English Pronunciation Instruction

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Pronunciation Instruction ◽  
English Pronunciation

scholarly journals The Usefulness of Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) Eyespeak Software in Improving Iraqi EFL Students’ Pronunciation

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina Fathi Sidig Sidgi ◽  
Ahmad Jelani Shaari
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Speech Recognition ◽  
Automatic Speech Recognition ◽  
Native Language ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year College ◽  
Pronunciation Instruction ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
First Year College Students

The present study focuses on determining whether automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology is reliable for improving English pronunciation to Iraqi EFL students. Non-native learners of English are generally concerned about improving their pronunciation skills, and Iraqi students face difficulties in pronouncing English sounds that are not found in their native language (Arabic). This study is concerned with ASR and its effectiveness in overcoming this difficulty. The data were obtained from twenty participants randomly selected from first-year college students at Al-Turath University College from the Department of English in Baghdad-Iraq. The students had participated in a two month pronunciation instruction course using ASR Eyespeak software. At the end of the pronunciation instruction course using ASR Eyespeak software, the students completed a questionnaire to get their opinions about the usefulness of the ASR Eyespeak in improving their pronunciation. The findings of the study revealed that the students found ASR Eyespeak software very useful in improving their pronunciation and helping them realise their pronunciation mistakes. They also reported that learning pronunciation with ASR Eyespeak enjoyable.  

scholarly journals English Pronunciation Standard Preferences among Students of Polish Universities — Self-reports

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 251-271
Author(s):  
Anita Buczek-Zawiła
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Stated Preference ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
English Departments ◽  
Pronunciation Instruction ◽  
Research Survey ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
English As Lingua Franca

For many years now the debate as to the English pronunciation model to be selected for training both in academia and for schools in Poland has proved unresolvable. When pronunciation instruction is executed, anything that conspicuously departs from spelling pronunciation is accepted. It appears that teachers implicitly and largely unconsciously follow the idea of the somewhat impoverished instructional model of English as a Lingua Franca ELF put forward by Jenkins 2000. Until recently, no reasonable, well-argued-for alternative was available, whereas now the model suggested in Szpyra-Kozłowska 2015: Native English as Lingua Franca NELF fulfils the needs of both students in English departments as well as ordinary users of English. This paper reports on the preferences as to the desirable standard in pronunciation instruction among students in academia — but not among those of English language departments — as learners of English as a Foreign Language for whom language proficiency may be an important professional asset in their future careers. To investigate the above, a research survey of the quantitative-qualitative type was implemented in the form of a questionnaire. The focus is not so much on the numerical favourites as on the reasons behind a stated preference. The respondents seem to aspire to realistic but nonetheless high goals.

scholarly journals Designing Phonetic Alphabets for Bahasa Indonesia (PABI) for the teaching of intelligible English pronunciation in Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 726-734
Author(s):  
Yeni Karlina ◽  
Amin Rahman ◽  
Raqib Chowdhury
Keyword(s):  
English Learners ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Computer Software ◽  
Sound System ◽  
English Classrooms ◽  
Pronunciation Instruction ◽  
Phonetic Transcription ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Bahasa Indonesia

The sociolinguistic development of English has placed a greater emphasis on intelligibility as the ultimate goal of pronunciation instruction. However, various studies have indicated that English pronunciation of Indonesian English learners was not satisfactory due to difficulties in learning English pronunciation and lack of emphasis given to the teaching of English pronunciation in English classrooms in Indonesia. In this paper we propose the development of Phonetic Alphabets for Bahasa Indonesia (PABI). This practical instrument allows English teachers and students in Indonesia to transcribe the pronunciations of English words into phonetic transcription with locally-appropriate readability and accessibility without compromising the pronunciation intelligibility. The development of PABI started with contrastive analysis of common phonemes in the two languages, i.e., English and Bahasa Indonesia (BI). Next, we identified the English phonemes missing in Bahasa Indonesia which English learners in Indonesia have to conceptualise. We then located those English sound ‘pairs’ which seem identical to Indonesians and are thus used interchangeably in BI. A corpus of 30,000 commonly used English words was transcribed in PABI using a computer software IPA to L1PA developed by Rahman and Bhattacharya (2020). Proposals to modify the IPA to suit the BI sound system entailed the adjustments in the consonant phonemes, vowel phonemes, and cluster sounds. These adjustments are expected to improve the readability and accessibility of the conventional IPA in facilitating the teaching and learning of intelligible English pronunciation in Indonesia. Practical uses of the PABI guidelines are drawn to improve its utility. Implications for the development of context sensitive and locally-appropriate pronunciation teaching and learning are drawn based on the findings.

scholarly journals The Impact of Shadowing Technique on Tertiary Students’ English Pronunciation

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 114
Author(s):  
Rio Sugiarto ◽  
Prihantoro Prihantoro ◽  
Sarwo Edy
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Gender Difference ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Conventional Technique ◽  
Consonant Cluster ◽  
Moderator Variable ◽  
Pronunciation Instruction ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
English Students

