awanobibCHRIS


 * Reference**

Atkielski, A. (2005). Phonetic transcription can be a useful tool for teaching or correcting pronunciation in the ESL/EFL classroom. Retrieved from []

The author discusses the use of phonetic transcription in the teaching of English as a second language, and English as a foreign language, by using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). He describes the advantages of phonetic transcription, such as having an exact representation of spoken language, providing students with an important tool to know how to pronounce a word or phrase, as a tool to record and analyze students’ speech in order to work on pronunciation errors, to show how words can be pronounced differently in isolation and within a sentence, and to save on time in small ways by using transcription instead of audio recordings every so often to correct pronunciation, among many others. The method by which the learners will transcribe, is by learning the IPA, and then using it as part of various activities throughout their learning process in narrow, and in broad transcription. The complementary instruction of suprasegmental variables, such as intonation, is also important when teaching the IPA. Additionally, when creating materials using a computer, there are significant aspects that need to be taken into consideration such as spacing, typefaces and fonts, and the computer code. This document explains in detail how to work using the IPA, and the author explains various concepts such as vowels, and consonants that will allow me to support and further explain how to improve pronunciation. It also gave me some ideas on activities that can be implemented for this purpose.

Baker, A., & Murphy, J. (2011). Knowledge base of pronunciation teaching: Staking out the territory. //TESL Canada Journal 29 //(2), pp. 22-50.

The author writes about the effects of teacher cognition (TC) in the practice of instructional behaviors as a knowledge base of pronunciation teaching.He states that research on TC is limited, and that it results in the underdevelopment of pronunciation observed in teachers, as well as in research documents. TC can be categorized in objective cognitions (knowledge; about language, students, etc.) and subjective cognitions (beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, etc.), and together they help define a teacher’s classroom practices. Thus, a teacher with poor TC in pronunciation also offers poor pronunciation practices in the classroom, and therefore students acquire and learn poor pronunciation. According to the author, in order to gain good pronunciation practices, a teacher should have the appropriate TC in pronunciation first in order to teach it. Although the literature paper focuses more on teachers than on students, methods, strategies, or techniques, I find it significant for teachers to become aware that if we make no effort in improving ourselves, how are we supposed to help our students improve? It is my strong belief that all those positive aspects and practices start with us as teachers, and our self-development.

Foote, J., Holtby, A., & Derwing, T. (2011). Survey of the teaching of pronunciation in adult ESL programs in Canada, 2010. //TESL Canada Journal 29//(1), pp. 1-22.

The author performed this research as a follow-up study from a previous study to compare current practices n teaching pronunciation to those from ten years ago. The subjects of this research were 201 ESL teachers who were asked about resources, approaches, and beliefs they had about teaching pronunciation through a questionnaire, though only 159 completed it. The author points out that even though the study was conducted in Canada, other countries have performed similar studies and research. He goes on to mention how the practice of pronunciation teaching will not result in native-like pronunciation, but that it will get close to it with constant practice, stating that both segmental and suprasegmental instruction are useful when used appropriately. The results indicate that most teachers believe they do not have enough time for pronunciation in class, and therefore they focus mainly on minimal pairs (segmental instruction), and on intonation (suprasegmental instruction). The author suggests as a recommendation that teachers should do two things; offer explicit feedback to students on both segmental and suprasegmental problems, and to focus on the problems that have the highest effect when communicating such as sentence stress. It is important for us as teachers to consider our students’ needs and stem objectives from those needs. For most purposes of communication both segmental and suprasegmental instruction are important. I agree with the author in that we have to focus on the most important aspects that could affect a student’s ability to communicate accurately.

Frederick, M. (2005). Common articulation variations between English and Spanish. Super Duper Publications Retrieved from: []

The author of this web article points out some of the most highlighted variations in articulation between English and Spanish. Among these general articulation variances are the consonants; having fifteen phonemes that occur in both languages, but with five that occur in Spanish only, and nine that occur in English only. For instance, “v” and “b” are two different phonemes in English, but even though they are part of Spanish as well, speakers of the former pronounce both as “b”. Another articulation variation comes from vowels. There is no schwa in Spanish, and there are only five sounds for vowels in this language, whereas twenty can be found in English (British). Therefore, Spanish speakers tend to replace vowels in English with the most similar vowel sound from their language. Syllables in Spanish have roughly the same duration from any given speaker, being this the reason why English speakers might perceive Spanish native speakers as “rapid” talkers. English, however, possesses a rhythm in which some accented syllables are longer than other unaccented syllables. Among the other differences between both languages are pitch, accent in words, and dialectal variations. I think this is important for ELLs to understand when learning English as a second language. Understanding these aspects allows them to compare and contrast these variations, and gives them to opportunity to understand how they speak, and what helps them to correct and improve their pronunciation.

Hewings, M. (2004). //Pronunciation practice activities: A resource book for teaching English pronunciation.// Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

This book offers a great insight into language, pronunciation, and pronunciation teaching. There is much debate about pronunciation, what the right model for pronunciation is, and on the importance of native-like pronunciation. The author opposes the idea of native-like pronunciation objectives, and encourages different accents as the foundation of communication, and to base all teaching on this foundation. It is important for ELLs to understand that English is a global language, that accents abound, and that they should try to understand many different types of accents. The main reason for this is that in their English speaking experience, they are bound to come into contact with speakers of other languages who speak English as a second language. The book also offers ideas on how to implement pronunciation activities into the curricula. For instance, the teacher can take advantage of listening activities, which are largely given a higher priority, to introduce pronunciation. Additionally, the book offers various activities to include in a lesson plan to practice this subskill. This book is very effective for me as it serves as a great source of information. It provides me with excellent resources for pronunciation activities and ideas for its implementation in a classroom.

