The effect of interactive input enhancement on the acquisition of the English connected speech by Japanese college students

1 Introduction Second language (L2) effects-of-instruction research over the past decade have investigated what types of instruction are most effective for fostering second or foreign language learning in L2 classrooms (Doughty & Williams, 1998; Doughty, 2003). Indeed, a number of L2 pronunciation researchers appeared to claim that classroom instruction should involve systematic treatments to draw L2 learners' attention to phonetic forms to develop well-balanced phonological competence to mention a few). Looking at an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom in Japan, L2 pronunciation researchers have begun to examine whether the communicative and cognitive instructional approach can significantly facilitate the process (Tanabe & Koyama, 1998; Abe, 2006). However, there remain a number of issues to be investigated; Most importantly, we need to know more about how and why classroom instruction incorporated into communicative language teaching promote L2 phonological development.