Assignment - TP

SUBJECT ASSIGNMENT:
TEACHING PRONUNCIATION

PROFESSOR: Dr. Majid Safadaran Mosazadeh

Name: Leidy Orozco

Login: COFPMTFL918268

Group: 2014-10LOrozco_TP

Date: 28/02/2016

A Partial Requirement for the Masters in Teaching English as a Foreign Language

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 Assignment - TP

At “UNIVERSIDAD INTERNACIONAL IBEROAMERICANA DE MEXICO”

Assignment:

OPTION A

“Intelligible pronunciation is an essential component of communicative competence”

(Morley 1991)

Do you consider this to be a useful quotation, in terms of how you might wish to
develop a policy for including pronunciation teaching in the English Department at your
institution? Consider (as a minimum) the following aspects in your essay:

a) What is meant by ‘intelligible’?

b) Is pronunciation really such an ‘essential’ component of communicative
competence?
c) What percentage of the syllabus can be devoted to pronunciation?
d) Do non-native speakers have the confidence to devote time to it?
e) How do we go about teaching ‘intelligible pronunciation’? What resources
(apart from human) would you consider using?

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Important: you have to write your personal details and the subject name on the
cover (see the next page). The assignment that does not fulfil these conditions
will not be corrected. You have to include the assignment index below the cover.

INTRODUCTION

Teaching pronunciation has become a major issue on the language process.

Actually, several studies have been set on this topic analysing the importance of
teaching pronunciation or not in the language classroom.

In this paper intelligible pronunciation will be analysed in terms regarding the

communicative competence and the language classroom.

CONTENT

Intelligibility is a fundamental requirement in human interaction. So that, this

term has important repercussions for language teaching and learning, even more when
pronunciation is the major aspect on whether to teach it in the language classroom or
not.

Several studies have turned around to the connection between language

teaching and intelligible pronunciation. For example, Henry Sweet (1900) saw
intelligibility as a guiding principle in the teaching of pronunciation, which was very
important in second language learning.

Now, taking into account Abercrombie´s article on the same aspect, he pointed
out that the second language learners should aim for a “comfortably intelligible
pronunciation” rather than for a native-like accent. In other words, the aim for teaching
a second language might not be to sound like a native speaker but to make
communicative be fluent and comprehensible for listeners.

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Several years ago, almost no importance was given to the teaching of

pronunciation during the second language process but, if there was any chance to
focus on it, it was only about isolated words with any communicative goal.

The main goal of intelligibility was no other than communication. But, to reach
this goal comprehensibility has to take place during the communication process too.
One particularly important finding is that it is possible for learners to become more
intelligible or comprehensible through instruction if there is a change on accent
(Derwing, Munro and Wiebe, 1998). In other words, non-native speakers do not need
to develop a perfect pronunciation, what they really need is intelligible pronunciation.
That is to say, L2 learners need to focus more on the message they want to
communicate rather than emphasising on the perfection of sounds. If a learner's
general aim is to talk intelligibly to others in another language, a reasonable
pronunciation in important.

When teaching a second language in a classroom, we as teachers have a

“perfect environment” for learners to use the language structures, practice the
intonation and rhythm and, of course to use the language to establish an
understandable communication in the best case. But what happens when the L2
learner is taken out of this “perfect environment”? There is no way to control noise
intervention on that real conversation context and, of course, it would affect the
comprehension of the message given by the locutor to the listener.

It is important to realise that the main goal for intelligible pronunciation should
be as Morley states, setting more realistic goals that are reasonable, applicable and
suitable for the communication needs of the learner. In other words, it is very important
that second language learners learn the language for real communication, so that they
learn it to speak it as intelligibly and comprehensibly as possible, they might not sound
as a native but well enough so as to be understood.

On this concern, we may say that pronunciation is an integral part of foreign

language learning since it directly affects learners' communicative competence as well
as performance. But when a second language learner faces some pronunciation

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problems, it can make his/her self-confidence decrease, restrict social interaction and
considerably affect his/her abilities to use the language.

Some non-native teachers could not feel very confident when working on
pronunciation. They could feel limited because of the differences between L1 and L2
accents and intonation, but it is a little bit easier to teach pronunciation in the English
classroom, since we already know the problems a learner could face when learning
pronunciation. Even if we (teachers) do not sound as native speakers, intelligible
pronunciation has been gotten through the teaching experience.

