Tips for Teaching Pronunciation_ A Practical Approach

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VOWEL

SYMBOLS EXAMPLE

CONSONANT

SYMBOLS EXAMPLE

tiyl

hl

leyl

lel

lal

lal

lol

luwl

["]

lowl

lrl

layl

la*l

loyl

see, prece

sit, give

say, break

rest, head

map, laugh

shut, ago

hot, father

boot, shoe

book, could

go, road

bought, Iaw

buy, side

house, now

toy, voice

lpl

tbl

ttl

tdl

tkl

lsl

lel

t6l

tfl

lvl

lsl

[z]

tJl

l:l

thl

ItJ]

tdrl

lml

lnl

tll

Id

trl

tyl

lwl

past, pepper

box, number

time, most

date, hard

king, come

get, dig

think, author

this, other

fair, rough

vote, ever

same, nice

zoo, reason

shop, nation

pleasure, beige

hear'y, ahead

check, watch

joke, age

mail, summer

now, know

sing, tongue

rent, borrow

Iast, collect

year, young

west, away

Contents

t

About the Series

English lan[iuagc teachers alwa)'s appreciare and enjov professional reference books with

prnctical classroonl approaches that are firmlv grouncled in current peclagogical r.escarcl.r.

Tips for:Ie.ching is a responsc to this demancl in the form of a series of books on a varicty of topics of pmctical classroom-centcred interest.

Designed for teachers of ESL in nativc Engrish speakinlr countries as welr as teacrrers

of EFL in non-native English-speaking countries, z?sfar r Teacbrng acrdresses aucliences in

secondarl' schools, colreges, and aclult education courses with students at var).ing levels

of prolicicncy. Each book in the series is a pftrctical m:rnual that provicles teachers with

clearly conceived firethodological ideas, approaches, tasks, activitics, anal,/or techniques to

better accomplish their pedagogical goals. tlsers may be novice teachers seeking pr;ctical guidelines for instfuction in a specilled area, or cxperiencetl teachers in need of

relicshing new ideas.

Each book in the series is committed to offering soundli. conceived, realisric

approaches to classroon instruction. There is some treatment of r-lndedl,inla pedagogical principles of language learning and teaching in clearr), comprehensible terms.These treat￾ments arc brief and concise but not rrivial.The metho dology of rips I()r Teachitlg is based,

on communicative ancl/or. task-based language teaching foundations. Sftrclent centered,

interactive classroom activities fecciye primary fbcus, but not at the expense of appro_ priate tercher-cente|ed approaches or tasks fbr indi\-idual in class or homework :rctivit\r

We're very pleased to present the most reccnt vohrfire in this series, this time on pro_ nunciatiur.In Tips for Teaching pronu.ncicttion. .nuthor Lincla Lanc l.ras provicled rcaders $'ith the best of cuttin€i edgc r.escarch on tlte acquisition of phonology, along with prac_ tical teclx qucs for inproving rearners' pronunciation. c)nc of the first things y'ti will

notice is that the sequencing of chapters does n ot begin witl] the more traditionxl con￾sonants lnd vowels. Recent research ancl practice have shown that adult learners of

English find significanrl-y greater bcnelit in a primary fbcus on the prosodic elements of

phonology. As thc author notes in hcr text, most misunderstendings of learners. speech production stem from $ord stress, rlr{hln, and intonation.

Anothcr imporrant feature of rips for Tbaclsing pronunciation is its focus on intel￾ligibilit\', comprelicnsibiliq', acccnt, and voice quality. Recognizing that achieving a ffue "nativelike" accent is an unrealistic goal for adult students, Lanc offers a common-scnse

Vi AboLt! the Se es

approach that encoumges teachers to work $'ith their students on the many aspects of

pronunciation that inpede a listener's clear understanding of the learner's speech

A third refreshing perspective provicled by thc author is her recognition of a myriad

of variables that can affect a learner's oral production, not al$'ays in sJ'stematic or pre￾clictxble ways. It is now well known that age, personaliq', motivation, learning style,

amount of exposure, native language background, and other factors can all affect a

learner's success in clifferent r.a_vs. ancl therefore eech inclividual may present a uniquc

set of circumstances for the teacher to address. The author provides readers with an

abunrlance of practical options to approach sr-rch variabiliry

Finalll', teachers will be pleased to see in Tips for Teqcbing Pronunciation an

emphasis on helping learners to become responsible for theif own linguistic der-elop￾ment, so that they can eYentually wean themselves from the teacher and classroom'

Exercises on selimonitorin€i range from the segmental leatures of speech to global char￾acteristics of speech in a context of natural discourse And, recognizing that teachers

cannot always be available for correction of student errors, Lane provides the feader with

options for self- and peef-corre(:lion.

