Pronunciation
- why, what, and how?
This
month, we're looking at the topic of pronunciation. As usual,
the Development Pack offers
a wide variety of opinions on the issues surrounding this
topic. We are also pleased to have Gerald
Kelly, author of How
to Teach Pronunciation, join us in the Live Chat Session
in The Forum.
Like
all topics in education, pronunciation teaching is not without
its controversies. One of the goals of all students of English
is good pronunciation, yet teachers deal with this aspect
of the language in a variety of ways. Some try to ignore
the subject altogether because it is unclear how to integrate
it into mainstream classwork. Others only approach pronunciation
when it is an integral part of the language they are teaching
(intonation in tag questions, for example, or different
phonemic realisations of the -ed past tense morpheme). Still
others invest considerably more time in pronunciation teaching
than their colleagues, doing a variety of activities directed
at the various ways in which sounds are transmitted and
understood.
Teachers
(and students) need to be aware of the different aspects
that make up the way the sounds of a language are made.
They need to have something to say about the correlation
(if there is one) between sounds and spelling. And they
need to have some idea of the variables that affect the
individual's pronunciation abilities. These topics are dealt
with in the Development Pack.
What
are the goals of pronunciation teaching?
It
used to be assumed that all students of English wanted to
sound just like a good British person or a fine American.
More recently opinions have shifted considerably. In the
first place a realisation that there are more 'non-native'
than 'native-speakers' of English in the world has meant
that we have looked at some kind of intelligible international
English. We have found ways, too, of helping reluctant teachers
and students.
Yet
the questions remain:
How intelligible do we want
our students to be?
Will using the phonemic chart
help students to pronounce better?
When should we teach pronunciation
anyway?
How
to teach pronunciation
There
are many ways of helping students to achieve better pronunciation.
One of these, of course, is to expose them to an endless
stream of well-pronounced English, since listening while
being engaged with the task of listening is one of the most
powerful ways of helping students to improve their speaking.
But there are other ways too: everything from drilling (in
various different ways) to minimal pairs, exercises designed
to address the relationship between sounds and spelling,
taping students production, and even the exploitation of
reading.
Not
all pronunciation teaching has to be directed at discrete
pronunciation points, however. There are a number of more
'holistic' activities which get students to try and imitate
or play with accent etc in general, and which help students
become aware of, and then improve their pronunciation. Other
teachers use rods, cards or even Lego bricks to help students
'hear'.
Pronunciation
teaching is a vital part of the diet that students should
experience. Like most other aspects of our profession, there
is a large range of activities and tasks which are explored
in the Development Pack.
Look
forward to you joining myself and Gerald in The
Forum Live Chat to discuss these issues further!
Jeremy Harmer
