OVERCOMING THE CHALLENGES OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

PHONETICS IN THE FRESHMAN YEAR OF THE TEACHER TRAINING

PROGRAM AT THE TERTIARY LEVEL.

Learning English as a foreign language is a complex process that

poses various challenges to learners. The literature highlights several
key difficulties such as the grammatical complexity of the English
language, its vocabulary, the fact that learners need to maintain their
motivation, deal with the fear of making mistakes, they need to have
regular practice and exposure to the language as well; the different
writing systems, and last but not least, the phonological differences:
just to name the most important obstacles among many more that
students of English normally encounter. Here, I will concentrate on
teaching pronunciation to Spanish speakers. Specifically, the purpose
of this paper is to argue that despite all the challenges freshman
students of the Teacher Training program at the tertiary level face
when learning phonetics , there are a set of actions/ ...? THINGS A
teacher and the students themselves can do in order to overcome
these obstacles and *succeed in learning English phonetics within an
EIL approach and by implementing an effective teaching
methodology.

Most students entering the teacher training program have little

command of the English language and little knowledge of the English
culture, its accents, and varieties. Therefore, they struggle to learn the
mechanics of phonetics and sound production and acquiring the
basics of the English language and grammar pose a great difficulty
for them as well. Furthermore, Spanish and English have very
different phonological systems. Nevertheless, by being aware of this
reality from the very beginning, teachers are able to design a
pragmatic approach by setting attainable objectives and planning
simple and easy-to do activities at the beginning of the course as
students progress in acquiring the language. So, first, the focus will
be on segmental features, minimal pairs and basic vocabulary, words
students are able to understand according to their level of English.

Complicating matters further, the program assigns only two hours

per week for instruction. A way in which we can compensate for this
is by encouraging learners to assume responsibility for their learning
process. In this case, the use of technology can be of great help.
Students can reinforce the theory by watching videos, reels, tiktoks,
and resort to interactive material for further practice. Also, the use of
TIC compensates tired teachers who many times are overloaded with
work and don’t have the time to design and create their own
resources and materials.

It is also crucial for teachers to acknowledge there has been a shift

in teaching phonetics from an approach which used to focus on a
native.like pronunciation to a methodology that understands that in
the 21st century when English has become a global language, and
when non native speakers outnumber native speakers, it is okay to
have an accent as long as speakers are able to communicate
intelligibly and in intercultural settings.