Teachers who use this volume not only gain acccss to a multitude of pfactic:rl tech￾niques for teaching pronunciation, but also acquire awarencss of the rationale behind

such techniques. This unclerlying knowledge enables teachers to adapt techniques to

their own cofltexts. Teachers will also find Tips.for TeaclJing Pronunciation to be an

invaluable hamlbook of information that is easily accessed through chaptef headings, an

index, and a u\ehrl bibliogr:rPh1.

Best wishes as )'ou usc the tips in this book to help -vour learners achieve their goals'

Dr H. Douglas l3rown

Professor Elneritus, San Francisco State Uniuersity

Series Edilor

I NTRO D U CTIO N

TEACHING

NUNCIATION

Reccnt lears hare scen I rcncwecl rccolaritioll that pronuncietion js :r cnlcial

clement of effccti!,.e contml'llticati(nt and that proltunciation teachhg belor]gs in

nlainstrc:rm. conrn ll'ri.rtiv. I:SI- classlooms ESL students pl:rcc a l-righ pfiorit\ on

irst^rction in pronunciation. At the sarlc time. EsL tcacbcrs'rav fecl urcasv ab'ut

teaching pronunciation becausc the) lack training in phoncti!^s or linguistics or

cxperiencc in texching pronunciatiou. As a rcsult, in spitc of its rccognizccl importance

to comrrunication. pronunciation is still a natginalized skill in manr ESL progruls.

It should not be. Pronunciation is inti'rarcl,v linked to other oral,/;r.ml sklls, both

inllucncing an<l influenced b\'listcning co',prchension a'd fl.e'cr,. Gilbcrt describcs

thc rclatioflshi1t betn ccn promutciation al]d listcning comprehcnsion ils a ..speech

loop betrveen spcaker and listcncr" (1987. -lJ): instruction in onc intpro\es

pcdbrmancc in thc olher. for c\amplc. the reductjons that nativc speakers use in both

frrrmal and infornral spcakiig arc in sl.raq) contrast to their word list pronunciati(xrs:

comparc thc pronllltciation of czl promruncecl alone encl its prorunciatioll in Bed

cdtt ligbt tbe bc.{con ligl.rt (/bivkat laYt 6r bi,vkan laytl). The rvord list pr(nrLrnciation.

ho$.e\.er. is thc one that ntost stuclents learn first ancl the one the] expcct to hear ir.l

spcaki|rg. "Xlicroieyel' listening tasks can make studcnts awarc of ltow grammar

wofds like cdl/ sour]al in conltected speech ald thus il]lprol e corlprehensiotl (Choi

19f38. Murph,v 1991.). In addition, Xlichaud and l{eed nainrain thar pronunciation

irNtruction can lead to inproYelnent in \\,riti1lg b_v naking students morc aw:rre of

er()rs thilt occuf in borh sPcaking ancl $riting, like nissing $()rd endings (2(X)8).

In this Inlroductioll. we discuss the goals of pronunciation teaching. f-actofs

that aft'ect lcarning a new pronunciation. pronunciation s\.llabi, gcncral tyl)cs ol'

pronunci;rtior.l excrcises and actiYities. scll-monitoring, and fccclback.

C.OAIS OF PRONLINCIATION TEACHING

Studcnts who lcarn Enlilish as aclnlts Or $'h0 are adults wtcn significant

exposure to English begins \['ill probabll'never speak jt \1,irh a nati\.e acccnt (br.tt

sec Bonlaacrts et al. 1997). A natiYelike accent is not a realistic goal ii)r studcnts. t.tor

t{

Icr. hrn,g fr',nunci.rtion

is it a necessaq' one for effcctive commlrnication in English More fealistic

pronunciation go: s afe intelligibilit\'. confidence in speakinl], an(l a reduction of

accent features that distract the listener's attention fiom intelligible mcss:rlacs