In the realm of English teaching and learning especially for those of non-native English users, English pronunciation instruction always calls for various techniques which can meet students’ conditions that are naturally affiliated with their psychological and cultural complexities. Thus, the present study aimed at examining the impact of one of English pronunciation instruction techniques, the so-called shadowing technique, on tertiary students’ English pronunciation at IAIN Curup, Bengkulu, Indonesia. An experimental study was conducted by engaging 40 tertiary English students selected randomly. They were split into two groups, wherein 20 students were taught English pronunciation using shadowing technique, and the rest 20 students were taught English pronunciation using a conventional technique. This study revealed that shadowing technique had a positive and significant impact on students’ English pronunciation. Their English pronunciation improvement encompassed various components such as monophthongs, diphthongs, triphthongs, semi-vowels, consonants, consonant cluster sounds, strong and weak forms, linking phonemes, syllable stresses, word stresses, sentence stresses, rhythm, pitch and intonation. Further studies are expected to scrutinize the effect of shadowing technique on English pronunciation by involving more samples, making use of gender difference as a moderator variable, and testing the retention of English pronunciation improvement.

scholarly journals Advanced EFL Learners’ Beliefs about Pronunciation Teaching

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharif M. Alghazo
Keyword(s):  
Course Design ◽  
Teaching Style ◽  
Multiple Choice Questions ◽  
Language Of Instruction ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
College And University ◽  
Pronunciation Instruction ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
Study Context

<p class="apa">This paper explores EFL learners’ beliefs about English pronunciation teaching and aims to provide insights into current teaching practices of English pronunciation at both college and university levels. To this end, the study sought to elicit the beliefs of a group of 71 third- and fourth-year EFL learners majoring in English at a university college in Saudi Arabia about crucial aspects of pronunciation teaching. The study utilized a survey containing five-point Likert scale items as well as multiple-choice questions. Open-ended questions were also included in order to gain fuller understanding of students’ views. Data were thematically analyzed and consequently categorized into five major areas: course design, language of instruction, learning and teaching style, types of feedback, and nativeness of teachers. It was found that students in this study context are cognizant of the value of learning English pronunciation, and of what they find useful and less useful. Students also proved willing to help improve pronunciation instruction by providing helpful perspectives on the proper way, at least in their views, to present this sub-skill.</p>

scholarly journals “West” or “Vest”? Pronunciation of English Consonants [w] and [v] in the Utterances of Slovak EFL Speakers

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 24-29
Author(s):  
Rastislav Metruk
Keyword(s):  
Native Language ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Extra Effort ◽  
Pronunciation Instruction ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
Auditory Analysis ◽  
Labiodental Fricative

The paper investigates the pronunciation of the labiodental fricative [v] and the labial-velar approximant [w] in the word-initial position in English utterances by Slovak speakers. The objective of the study is to explore which of the two consonants appear to be more problematic for Slovak learners of English. 40 students from a Slovak university produced spontaneous monologues in English, which were recorded using a computer and a standard microphone. Afterwards, two native English speakers conducted a subjective auditory analysis in an attempt to identify errors in the subjects’ pronunciation. The results demonstrate that Slovak learners of English frequently encounter difficulties in pronouncing the two consonants, sometimes substituting [v] for [w] and vice versa. The data obtained indicate that the subjects were beset with problems mispronouncing the two sounds to almost the same degree. Possible causes of the erroneous pronunciation seem to involve native language interference, devoting extra effort to approach authentic English pronunciation, and the neglect of pronunciation instruction.

‘I Feel … Slightly out of Touch’: a Longitudinal Study of Teachers Learning to Teach English Pronunciation over a Six-Year Period

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Burri ◽  
Amanda Baker
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Developmental Process ◽  
Learning To Teach ◽  
Individual Development ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Pronunciation Instruction ◽  
Professional Careers ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
Specific Factors

Abstract Recent longitudinal studies have contributed substantially to the understanding of teacher learning. Yet, research on learning to teach English pronunciation is still in its infancy with the aim of this article being the exploration of the longitudinal development of four L2 instructors’ practices and cognitions about English pronunciation pedagogy. Qualitative data were collected in three phases over six years, ranging from the beginning of a pronunciation pedagogy course into the teacher’s current professional careers. Pre- and post-course questionnaires, a course assignment, focus groups, observations, narrative frames, and semi-structured interviews were triangulated to produce detailed teacher profiles, which then provided a thorough understanding of the practitioner’s developing practices and cognitions. Findings demonstrated complex and continuous yet nonlinear and individual development, especially in two areas: (i) the teachers’ delivery of pronunciation instruction and (ii) their focus on pronunciation pedagogy. Four specific factors were also identified as impacting the developmental process of teachers’ practices and cognitions about pronunciation. In light of these findings, the article concludes with a recommendation to extend an existing framework for preparing pronunciation teachers.

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