Phonodidactics is not so black as it is painted: traditions and trends in FL pronunciation teaching

By a curious paradox, the indispensability of intelligible, comprehensible and minimally accented foreign language (FL) speech in oral communication does not translate into intensive pronunciation practice in instructed settings. Teaching pronunciation usually poses a major challenge to language instructors both at the level of planning and implementation of pronunciation teaching activities, and is therefore frequently frowned upon to the advantage of the remaining language subsystems. However, underdeveloped FL pronunciation skills carry negative consequences every time learners enter into oral conversations. The problem takes on yet greater significance nowadays when the increased mobility of 21st century societies raises the likelihood of students making contacts with native and non-native speakers of the target language (TL). On having, firstly, enumerated some of the culprits responsible for the inferiority of pronunciation component in everyday language classroom routine and, secondly, demonstrated the importance of the subskill in establishing contacts with native and non-native speakers of the TL, we attempt to provide a general overview of the well-established traditions and main trends in the field of phonodidactics. In view of the above, our primary objective is to first and foremost overcome deep-rooted prejudices against including the pronunciation component in language classrooms by developing readers’ awareness on the fundamentals of pronunciation teaching.

The affective benefits of speech recognition systems on pronunciation monitoring

This research aimed to investigate the effects of pronunciation monitoring on learners’ affective factors through self-monitoring activities using speech recognition systems. The effect of a specifically designed pronunciation activity for Japanese university students was analyzed. The worksheet form of the activity was based on the use of speech recognition systems such as Siri and Google apps. A special focus was placed on the development of students’ affective phase toward English and pronunciation learning. The research concluded that the activity had a positive impact for increasing awareness of, interest in, and motivation toward pronunciation improvement and it highlighted the important role of teaching pronunciation in English oral communication skills in the limited English exposure of the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context.

PRONUNCIATION ERRORS AMONG MALAYSIAN UNDERGRADUATES IN ENGLISH FOR ORAL COMMUNICATION COURSE

In a country where there is a diverse range of races and cultures, the influence of the first language comes almost naturally when using English as a second language. This influence has created a negative transfer which has affected learners’ communicative competence as well as performance. This study intends to investigate the pronunciation errors among undergraduates in a Malaysian university and explain the mispronunciations by comparing the phonetic system of English and Malay It is hoped that the results of this study will eventually provide some insights to producing effective strategies for teaching pronunciation that can help ESL learners to improve their oral proficiency skills and thus meeting their personal and professional needs.

Filipino Teachers of English and Native English Teachers: Learners’ Perceptions

Since learning English from Filipino Teachers of English (FTEs) has gained popularity, this research investigated learners’ perceptions of the difference between FTEs and native English teachers (NETs) by conducting semi-structured interviews at two English language schools that have both FTEs and NETs. Many learners felt that FTEs were better at explaining grammar explicitly and comprehensibly, while others said that they could better improve their listening and pronunciation skills with NETs since they spoke faster and with more phonological changes and colloquial expressions. However, some felt more comfortable talking to FTEs, since their English was easier to understand. Additionally, some believed that the pronunciation of NETs was better simply because they were native speakers. One of the schools had an NET who was trained in teaching how to articulate English phonemes. His students noted that NETs were better at teaching pronunciation. However, this view was not shared by learners from other schools. Some reported that FTEs were easier to befriend, though this was because the learners and their teachers belonged to similar age groups. Some mentioned that FTEs, who are also English learners, were more passionate about teaching, understanding, and helping learners, while only one student claimed that NTEs were more serious teachers. A few were more motivated by NETs solely because they admired native speakers. In summary, the participants of this study generally considered FTEs to be better, although some individual differences were observed. The results suggest the importance of teacher training and teachers’ experience in learning a second/foreign language.

TEACHING PRONUNCIATION: USEFUL PRINCIPLES, STRATEGIES AND TOOLS

The present article touches upon a significant aspect of the language – teaching English pronunciation, which is a measure of success and indicator of communicative competence of the speaker. The article describes useful principles, strategies and tools in acquiring correct and intelligible pronunciation. They ensure further successful mastering of the English language.