(Modey 1994, Gilbert 1980, (lelce-Murcii et al. 1996). A gcntlc accent, together with

accuracy in other areas of English (grammar', word choice), can even be an

advxntage, conferring on thc speaker positil'e qualities like sophistication and

irtclligence. While these are not modest goals and not all students achieYe them,

most stlrdents can (and do) learn to speak lnore clearl)'and conlidently

Intelligibility, Cornprehensibility, Accent, and Yoice Quality

Intettigibitity refers to the dellrcc to $'hich a listener can recognize words,

phrascs. and utterances (smith and Nelson 1985, smith 1992, Derwing alld Munro

1997).In research, it is rtsuallJr measured by asking listcners to tmnscribc nonnativc

spe€ch ancl comparing thc worcls listeners recognize with the words speakers

intend. Another term, comprehensibili4,', descrlbcs the easc with which listeners

can understand a nonnative speaker (llerwing and Munro 2005). "Confortable

intelligibility" is also usecl in this sense (Abercrombie 1949, Kenworthv 1987, 16).

Accent refers to noticeable differences betwccn native and nonnative

pronunciations. Wlile htelligibilit)', compre hensibiliq', and accent are interwoven,

they are also, to a certain extent, indePendent lt is possible, fbf example, fbr even

heavily accented spcech to be intelligible. Vrtice quality refers to pronunciatiol.)

features that arc gcnerall,v present in nativc speech, like averagc level of'Pitch

The goal of inte lligibilit.Y is uncontroYersial: Without intclligibilit t',

conlnlunication is impossible. Considering all areas of language, errors s-ith

pronunciation and worcl choicc (the choice of an inappropriate word to exprcss a

speakcr's meaning) afe the rwo t,vpcs of errors most likely to nake a student

incompre hensible (Gass ancl Sclinkcr 2001, 266). Grammatical errors, such :rs

omitting tlre past tense in a selltence (c.g ,I'ast nlght I go to d lnof ie) rarel-v lead

to unintelligibiliry althou€lh a ltrrge number of grammatical errors, togethcr witl.I

pronunciation cffors, can reduce comprehensibilitv (Varonis ancl Gass 1982), as can

ronpronunciation discortrse etrors ('Nler 1992)

Research on the contribution of pronturciation to intelligibilit]' has asked

which t'catures of pronunciation havc the greatest impact Accurate use of

suprasegmentals (stress, rhlthm, and intonatiort appears to have a grcater impact

on intelli€libility assessments b)' rrative listencrs than accruate promrnciation of

consonanis and vorvels (see, for example, Anclerson Hsieh et al. 1992, Derwing,

Munro and Wicbe 1998. Hahn 2004). Tllese strtdies havc inYestigated the

pronuncietion of primarily intefnediate ancl athanced ESL learners, and it is tlot

clear whether the same finclings wor'rld hold lbr studcnts at lowcr levels of

proficienc)'. In addition, experjirental conditions can be far removcd from real

situations in which two per)ple try to unclerstand each othcr

Assessmcnts of illtelligibilitv also dePcnd on w-ho the Listeucrs ere Most research

on intelligibiliq' hes usecl mtive Englisll listel]ers When nonnative listeners iudge thc

Teaching Pronunciation 3

intelligibility of norxratiye speakers, their assessments are sometimes based on aspects

of pronunciation that are not importanr to native listeners Oenkins 2000, 2002; Field

2005).I'he familiarity of the listener with nonnati\,e speech in gene ral, with a particular

foreign accent, and with a particr- ar nomative speaker also ailbcts ;rssessments of

intelligibility: Thc greater the familiarity, the more intelligible the speech (Gass and

Varonis 1984). Because of this, ESL teachcrs may not be the best judges of their

students' intelligibility. Kenworth,v suggests that teachers sct higher standards for

intelligibilit!' than what they themselves actually require in the classroom (1987).Much

as our students like us, they are probabl_v not taking English so that they can ralk to us.

Stuclies of comprebensibility (easc of untlerstanding) show that listcners'

judgments depend on both segmental (consonants and vowels) and supfascgmental

(stfess, drythm, and intonation) errofs (Dcrwing and Munro 1997). In addition to

efrors in pronunciation, many other factors have an effilct (nr compre he nsibility:

Speaking rate, effors in granmaq word choice, cliscourse markers, the age at which

English is learned, the amount of exposure the learner has had to natively spoken

English, the extent to wltich learners use English, and the listenef's familiariw with

the topic of conversation have all bcen shown to affect comprehensibility (Hinfotis

anti Bailey 1981, Anclerson-Hsieh and Koehler l988,Varonis and Gass 1982. Gass and

Selinker 2001, cass and Varonis 1984, Flege et al. 1995).

