Teaching Pronunciation

Teaching Pronunciation: A handbook for teachers and trainers
© Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA)
5
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. ABOUT THE PROJECT

1.1.1. Background

This project funded by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Training and Youth
Affairs and managed by TAFE NSW - Access Division aims to help language teachers
and workplace trainers working with adult migrant learners of English as a second
language to increase their confidence in teaching pronunciation effectively.

It builds on several previous DETYA-funded projects, all stemming from


 the observation that pronunciation is one of the most problematic
aspects of English language for both teachers and learners, and
 the belief that this need not be the case: pronunciation
can
be taught
and learned effectively
.


The first of these projects is a report entitled
Coordinating improvements in
pronunciation teaching for adult learners of English as a second language
(Fraser 2000),
which outlines some of the problems with pronunciation teaching, suggests some
analyses of their causes, and puts forward recommendations for improving the situation.

One of the main problems found by this report is lack of confidence among teachers as
to how to teach pronunciation, stemming from their own lack of training in this area. Yet
many teachers really wish to be able to help learners with this crucial aspect of
language.

These teachers are aware that currently adult migrants in Australia, even after several
years of ESL classes, are often far less proficient in the spoken language than in
grammar, vocabulary, and literacy. This is particularly unfortunate as it is oral
communication that is most critical to migrants’ achievement of their goals in
employment, education and other areas of life. This is because English-speaking

listeners find it much easier to understand someone whose pronunciation is basically OK
but whose grammar remains weak than the reverse: excellent grammar can be
completely masked by poor pronunciation. This means that learners who have better
pronunciation will have more opportunities to communicate naturally with native
speakers – and this in itself is one of the surest paths to improvement in all aspects of
language.

As explained in the
Coordinating Improvements
report, while recent years have seen a
significant improvement in the amount of pronunciation tuition given to migrants, the
need is not just for
more
pronunciation tuition, but for
better
pronunciation tuition, based
on methods and materials whose effectiveness has been properly demonstrated.
Teaching Pronunciation: A handbook for teachers and trainers
© Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA)
6
One of the main recommendations of the report was that more material should be made
available to teachers who wished to learn the skills of effective pronunciation teaching.
Two CD-ROMs were subsequently produced, one piloting interactive pronunciation
materials (
Learn to Speak Clearly in English
), and one outlining basic concepts of
pronunciation teaching for teachers (
Teaching Pronunciation
).

The present project follows on from these projects (the report and two CD-ROMs), and
seeks to provide detailed frameworks for teachers to use in working on pronunciation
with a range of different ESL learners in a range of different types of situation. Attention
is focused on two main issues of current concern:

 the need to integrate work on pronunciation into other kinds of
classes or training, as well as or instead of teaching pronunciation
separately in dedicated classes
 the need to offer assistance to those who need to teach
pronunciation in workplace as well as in classroom contexts, since,
increasingly, language tuition is part of workplace training, where the
situation and challenges are quite different from those of the
traditional classroom context.

In both these contexts, teachers need to be equipped to deal with a wide range of
different types of learners, who in turn have a wide range of different needs and
constraints. The frameworks outlined here are intended to offer flexible but effective
principles and practices that teachers can adapt to their own particular circumstances.


1.1.2. Aims

The project’s aims were to develop, pilot and evaluate frameworks for an integrated
approach to teaching pronunciation to adults of non-English-speaking background
(NESB). Three different learner groups were identified

 learners with limited spoken English skills (in formal English classes)
 learners with more advanced English skills but still with pronunciation
needs (in formal English classes)
 NESB learners in workplaces



Some terminology

Pronunciation
here includes all those aspects of speech which make for an
easily intelligible flow of speech, including segmental articulation, rhythm,
intonation and phrasing, and more peripherally even gesture, body language
and eye contact. Pronunciation is an essential ingredient of
oral
communication
, which also includes grammar, vocabulary choice, cultural
considerations and so on.

Teaching Pronunciation: A handbook for teachers and trainers
© Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA)
7
1.1.3. Participants
1.1.3.1. The teachers and trainers

A group of six teachers involved with ESL speakers in classroom teaching or in
workplace language and literacy training in the Sydney metropolitan area took part in the
project. They were rather typical of many other teachers (see Biosketches in Appendix).
None of them had any particular background in pronunciation teaching. In fact,
discussion in the first session revealed that most of them disliked pronunciation and
found it difficult and frustrating to teach. Some of the methods they had used in the past
included

