Teaching pronunciation

Teaching pronunciation

There are many ways of teaching pronunciation, and many different opinions as to which
ways are the best or most effective. However there has been to date relatively little
serious comparative research on what really works in helping learners of a second
language with pronunciation. This is an area which needs considerable improvement
Nevertheless, there are a few things which are becoming well
established as key factors in effective pronunciation tuition.

It is important to emphasise that pronunciation teaching is currently undergoing a revival
after several decades of neglect. There are many questions requiring detailed research
and empirical investigation. The account presented here represents a current ‘best
guess’ for which there is considerable evidence but which is most certainly not the last
word on the subject.

Here are some of the factors that have been shown to be most relevant in creating good
outcomes in pronunciation teaching.

The first three are becoming more widely known and accepted. The last,
though, is less well understood. It will be given more extensive discussion below.

􀂙 Pronunciation teaching works better if the focus is on larger chunks
of speech, such as words, phrases and sentences, than if the focus
is on individual sounds and syllables. This does not mean that
individual sounds and syllables should never be referred to; it simply
means that the general focus should be on the larger units.

􀂙 Pronunciation lessons work best if they involve the students in
actually speaking, rather than in just learning facts or rules of
pronunciation. Many students of course feel more comfortable
learning the rules of the language, because it is less threatening than
actually speaking. However, the transfer of explicit knowledge of
rules into pronunciation practice is very limited. Teachers need to
devise activities which require learners to actually speak in their
pronunciation classes.
􀂙 Learning pronunciation requires an enormous amount of practice,
especially at early stages. It is not unreasonable for learners to
repeat a particular phrase or sentence twenty or fifty times before
being really comfortable with it. Unfortunately, ‘drilling’ has been out
of favor in language classes for some time, due to association with
several bad aspects of the behaviorist method of teaching. Indeed
some forms of drilling are at best a waste of time, and can even be a
hindrance to learning. However, drilling of real, useful phrases which
can actually be used outside the classroom is highly advantageous
to learners.
􀂙 Pronunciation teaching requires thorough preparation through work
on the perception of English sounds and contrasts, and the formation
of concepts of English phonology.