Accent tefefs to djffefences between native and nonnative pronunciations that

are noticed by native listeners (Derwing, Munro, andWiebe 1998,396). The degree

of accent is xssociated y/ith segmental, supr.rse€imental, and yoicc quality features.r

Although accented pronunciations do not necessarily intedere with inre lligibiliqr,

distracting, stigmatized, or stereofi?ed pronunciations should be addressed by

pronunciation teachers. Even fu y htelligible pronunciations can be evaluated

negatively by native speakers because of accent (?ermington 1998, Levis 2005, Riney

et aI.2000). For example. the substitution of /d/ for /6/ iJ.:,ttle word tbem (e .g.,Bring

dem lserc),whtle tnderstandable, is stigmatized (for native Enlllish listeners) because it

is a dialect feature of nonstandard English. The substitution of /z/ for /6/ in tbem G.g.,

Bring zent beA, on the other ltand, simply marks the speaker as nonnative .

Distracting or stereotyped pronunciations can affect intelligibiliry by dmwing

the listener's attention away from the message to the mispronunciation itseli

Examples of distracting or stcrcotyped pronunciations inclucle the confusion of /n/

and /l/ by speakers of some Cantonese dialects (e.g., He nooked at tbe uoman

instezd, of He looked at tbe u)ornan); conftrsion of /r/ ^fld /l/ (tbe sterectLyped, flie.l

Iice fot fried rice) forJapanese ESL students; and the confusion of /y/ ^nd /d3/ (jess

for !es, jesterda! for lesterda!) for Spanish ESL students. These are pronunciation

problems that can and should be addressed. The pronunciation of the vowels in

beach, sbeet, and Jbcu' words which have caused corntless ESL students

embarrassment. should also be addressed.

listeneii do not (Rine,v et al 1005) .

4 Teachinp, Pronunciation

Voice quality settll1gs are pronllnciatioll features that are present most of the

time in the speech of native spelll<ers some languages, for example, are tlpically

spoken at lower levels of pitch (e.g., Dutch) and others at higher lcYels of pitch (e g ,

Japanese) relative to a particular Lurguagc (e g.' English) In one language, words may

be spoken with greater ovenll musclllar tension and witll less in another language;the

lips may be more olten spread (or roundcd), or speech may havc a generzlly "creat<yl'

"breathll'or modal (neutral) sound (see, for example' I'aver 1980, Esling and wong

1983, EsLing 1994, Keating and Esposito 2007). Esling a]1d Won€l suggest thxt ESL

studcnts become familiar with a broad model of voice quality settin€ls for Nofih

American Englisl.r (NAE), but note that not all dialects shxre these characteristics: spfead

hps, open jaw, palatalized (fronted) tongue body position, retrof'lex articulation (the

tong.,. tlp ftrrns up and back), nasal voice , lowerecl larynx (lower o\'-erall pitclt, and

cfeakyVoice(1983,91)'The)'offbfsevel?lwaysinwhichStudentscanbecomeaware

of voice qriality settinlis;for exrmple, students speaking differert native languages can

say a shon phnsc in their native language and <lifferences can be conpared (19a3,94)'

Although there is Iittle doubt that Yoice quali$ plays a role in accent, more

Stud-Yisneeded.Notonlyarethefedi-fferencesintheVojceqllalitySettingsof

speakers of the same language, there is also not alwa-vs agreement about which

pafriculaf settings are pfesent or absent (Keating and Esposito 2007). Mofe fesearch

using larger numbers of speakers is neecled befbre teachers can confidently apply

these findings in the classroom

FACTORS THAT AFFECT PRONI-NCIATION LEARNING

The degree of success that learners achieve in adopdng a ncw pronunciati')n is

influenced by many elements, irlcluding age and social-psychological factors' amount

of exposurc to the second language (L2), amount of use of the L2, the native language

to€lether with univcrsals, ancl personaliry Many of these factors (such as age and

native language) are beyond the control of the classroom teecher and the learner

Age and Social-Psychological Factors

Lenneberg (1967) proposed thlt there is a "critical period" for learning a

language natively, which exten.ls up to puberty: Neurobiological chanlaes in the

bfaintl]atculmiflateatpubert-vblocktl]enativc.llLngualieleafningability

thereafter.2 In the area of grammatical learning, .Iohnson and Newpoft found

evidenceforagraclualcleclineinlanguageleafningabilitiesduringthecfitical

period rather than an abrupt fall off at the end (1989)'

social'psychologicaldiffbrerrcesbetweenadultsandchilclrcnhavealsobeen

ollerccl to explain the effect of age Aclults are assumcd to have a deeper and

stfonger attachrnent to their natiYe culture than children, which ma,v consciousb' or

'Tliis clllln is.Luestioned Lrr (r:rsltert, l9li.

