Second language pronunciation: a summary of teaching techniques

The aim of the paper is to give a critical summary of the traditional and more alternative techniques and activities for pronunciation practice recommended in the literature. In the past few decades the theoretical approaches to teaching pronunciation have changed considerably, from giving a strong focus on the accurate production of individual speech sounds to shifting the focus onto the greater communicative relevance of connected speech and intelligibility. Approaching L2 pronunciation teaching is not an easy task, and it needs to be systematically dealt with. The paper discusses several decisions teachers need to make when choosing activities for pronunciation practice: selecting the type of phonological structure to practice, deciding on the speech mode, determining the structural level of practice, focusing on a particular type of instruction, establishing the degree of control of the structure that is practiced, and choosing which cognitive skill to enhance while practicing. With regard to the various techniques for teaching pronunciation, the analysis shows they have adapted accordingly in line with the different trends. Hence, while traditional activities such as automatic repetition, ear-training and explicit phonetic instruction are still considered effective, additional priority is given to activities for raising phonological awareness, communicative activities and techniques that adopt an interdisciplinary approach

The English pronunciation teaching in Europe survey: selected results

The results of EPTiES reveal interesting phenomena across Europe, despite shortcomings in terms of construction and distribution. For example, most respondents are non-native speakers of English and the majority of them rate their own mastery of English pronunciation favourably. However, most feel they had little or no training in how to teach pronunciation, which begs the question of how teachers are coping with this key aspect of language teaching. In relation to target models, RP remains the variety of English which teachers claim to use, whilst recognizing that General American might be preferred by some students. Differences between countries are explored, especially via replies to open-ended questions, allowing a more nuanced picture to emerge for each country. Other survey research is also referred to, in order to contextualise the analyses and implications for teaching English and for training English teacher

Native Speaker Perceptions of Accented Speech: The English Pronunciation of Macedonian EFL Learners

The paper reports on the results of a study that aimed to describe the vocalic and consonantal features of the English pronunciation of Macedonian EFL learners as perceived by native speakers of English and to find out whether native speakers who speak different standard variants of English perceive the same segments as non-native. A specially designed computer web application was employed to gather two types of data: a) quantitative (frequency of segment variables and global foreign accent ratings on a 5-point scale), and b) qualitative (open-ended questions). The result analysis points out to three most frequent markers of foreign accent in the English speech of Macedonian EFL learners: final obstruent devoicing, vowel shortening and substitution of English dental fricatives with Macedonian dental plosives. It also reflects additional phonetic aspects poorly explained in the available reference literature such as allophonic distributional differences between the two languages and intonational mismatch

TEACHING SECOND LANGUAGE PRONUNCIATION: AN OVERVIEW OF THEORETICAL APPROACHES

This paper presents a synthesis of theoretical perspectives in the field of L2 pronunciation teaching and learning. The analysis shows that pronunciation as a language skill is scarcely incorporated in the teaching process or even completely neglected. Such state is most likely a result of the opposing views about the status of pronunciation as a language skill, the approaches for L2 teaching pronunciation and the order of speech units being taught. More recent viewpoints draw attention to the necessity of setting realistic teaching and learning goals including raising learners’ phonological awareness, intelligible speech, acquiring communicative skills and developing strategies for self-correction; in line with this, the paper gives an account of various teaching approaches and procedures for achieving these goals. Furthermore, many researchers emphasize the close link between listening and pronunciation as language skills. Also of note are the interdisciplinary attempts to explaining L2 pronunciation, especially those that consider learners’ identity as well as those that explore the potential of computer-assisted pronunciation teaching

Introduction: Extending the reach of English pronunciation issues and practices

International audienc

English Pronunciation Instruction: Research-based Insights

International audienceEnglish Pronunciation Instruction: Research-Based Insights connects findings from recent research on L2 English pronunciation with their pedagogical implications and applications, in order to bridge the gulf between pronunciation research and teaching practice. The volume’s 15 chapters cover a range of aspects that are central to pronunciation teaching, including the teaching of different segmental and suprasegmental features, teachers’ and learners’ views and practices, types and sources of learners’ errors, feedback and assessment, tools and strategies for pronunciation instruction, reactions towards accented speech, as well as the connection between research and teaching. Chapters offer a fully developed section on pedagogical implications with insightful suggestions for classroom instruction. This format and the variety of topics will be informative for researchers, language teachers, and students interested in English pronunciation, as it explores the diverse challenges learners of different L1 backgrounds face, and also provides research-informed techniques and recommendations on how to cope with them

English pronunciation teaching in Europe : Inside and outside the classroom.

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TEACHERS' VIEWS ON THEIR PROFESSIONAL TRAINING AND ASSESSMENT PRACTICES: SELECTED RESULTS FROM THE ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION TEACHING IN EUROPE SURVEY

International audienceThe English Pronunciation Teaching in Europe Survey (EPTiES) is a collaborative effort by a group of European researchers interested in the state of English pronunciation teaching in Europe. Given the lack of research-based information on the topic (cf. e.g. Foote et al. 2011, Macdonald 2002), ten researchers designed an extensive online survey, which attracted participants from all over Europe. The participants are EFL/ESL teachers from various teaching contexts. This paper concentrates on two parts of the survey that deal with teacher training and pronunciation assessment. Responses from seven European countries are analysed (n=630). We present findings concerning the contents of teacher training received by the respondents and their overall evaluation of it. In addition, we look into the respondents' pronunciation assessment methods

English pronunciation teaching in Europe : Inside and outside the classroom.

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