Shadowing Procedures in Teaching and Their Future

Shadowing has become popular in the Japanese EFL teaching context over the past two decades. Accumulated research data indicates that shadowing is effective for listening skill development and teaching pronunciation. This article first summarizes how to use shadowing to teach listening through an example of a lesson procedure based on previous research. Subsequently, it proposes a procedure for teaching pronunciation. Finally, it proposes research areas that can be explored for the development of shadowing as a teaching technique. シャドーイングは最近の二十年間、日本の英語教育において、広く認識されるようになった。これまでの研究によると、シャドーイングはリスニング力の向上および発音指導への可能性も提唱されている。本稿では、初めに過去の研究に基づいたリスニング指導法としてのシャドーイング活用法を、１つの授業を例として概観する。その後、発音指導の手順も提唱する。最後に、指導法として、シャドーイングの今後の発展に寄与するであろう研究分野についても議論を深める。

“Teaching Pronunciation is Always on my Mind”: A 5-year Longitudinal Study on a Japanese English Teacher’s Developing Practices and Cognition about Pronunciation

Systematic inquiry into second language teacher learning has been carried out for 3 decades, but research into learning to teach English pronunciation is just emerging. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap by examining the long-term trajectory of a Japanese teacher of English learning to teach English pronunciation. The case study examined the development of the instructor’s practices and cognition (i.e., beliefs and knowledge) about English pronunciation over a 5-year period. A 13-week pronunciation-pedagogy course, a narrative frame that elicited the instructor’s self-reported pronunciation teaching practices, and 2 classroom observations followed by a semi-structured interview were used to collect data. The findings demonstrated that the 5-year development of the teacher’s practices and cognition was a complicated and non-linear process. Several contextual factors were identified as being responsible for the uneven development of the teacher-participant’s practices, cognition, and uptake of content taught in the pronunciation pedagogy course. 第二言語教師学習についての系統的な研究は、過去30年間において数多くなされてきた。一方で、英語の発音指導修得における研究は未だ萌芽的段階である。本研究は、英語の発音指導を修得した日本人英語教師を長期的に研究することでこのような溝を埋める試みである。本ケーススタディにおいて、五年間にわたり教師の実践と英語発音に対する認知（ビリーフや知識）の発達についての研究を行った。データ収集として13週間の発音教授法コース、教師の発音指導実践を引き出すためのナラティブフレーム、及び二度の授業観察、そしてそれに続く半構造化インタビューが用いられた。その結果、五年間にわたる彼らの教育実践と認知は複雑かつ非線形であることが確認された。被験者である教師たちの実践、認知、そして発音教授法コースを通して修得された内容の理解についての不規則な発達の背景にはいくつかの文脈的要因が存在することが示唆された。

Approaches to Pronunciation Instruction in Communicative Language Teaching Classrooms

One of the main factors that affects pronunciation instruction in the classroom is the educators’ teaching approach. Various elements like L1 (first language), cultural backgrounds, et cetera would influence teaching pronunciation, making English teachers deploy different pedagogical approaches for the learning process to occur. This article aims to provide insights into the pedagogical approaches used by EFL (English as a Foreign Language) and ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers in their CLT (Communicative Language Teaching) classrooms. It will also explore the influencing variables on these approaches. For this purpose, five English teachers (two EFL and three ESL teachers) provided the needed data through a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview for this qualitative study. The results showed that the participants used two teaching approaches for delivering pronunciation lessons, and two types of variables (i.e., student-related and teacher-related variables) influenced their choice of approach in the pronunciation classroom. Although this study does not intend to be generalized, it provides language teachers with a view of pedagogical approaches used by a number of EFL and ESL teachers for teaching pronunciation.

L2 pronunciation research and teaching

Research on L2 pronunciation needs to occur in a much wider range of languages in order to ensure that findings are not just applicable to dominant languages. This paper argues that research on a wider variety of languages will be valuable for understanding different contexts of learning/instruction, different types and combinations of phonological features, and different instructional approaches. The field especially needs two parallel and interrelated threads of research and teaching-oriented publications. The first is descriptions of and materials for teaching pronunciation in particular languages. The second is research that is built around questions of practical interest and theoretically-motivated models of L2 speech perception and production.