Tead)ing Pr()nuncialian 5

unconsciously prevent the adults from fully adopting the norms of a new language

:rnd culture (catbontin, Trofimovich, and Majid 2oo5,Jenkins 2005, Leyis 2005). One

of my students was very conscious of the conflict between English anct his native

language (culture) and stated that he did not want to sound like a.fake American.,,

Another explanation of the age effect may be that adults'greater cognitive abilities

(cspecially anah.tic abilities) are less effective in learning a new pronunciation tltan

the mofe natural abilities found in young cl.rildren.

Exposure and Use

Pfonunciation learninti is also affected by tlte amount of exposure lcafners

have to the new language and the extent to which they use it (see Trofimovicl.r and

Baker 2006 for a review of research on these factors). It is not surprising that

students who have spent three years in the United Srates typicalli, pronounce

English bcttef than those who have spent three months. Similafly, students who use

English a great deal in drcir daily actiYities are likely to pronounce the language

better than tltose who rarely use it.

Native-I-anguage Backgfound arrd Linguistic Universals

The ability of natiye speakers to recognize specific foreign accents once they

have expefience with them attests to the influence of the native language on

pronunciation of a new language. The native-language sound q/stem (consonants,

vowels, stress, rhlthm, intonation, and voice quality) affects not only how learners

pronounce English but how they hear it. For example, the two vowels in the English

words sceze and slz correspond to a single vowel in Spanish. Bcginning ancl low￾intermediate Spanish-speaking stndenrs arc likel,v to haye difficulfl hearinE! the

difference between sc?n e and sl, and may transfer their native{anguage vowel into

the pronunciation of these words. As proficiency increases, students becomc better

able to hear differences and notice pfonunciations that are not present in their

native languages.

Similafities between a natiye language and English can either facilitate or

hindcr learning. Lee, Guion, and Harada (2006) for-lnd that Japanese ESL learners

were better able to lengthen stressed English \.owels and shorten unstressed vowels

than Korean ESL learners. They attributed this result to the fact that, while neither

language is similar to English in terms of word stress,Japanese uses long and shoft

vowcls to contrast some words (e.g., stt -"vinegar" and szzr-,,numbef,,) while

Korean does not.3 Because vowel length is impodant in Japanese, the Japanese

learners may have been prirned to notice diJlerences in vowel length in English. On

the othef hand, if learners interpret a similafity as an equivalence, tlte,v may be

unable to noticc the differences between sin lat but not identical, pronunciations

i Sone dialecLs of Korean conlr?Lst long end shofl vo,x€Ls, but l€ leatu€$ in lhei,ee et al. stud\ werr: not sp€rkeN 0f dtos€ dixlecll

(2006. 49r.

$ wra.toucnaN TeachingPrcnunciation

Glege 1987). The persistent mispronunciation of the vo$'els in sreet and beacb may

be the resnlt of classifying English /iyl (the \.owel it sheet alf.d beach) tl:le same as

the natiyelanguaEie pure vo$,'el /i/ (seeVowels, page 169). Classroom work can help

to make students aware of differences they might otherwise not notice.

Universals are features of language that afe in some sense easier, more natural,

more common in languages, or typical of children leaming their first language (L1).

The terms /ess marked and more marked are also u sed to descfibe the relatir.e ease

or clifticulty of rclated features of pronunciation. For example, open syllables￾syllebles that end in vowels (e.9., so, me, sta!)-^re easier (i.e., morc universal, less

marked) than closed syllables that end in a single consonant (e.9., dog, top, miss).

Closed syllables that end in one consonant (.e.g., dog, top, miss) are easier (less

marked) than closed syllables that end in a consonant cluster (e.9., beh, ask,

stoppe.l). Open syllables are found in every language, whereas closed syllables are

not; and both 1,7 and L2 learners have more difficulty pronouncing the final

consonants of closed syllables (Broselow and Finer 1991, Eckman 1991). For a

comprehensive review of natiyeLanguagc transfer and the fole of uniyersals, see

Eckman (200,i).

