actor-network-theory
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- PaperLanguage Learning & Technology1 Jan 2026
Teaching pronunciation online: A sociomaterial study of Swedish as a second language instruction in adult education
Andreas Lagerlöf
Using Actor–Network Theory, this study analyzes how pronunciation instruction is enacted in online Swedish as a second language classes for adults. Observations and interviews reveal that technological actors such as cameras, microphones, and platforms shape instruction, affecting articulatory modeling, prosody practice, corrective feedback, and assessment. The findings conceptualize pronunciation instruction as a sociomaterial practice emerging from human and non-human interactions.
Original abstract
This paper examines how pronunciation instruction is enacted in online Swedish as a Second Language (SSL) within Municipal Adult Education (MAE). Using Actor–Network Theory (ANT), classroom observations and teacher interviews trace how human and non-human actors (e.g., teachers, students, platforms, cameras, microphones, recordings) shape instruction. Five analytic scenes show that: (1) close-up camera/microphone affordances amplify articulatory modeling; (2) prosody practice becomes an auditory, distributed activity coordinated via audio files and chat functions; (3) corrective feedback is configured by one-speaker-at-a-time interfaces and headphone listening; (4) assessment is redistributed over time; and (5) domestic soundscapes and connectivity contingencies unevenly condition what is hearable and assessable. In the paper, pedagogical implications grounded in these scene-based analyses are articulated. Pronunciation instruction is thus shown to emerge as a sociomaterial practice, enacted through the actors and infrastructures of the online classroom.