Teaching Pronunciation

Unit 3: Theories on the Teaching of Pronunciation

PORTFOLIO- TASKS
Student’s Ariadna Luisa Montiel Cornejo
name
GENERAL INFORMATION
 This document includes the tasks you are required to do for unit 3.
 Read the instructions for the task carefully before you do them.
 When you have finished them, save the task-document in your portfolio.
 Then, submit it by the due date following the instructions given in the
Academic Guide.

Task 1

Match each of the following ideas in recent second language acquisition

research with its description by writing the corresponding Roman numeral in the
blanks. Then summarize the controversy surrounding these theories.

II markedness differential hypothesis

VII critical period hypothesis
VIII interlanguage hypothesis
V information processing theory
IV contrastive analysis hypothesis
I acculturation model
VI error analysis
III language universals

I. Schumann proposes that learners will acquire a second language to the

degree that they desire to integrate with the target culture.

II. Eckman predicts sounds that second language learners will find difficult and
the order in which learners will acquire these more difficult sounds.

III. All languages share common properties, and there is a hierarchy of second
language acquisition that is not determined exclusively by the learner's first
language.

IV. Cognitive science researchers surmise that second language learners

initially demonstrate a distinct tendency to interpret sounds in a target language
according to the existing stable set of sounds in their first language.

V. Selinker proposes that second language learners produce unique utterances

that follow a developmental system, partly independent of either the speaker’s
first language or the target language.
VI. This theory focuses primarily on learner performance rather than on
language contrasts.

VII. Lenneberg postulates that the best physiological conditions for acquiring a
second language exist before puberty.

VIII. Lado states that the structure of one's first language determines the
problems a learner will have in acquiring a second language

Task 2

Read the article shared by Jones, R. (2002), which is found in the required
readings folder (file named “Teaching and Theories”)

Pick one of the man theories he approaches: behaviorism, interlanguage, etc.

Write an 80-150 word paragraph in which you explain what this specialist states
about the theory you chose. Include in your description a final reflection in which
you explain how the theory of your choice can apply to your daily teaching
experience.

“Interlanguage Phonology”

Jones establishes on “Teaching and Theories” (2002, pp. 181-182) that

interlanguage phonology is the systematic study of how the L2 learners acquire
and puts to use the phonological features and patterns found in the language
they are studying. This theory is based on the premise that learners have a
mental or internal representation of the sound system found within the L2, which
happens to be different from the one found in their native language and even
from the L2 itself. This median stage is referred to as “interlanguage
phonology”, characterized by the attempts done by the learner to approximate
the target language phonology under the influence of their L1. One of my
favorite things to point is how students who happen to have Spanish as their L1
have constant issues with words starting with the s + consonant cluster and I
expose my students to native speakers’ pronunciation through authentic
materials.