The native-language background(s) of students should influence the choice

of pronunciation topics addressed in the classroom. Difficulty with specific

consonants, for example, depends heavily on native language. Arabic students

confuse /p/ and /b/, sour]ds that do not contrast in Arabic. Spanish students haYc

problems with ,/b/ and /v/, which do not contrast in Spanish, while cantonese,

German, Russian, and Turkish students have problems with /v/ and /w/ .

Difficulties with English vowels, on the other hand, are widespread, and

difficr- ties v/ith stress, intonation, and drythm are even more widespread.

Appendix B summarizes typical pronrinciation problems of students from a

variety of native-language backgrounds.

Personality

Research has not shown a clcar link between personality characteristics and

sLlccess in L2 learning. Neyertheless, it is reasonable to suppose that outgoing,

sociable learners should have an adyantage over introverted, shy leafnefs in

acquiring oral-aural skills, including pronunciation. Outgoing students are more

likely to participate in conversations with native speakers and will therefore have

more opportunities to practice and to hear English.

A relaxed classroom atmosphere should also foster pronunciation learning. In

an oft-cited experiment on lowering inhibitiot]s, Guiora et al. found that learners'

pronunciation improved after drinking moderate amounts of alcohol (1972).

Fossilization

Vrith adult L2 leamers, pronunciation :rnd grammar learning seems to plateau,

perhaps pemanentl)', after a number of years. Selinker first described the cessation of

leaming as fossiLization (1972): it is also referred to as stabilization (Gass and Selinker

/NrfOUU( r/ON Teaching pnuutjci,lti()n 7

2008)." Once fossilization (stabilizatiorD has ser i,', substantial improyemenrs in pronunciation (and grammar) in spontaneous speech mav not be possible. Althougdt vafious causes of fossilization havc been proposed. including Ll intcfblcnce.

motil?tion, leamers' goals or needs, and alae . the process is not well unclerstood. and

more resea.rch is needed on both why antl when fossilizetion occurs (sce. for example, knneberg 1967, Gardner 1988, i_ong 1990, Nakuma 199u).

Acton describes a prollram to change the intelli€iibility of fossilized

pfofessionals who have spent many veafs in an English_speakinpl coulttrv ancl

reached high lcvels of fluencv (198,i). Thc program requires a substantial

commitment of time both in and our of class and a native_English .,infbrnrant,,on the

.iob who assists the student witlt pfoblem words and provides natural pronunciation

models. Students learn not only about pronunciarion but also about body language used bv native speakers of English. About half of the shjclents who be€iin thc

program afe able to devote the time needed to show progress.

My own experience, which has ilcluded lrany students of the type Acto11

describes, confiflns that very fer wurkitrg pr,,fessionals lre rble to make the time commitment that might lead to significant improvements in intelligibilitY of

spontaneous speech. Howel'ef, it is possible fof thcse students to lcafn to self coffec^t

and to speak more intelligibl,v in some situations. Fossilizecl learners. fbr cxample, can

learn to pronounce English nore accuratel-v in controlled classro.m acti.,,ities ancl to

apply this knowledge when they deliver a rehcarsed presentation. However when

they mo!'e from plarmed into unplanned speecl], thc old errors are likely to recrjr. Phonological learning may be most rapid in the eafhr stages of lcarning (Flege

1988, Flege, Munro, and Skelton 1992), suggesting that ir is imporrant to srart pfonunciation wofk with beginning learners. Chela_Flores recommends that pronunciatiorl be a regular part of coursework with beginncrs, like vocabulary or

grammar teaching (2001).

SYLLABUS

Pronunciation shour(l be taught to a revcls of strrtlenrs as tonla as intelligibiritll distracting pronunciations, and lack of confidencc in speaking are issues.

Pronunciation improvements, like improvemcnts in grammatical accuracl,, occur

slowly (Trofimovich et al. 2007). According to wong, dramatic changes in stude'rts,

speech in 3 to 6 montlts arc rare', (l!g7, g). Because inprovcments are graclual ancl

often piecemeal, students benefit from reviewil.tg or recycling olcl topics.

