gesture condition and time, indicating different patterns of performance change across testing phases, with group differences emerging only at post-test. These findings suggest that pitch gestures influence the temporal pattern of intonation production performance rather than uniformly improving performance over time. Pedagogically, pitch gestures may provide effective instructional support during the early stages of intonation learning.