International Phonetic Association. (1999). //A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet.// Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

This book explains the International Phonetic Alphabet which was created in 1886 and has had very few changes since its conception. The book is divided into three sections. The first section explains the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), its purposes, and its use. It exemplifies the phonetics as a science, providing a detailed description of the IPA chart and its elements. Phonetics can be analyzed in different aspects related to linguistics and speech as a sequence of sounds. It also explains the differences between segments (individual sounds) and suprasegmental aspects (stress, intonation, etc.). The second section contains illustrations of the IPA and its application in different languages, Spanish among them. Finally, the third section contains computer codings, as well as the history of the IPA. This book is especially relevant to understand what the International Phonetic Alphabet is, and how to articulate each sound, as well as detailed information about each phoneme. I think this book will allow me to explain why knowing phonetics is important, and how students can benefit from knowing the International Phonetic Alphabet.

Mortimer, C. (1985). //Elements of pronunciation: Intensive practice for intermediate and more advanced students//. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

This book offers some great practice for sounds that intermediate and advanced ELLs might find more difficult. The exercises are cleverly written to take full advantage of the language by including dialogues with words that contain a certain phoneme repeatedly. The author explains that at the time of reading aloud, ELLs should focus on segmental and suprasegmental elements of speech, paying special attention to stress, connected speech, and linking. Among the weak forms, there are many useful phonemes that students usually find difficult such as the schwa, as well as words like “but”, “them” and “that”. The dialogues are entertaining and easy to understand, and they provide pronunciation practice for ELLs. The author makes suggestions to teachers on how to plan a lesson around these dialogues. If the ELL is working alone, the dialogues are supplemented with a disc to listen to pronunciation, so that it can be imitated. I found the dialogues alone to be a great source of practice for teachers to use. They’re easy to follow and personalize, even without the suggestions made by the author. This book will allow me to show how to practice certain phonemes that will allow students to improve pronunciation.

Park, H. (2010). A study of co-relation between the length of English low vowels and diphthongs by Korean exchange students. //Journal of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics 14 //(2), pp. 25-39.

The author of this article compares the length in pronunciation of five diphthongs between Koreans and Americans. He tries to find a common feature among these, looking for evidence of correlation between low vowels and diphthongs. The participants were four Korean college students and five Americans, all female between the ages of 21 and 39. The instruments used were sets of sentences that had a diphthong at the beginning and at the end of each sentence, as well as sets of words to be spoken individually. The results of the study showed varied differences in length in pronunciation by Korean subjects than those shown by Americans. The author suggests that the reason for this stems from the fact that Koreans find it difficult to pronounce English low vowels, and proposes a closer look at the instruction of vowel pronunciation. This research shows me one of the factors that inhibit pronunciation. It demonstrates the difficulties that native speakers of other languages have when learning English, which is the reason why I believe segmental instruction is just as important as suprasegmental instruction in pronunciation.

Tominaga, Y. (2009). An analysis of successful pronunciation learners: In search of effective factors in pronunciation teaching. //Pan-Pacific Association in Applied Linguistics 13//(1), pp. 127-140.

This 3-part research seeks for factors in students that allow them to acquire an outstanding proficient level of pronunciation, such as learning strategies, motivation, and attitudes. The participants were 24 junior high school students selected through recitation contests from a private school in Tokyo. Their pronunciation was recorded and they answered a questionnaire related to history, environment, and strategies of their English learning experience. The results showed that learners who excelled in pronunciation over the rest of the learners were influenced by few particular aspects. From internal stimuli in class, teachers should encourage the learning and practice of English pronunciation spontaneously, and they should guide students to find their own learning strategies inside and outside of the classroom. Additionally, learners were self-engaged and self-invested in the development of their pronunciation. They received external stimuli from movies and music, which motivated them to improve their pronunciation. They were also encouraged by teachers and other individuals they believed to be respectable. The research emphasizes that the main aspect that influenced learners was their joy of learning, stating that the majority mentioned they enjoyed the language in and out of class, mostly on their own. However, he points out that even those who did not mention this aspect still handled a high level of pronunciation proficiency in the language. This research is important because it allows us, as teachers, to find the factors that influence pronunciation in our teaching. It is surprising to know that excelling pronunciation comes mostly from external sources, and it is definitely something we can use to our learners’ advantage, and even to our own. Because we as teachers are role models, and one of the sources of motivation, we must also possess good pronunciation in the language.

The University of Warwick. (2012). Pronunciation. Retreived from []

The website provides a perspective on the importance of good pronunciation skills, and offers some insight on the possible causes for excelling or lacking of pronunciation, as well as to offer some advice on how to improve it. The article states that it takes a lot of time and effort to develop pronunciation, but that the real key is to have what is commonly known as “comfortable intelligibility”, which is a level of understanding with minimal strain of what is said to other people who are listening. It suggests that some of the difficulties stem from sounds that do not exist in other languages, for instance, the 20 vowels in English (British) against the usual 5 in other languages such as Spanish. The five main areas of difficulty in pronunciation are rhythm, word stress, sentence stress, intonation, and pronunciation of individual sounds. General advice given in order to improve on these aspects is individual to the learner, and it involves finding their own mistakes, becoming aware of native articulation of sounds, listening to native pronunciation, setting specific goals, reading out loud, slowing down on speech, and attending pronunciation classes regularly if they are available. This website will help me provide advice on how to improve pronunciation and to give ideas on the possible causes that influence pronunciation.


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