Given that there are over fofty consonants and I,owels (segmcntals) and at

least as nany features of word stfess, rhtthn, and intonation (suprasegmcnhls),

curriculum planners, textbook writers, and cl;rssroorn teachers have a lurge number

of potential pronunciation topics trom which to choosc. The audiolingual approach focused more heavily on the teaching of segmentals, r-Nin!! acti\.ities like nir.f'ral

$ t^-rroo,:rcaov TcachinEPranunciation

pair drills, sentence repetitions, anci dialogues. communicative approaches have

focusccl more on suprascllmcntals, moving stuclents bc1'ond the level of single

words. Totllrl', a more "txrlancecl' approach, inchtcling important consonants and

vowels as well as sr.rpnscgme ntals, is fecommended ((lelce-Murcia et al. 1996, 10;

Derwing, Mr.rnro. andWiebe 1998. Dauer 2005).

Because rhlthm and intonation aflect mcanin!! in discourse profounclll',

teaching them promotes intelligibility as well as flucncy.Word stress (lexical stress)

is also impoftant since misplaced stress caJl make a word unrecognizable.

Problem consonants and vowels drat are liequent or have a higl] ftu]ctional load

strould atso be taught (Catfbr.l 1987,Browl 1988, Nh.nro and Dcrwing 2006).Thc vowel

coutrdst leaue-lil,e has a hi!fi functionad loacl because there are rnany p:tirs of wotds that

contr:$t these two sounds (e.g., seat-sit, sleep-slip, least-list). C)n the other hand, the

vowel contmst in Iuke-look, whiclr occurs in fb$' word pairs, has a low linctioral load.

From a pedagogical standpoint, thc \owels iu the pair /ea.,e-l/./e arc more impoftant lbr

students to leam than those it Lukc-look. As discussed eadier it is also irnpoftant to

aclclrcss mispronunciations that are distracting, sti€lmatized, or stereot!?ed.

Pronunciation textbooks providc rcad,y-made q'llabi from wltich teachers can

pick and choose. A course syllabus that includcs problem pronunciation topics

cor,'ering vowels, consonants, stress, rlrythm, and intonation is approprilte lbr all

levels of studcnts. The teacher can alternate topics, starting, for e'xample, with a topic

on intonatiol, next addressing a problem consor.]ant or consonant cortrast, and then

prescntinli a topic on word stress. arld so o1]. This approach provicles variety arld

interest and also reflects the fact that in speaking, all aspects of pronunciation occur

sirnultalreously; a two-syllable word like uisit ot drugstorc, for exanplc, has both

consonants and vowels, differcnt le\.els of stress, and diffcrent lcYels of pitcll.

In choosing topics for a particular class, the teacher can eithcr stafi with a

diaEinostic tcst to idcntiq,' problem areas or cltoose topics which Posc pfl)blems for

lnost studcnts, regaralless of native-language backpgouncl (sce Conlmolt P()mrnciatioll

Problcms, bclow). A good diagnostic tool is a one minutc recording of unrehearsed

(:nd unwritten) speecl], such as a descriptiotl of a picture stor,v or caftoon. A short

sample of spontaneous spccch provides a liood snapsltot of a strtdertt's pronunciation

problems. Problems with rhlthm (choppy or staccato clelivery unclear wortl grortps,

ditliculty linking w<rrds), with ir.Itonation (inappropriate dses/falls in pitch, lack of

discourse foctts, general levcl of expressi\-cness), and segmentals (consonants and

r.owcls) will be evident. A sample diagnostic test is provided in Appenclix D.

The cl]oice of pronunciation topics should also fef'lect students' necds and

goals. In a life-skills class for immigrant parents of school-aged children, for instance,

the pronunciation syllabus night centcr on topics required fcrr giving personal

information: the letters ol the alphabet fbr spelling names; numbers and thcir

app()priate grouping for giving telcphone ancl address information; and irltonation

and rhlthm in questions. Work $'ith these pronunciation topics will also improve

students' comprehension of inlbrmation reqlrests.

International teach rg assistants (ITAS) in thc scienccs must be able to clearly

pronor-rnce technical terms that may contain many s-vllables and difficult sounds (c.g.,

geothermal energi). Levis and Grant st rgElest basing plonutciation work on errors that

/NIROLrL,a r/oN Tcaching Pronunciation !

occur in student prescntatiolts (2003). ITAS ffLlst also be able to use appropriate

rhythm and intonation pattefns to ask qucstions of their stuclents. to group wofds, to

hipdrlight kc1'w.ords, and to signal topic changcs in their presentations of material.

'lhe sl,llabus fbr a short-term tlltorial f(,r a professional who is preparing a

pfesentati(,n can include the pfoltunciation problcms that occur in th€ presentatioll

itself. To prepare for the q Llestion-and-answer session that fbllows nlany

pfesent:itiurs, classwork can irlclude topics such as highlighting key words (see

Intol.ration, pag€ 96), which will Irelp stuclents understand the direction of questions

and make their answers ciearcr to an auclience.