Turning now to the time devoted to the teaching of pronunciation inside the
language classroom, and taking into account the conditions of most public schools, it
can be said that apart from the three times a week (as it is established in most
Colombian schools), pronunciation should be immersed on each class, that is to say,
taking a section of the class to focus on pronunciation.

The L2 teaching context in Colombia is totally monolingual, and the accent is

mostly the same. Due to this fact, almost all students inside the classroom can make
the same mistakes on pronunciation. A common mistake on the EFL classroom is to try
to get a native-like accent and focusing students’ attention on this goal is making them
lose their real goal which is not other than being properly understood.

In addition, teaching pronunciation is not only a linguistic matter. Some other

aspects have to be taken into consideration when designing the language syllabus,
these aspects go from the learners ‘age, exposure to the target language, amount and
type of prior language instruction and, off course attitude and motivation towards the
second language.(Wong, 1987).

Learners’ native language has a deep influence on how they acquire a second
language. They tend to associate the sounds of their mother tongue to the language

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being learned. Some comparisons on rhythm, intonation, accent and pitch are done
intrinsically when listening and speaking the second language.

The above mentioned aspect needs to be taken into account when designing
the language syllabus and at the moment of planning and carrying out a lesson. In the
same way the L1 may have a positive influence on the L2 learning, it could also have a
negative role if the teacher, native or not, do not preview the influence that the native
language really has. That is to say that we as teachers need to consider students’
native language in deciding on pronunciation priorities.

It is well-known that the teaching and learning of a second language has have
an amazing change in terms of how teachers help learners to acquire the language and
the strategies implemented for reaching that goal. There has been a gradual shift from
an emphasis on teaching and a teaching-centered classroom to an emphasis on
learning and a learning-centered classroom, with special attention to the individual
learner as well as the group of learners. And at the same time, there has been a shift
from a narrow focus on linguistic competencies to a broader focus on communicative
competencies, within which linguistic competencies (i. e., grammar, pronunciation, etc.)
remain an essential component albeit only one of several critical competencies (Canale
& Swain, 1980).

The teaching of a second language in most schools in Colombia tends to focus

only on the teaching of grammar and functional structures, leaving the pronunciation
teaching on one side of the teaching process. Almost no attention is paid to this aspect
of the learning process and, if done, it is incidentally and has no deep analysis of the
pronunciation patterns.

Now, in terms of the use of resources to teach pronunciation, some useful ones
can be listed. As it was stated above, second language learners need to be exposed to
real language, that is, to the influence of noise, different accents and, of course,

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speakers’ attitude. In this respect, the use of computer technology may help teachers
to accomplish the goal of teaching intelligible pronunciation.

The exposure to authentic materials such as songs, videos, charts or podcasts

may help learners to get in touch with pronunciation and may make them feel more
comfortable at the moment of using the language.

CONCLUSIONS

Intelligibility is the single most important aspect of all communication. If there is

no intelligibility, communication has failed (Munro, 2011). Even though it is a “new”
concept on the language learning process and most of language teachers feel afraid of
teaching pronunciation in the EFL classroom, this concept provides a basis for a better
language learning process.

Intelligible pronunciation thus, should be viewed as a more complex process in

which grammar, syntax and discourse work together so as to reach the communication
goal. To do so, teachers must set reachable goals that are suitable for students’
communication needs.

To sum up, pronunciation can be one of the most difficult parts of a language for
EFL learners to master and one of the least favorite topics for teachers to address in
the EFL classroom because of the implications in syllabus design and classroom
practice it may have.

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REFERENCES

 Abercrombie, D. (1949). Teaching pronunciation. English Language Teaching,

3, 113– 122

 Canale, M., & Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative

approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics, 1, 1-
47

 Derwing, T. M., & Munro, M. J. (1997). Accent, intelligibility, and

comprehensibility: Evidence from four L1s. Studies in Second Language
Acquisition, 19, 1-16.

 Munro, M. J. (2011). Intelligibility: Buzzword or buzzworthy?. In. J. Levis & K.

LeVelle (Eds.). Proceedings of the 2nd Pronunciation in Second Language
Learning and Teaching Conference, Sept. 2010. (pp.7-16),Ames, IA: Iowa State
University.
http://jlevis.public.iastate.edu/2010%20Proceedings%2010-25-11%20-%20B.pdf

 Sweet, H. (1900). The Practical Study of Languages. New York: Henry Holt and
Company.

 Wong, R. (1987). Teaching Pronunciation: Focus on English Rhythm and

Intonation. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents.

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