Teaching Pronunciation

Pronunciation is essentially the way in which we speak the sounds of a language. It includes how we
produce individual sounds (phonemes), such as the /p/ sound in pat, and the /b/ sound in bat.
Pronunciation also includes where we put the stress in words and utterance, the rhythm with which we
speak, and the intonation patterns we use (the pitch movement of our voices up and down). All of these
things can affect meaning and so are important for learners to be aware of.

The sounds and patterns of one language may not correspond to those of another and learners will
typically find that the sounds that are new for them are harder to recognise and produce than those they
already know from their own language. Pronunciation teaching is often focused on the production of
sounds. While this may be very important, learners also have to understand the pronunciation used by
others. They need to distinguish sounds, interpret the subtleties of intonation patterns and recognise
stress patterns. Helping learners to understand the pronunciation of others will help enormously with
their ability to listen effectively, and the models may later feed into their own production of language.

Before we consider how to teach pronunciation, we will consider a more fundamental question –do we
need to bother to teach pronunciation or can we leave learners to pick it up for themselves?

Do we need to teach pronunciation?

It is possible to make an argument that learners will simply pick up an ability to pronounce words and
phrases accurately without having to be taught. In some cases, particularly where a learner is exposed
to a lot of natural language, this may indeed be the case. However, the same argument could be made
for almost all aspects of language, and if learners choose to attend a language course, it seems
reasonable to assume that they expect to be taught rather than left to pick things up for themselves. A
communicative approach to teaching places communicative competence at the centre of what needs to
be achieved and very poor pronunciation can impede communication. This need to develop
communicative ability is a strong argument for teaching both receptive and productive aspects of
pronunciation. Also, good pronunciation can boost confidence. A learner who is aware that their
pronunciation is quite good may take advantage of more opportunities to use English and thus improve
in other aspects of speaking, such as maintaining fluency. The converse may be true for learners who
perceive their own pronunciation to be poor.

We need to remember, however, that communicative competence does not imply the need to speak
with a native-like accent. The majority of learners will never sound like native speakers and there is no
reason why they should. Many learners rarely speak to other non-native speakers, using English as a
common language. A more realistic, and perhaps preferable, goal for learners is to become easily
intelligible and to speak with a reasonably natural rhythm so that no undue burden is placed on the
person they are speaking to. There are few obvious benefits in them sounding exactly like a native
speaker.

Some teachers (both native and non-native speakers) worry about teaching pronunciation because they
perceive themselves as having a strong accent. This idea tends to be based on the idea that there is a
prestige form of English (usually considered to be something akin to the pronunciation of a traditional
BBC presenter) which is in some way better than other forms of English. However, there is nothing about
a particular variety of English which makes it intrinsically better than any other and therefore teachers
should concern themselves with providing a natural model of English rather than worrying about which
model that is.

Amusing that a teacher decides that s/he needs to teach pronunciation explicitly, there is another
question that then needs to be addressed. Should teachers integrate pronunciation teaching into other
lessons –those dealing with vocabulary, grammar, speaking and other skills –or should there be
separate parts of a course put aside for pronunciation? The answer to this will depend partly on the
degree of priority that the teacher gives to pronunciation teaching and this in turn will be dependent on
the needs of the learners. Pronunciation teaching should almost certainly be integrated into the other
input, but occasionally, separate, dedicated sections of lessons may be useful as well.
Basic principles
Learners will probably end up copying what they hear. It is therefore important that they hear lots of
natural sounding English. Teachers who slow their delivery down too much sometimes deprive their
learners of this opportunity.

Before trying to get learners to produce the accurate sounds, it is often useful to help them to hear the
differences between sounds. For example, help learners to recognise the difference between /p/ and
/b/, intonation rises and falls and also to recognise where stress is placed.

One problem for learners perceiving differences is that pronunciation features are so transitory. Making
pronunciation visual creates the possibility of a permanent record. This may be by transcribing individual
sounds, by marking stress pattern on new items of vocabulary, or by indicating common intonation
patterns on new features of language when they are written on the board. It can be argued that seeing
the difference between forms may help learners move towards hearing the difference and eventually to
producing the difference.

As we saw with grammar and vocabulary, practice is very important, so learners need the opportunity
to say the word, or sequence of words, several times.

Just as with any other part of language, correction is a useful way of helping learners to improve their
pronunciation. However, learners often feel self-conscious about their pronunciation and it is therefore
important for teachers to be sensitive while correcting them and to remain very encouraging.

Here is a summary of some generally useful tips on teaching pronunciation:

 give lots of exposure to natural spoken English

 help learners to hear differences before producing differences
 make pronunciation teaching visual where possible
 give lots of opportunities for practice
 use (sensitive) correction if communication is hampered.

WATKINGS, Peter. Learning to Teach English. Delta Publishing, 2014.