Alrother factor thirt sho! d ilJlucnce the choice of pronunciation topic is the

teacher's level of comfort in tcaching it. Duri|tli classwork on pronunciation (of any

topic), students pa,v attentioll to how thc,v sot-urcl. As long as pr.lctice includes the use

of connected speech, other aspccts of pronunciation not dircctly addtessed in the

lesson are likely to bencfit from this incrc;rsed arrenrion (Hardison 200.1). F'or example,

a teacher ma-y not fcel cor.nfortable teaching some aspects of intonation but may feel

corafident about teaching the t, sounds (e.g.,tlxink, t/rrt, sornds tltat are casy to reach

and learn end important to leerncrs (Tirdt 1992). In a conlmullicative acti.r'ity focused

on btlhdays (or personaLity characterisrics related ro birth order), not only are //,

sounds in words like birtbdar- hkclv to be pronounced mofe accumtel)', but the

grouping of words (e.g.,May 41 mal' b e clearer and intonation more natunl sounding.

Vhen students pa). attention to how they sound during speaking, many featufes of their

pfonunciation souncl better Attcntion to pronunciation druing speaking, then, may be

as impoftant as the particr ar point of pronllnciation beinla focused on during a lesson.

Institutional or program goals and assigneal curricula may determinc the

sl.llabus, rather tl.ran the teachcr In some progmms, for example r pronunciation work

is narrowly focused, covering all the vowels in one semester all the consonants in

anothct and so on. Even though this ry..pe ol syllabris does nor pro\.ide a balanccd

coveragc of sormds and suprasegrnentals, otltef lbatures of pronunciation, such as

fhlthm and intonation, can still be addresseci as long as clxss materials include

oppoftunities to practice connected spccch (e.9., di"k)gues).

The Lingua Franca Core

Jcnkins (2000, 2002) proposes a pared-down pronunciation syllabus, the

Lingua Franca Corc (I-FC), fbr. stu(lents who will be using English with otl]cr

nonnative speakcrs (rather thalt native speakers). Jenkins's clata sulllicst that

commulication breakdowns betrveen nonnative spcakers are usnally the fesult of

mispronoulccd consonants or yo$'cls, rather than inappfopriate suprasegmentals.

In contr:Lst, inappropriate usc of suprascgmentals appears to hal.e a greater effect

on inte lligibilit_y with native listencrs (see Intelligibilit]' on page 2). The LFC s.vllabus,

which focuses on teachable ;rnd leernablc p(,ints of pronunciation that promote

intelligibility bctween nonrati\'-c spcakers, inclucles primarily consonants, some

!o\4iels. and onc suprasegmental (highlighting of kcy words).

Jenkins's proposals have inspired he:rlthy debare on which areas of

pronunciation should be taught and who the arbitefs of intelligjbility shor cl be

10 Teach i ng Pran unci at i on

(see, for example, Dauer 2005, Levis 2005). Given that more research is needed and

that teachers cannot know for ceftain wl]ether their students' future inteflocutefs

will be native or nonnative Englisl] speakers, a syllabus that includes important

pfoblem sounds as well as suprasegmentals will serve students' needs better than

one that focuses on only one area of pronunciation. A balalced syllabus is also likely

to be nore appealing to teachers and more interesting for students.

Comrnon Pronunciation Problems

The following chart shows pronunciation topics that are useftll for most

students, regardless of native-language background.

Vowel length in stressed and unstressed syllables See pages 2L-27

Vowel :eduction in unstressed syllables See pages 25-27

S:ress patterns of classes of words See pages 28-38

Highlighting important words with stress and pitch See page 96

Tlought groups Grouping words into meaningful phnses) Sec page 52

Linking adjacent words See page 54

Intonation to mark utterance boundaries See page 100

/, sounds ln thinh and then See page 126

Conffasls involving the first souflds in per, bet, fbte, uet, afid uet See page 124

R:etoflexed. /r/: red, driue See pages 141, 146

Ftral consonants and consolant clusterc: bed, belt See pages 151- 162

cmmmatical endings See page 159

The vowels in leaue-Iiue (/iy/-/ID See page 16P

The vowels k7 net-Nat-nut-not uE/-/r/-/e/-/oD See pages 176-183

r-colored vowels in heorcl, hard, and board See page 192