About mindful vs. mindless repetition -

Mick Randall, in his book 'Memory, Psychology and Second Language
Learning', though not in a section about pronunciation particularly,
quotes from H. Chu: 'Learning to be a Sage' (1990):

"Learning is reciting. If we recite it then we think it over, think it
over then recite it, naturally it'll become meaningful to us. If we
recite but don't think it over, we still won't appreciate its meaning.
If we think it over but don't recite it, even though we might
understand it, our understanding will be precarious."

For pronunciation, 'thinking it over' would include listening to
yourself and trying to relate what you hear to:
1. other speakers you've heard
2. what you're doing with your vocal organs, both in general
(articulatory setting) and in detail (forming particular sounds).