 Breaking words into syllables and getting students to clap or beat the
syllables
 Sometimes using material from published books or tapes, where this
was relevant – but often feeling that there is too little material to
cover the wide range of students’ needs
 Attempting to give rules or principles to help students understand the
structure of English pronunciation: ‘The times I feel I really help the
learners is when I can give them some rules or principles. To them,
the English language is just chaos, and they appreciate anything that
helps them to make sense of it – like when to pronounce the letter ‘g’
as ‘hard’ or ‘soft’.’
 Sometimes using a chart with symbols of the International Phonetic
Alphabet (IPA) to help learners understand which sounds they had
got wrong
 Sometimes writing a word on the board with the stressed syllable in
capitals
 ‘I usually just model the correct pronunciation for them. I didn’t do
well in phonetics in my teacher training so I don’t like to use the
symbols’

The teachers and trainers were also rather typical in their situation at work. They mostly
taught classes of around fifteen students of mixed language background, for terms of 12-
18 weeks. They all had fairly negative or limited expectations as to what was possible to
achieve in pronunciation lessons, though they were willing to give the project a serious
go.

By the end of the research phase, all participants had benefited greatly from the project
(see messages in Appendix, and several excerpts in this section).

As well as the participants themselves, the final form of this handbook was also
influenced by the comments of the national Steering Committee (see
Acknowledgments), and two additional workplace trainers who read drafts of the
handbook.
Teaching Pronunciation: A handbook for teachers and trainers
© Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA)
8



Message from Roslyn
Throughout my years teaching I have experimented with various approaches to
teaching pronunciation and found them rather complex, daunting and time
consuming to teach. […] Since being involved in the Pilot Pronunciation Project
I have begun inserting up to 3 or more small pronunciation segments into
lessons […] It has been surprising just how quickly and easily it is possible to
obtain an improvement, while giving them the framework enables the students
to begin to self monitor their speech.

(see Appendix for full messages from participants)

1.1.3.2. The Project Officer

The meetings were led by Helen Fraser (see biosketch in Appendix), a university
lecturer in phonetics, phonology and psycholinguistics, with no formal teaching
qualification but a research interest in second language pronunciation and methods of
effective pronunciation teaching.

The project thus represented a very fruitful collaboration between linguistic research and
language linguistics practice, in a context where dialogue between theoretical linguists,
applied linguists, and language teachers is both infrequent and sometimes at cross
purposes.


1.1.4. The research phase of the project

The main body of the project took place over two months. The teachers and trainers
participated in one formal half-day workshop on pronunciation teaching with about 70
other teachers in mid May 2001, and then in eight weekly half-day meetings in their own
small group of seven. At each meeting we discussed an aspect of pronunciation
teaching, and made suggestions for activities they might try in their classes or
workshops. During the week, participants tried these activities, and documented their
experiences and reflections in a journal for discussion at the next meeting.

Each meeting was tape recorded, and notes written up by the Project Officer to circulate
to all participants. The current document represents an attempt to capture the key
content of the workshop and the weekly sessions for the benefit of other teachers and
trainers.



Message from Ameetha

Although I did a bit of phonetics and linguistics in my degree, I was not very
keen on teaching phonetics to my students […] However, after meeting with
Helen things changed. I realised that I didn’t need a Masters degree in
phonetics to teach my students correct pronunciation. The strategies and
methods that I have learnt with her have made me quite confident of teaching it
to my students.

Teaching Pronunciation: A handbook for teachers and trainers
© Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA)
9

1.1.5. Outcomes

The intended outcomes of the project were:

 enhanced teacher expertise in teaching pronunciation effectively
 an evaluation of the pilots of the framework implemented at the two
teaching sites
 a teacher resource accompanying the existing CD-ROMs, to
document strategies and advice for teaching and learning
pronunciation as communication in and out of the classroom. This
resource will be distributed nationally by download from an
appropriate DETYA or ANTA website.

The actual outcomes achieved have been:

 the participants themselves learned a great deal, and are able to
pass on their knowledge and skills not only to their students but also
to their colleagues
 the participants also contributed in a very valuable way to the
development of the principles and practices of pronunciation
teaching put forward in the frameworks, by operationalising them and
developing them into teaching techniques
 the development of the Frameworks themselves
 the production of the current Handbook presenting the three
frameworks, which can be used by teachers and trainers nationally.



Message from Belinda

On the whole, my feelings [used to be] fairly negative about teaching
pronunciation.[…] This method of teaching pronunciation is teacher and student
friendly. There is no need to know the phonetic alphabet or have a great deal of
linguistic knowledge. Pronunciation work is integrated into the lessons in a
natural way that is suitable for all levels. The emphasis is on students hearing
their own mistakes and becoming aware of what the listener is hearing.


Teaching Pronunciation: A handbook for teachers and trainers
© Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA)
10

1.2. ABOUT THE THREE FRAMEWORKS, AND THIS
HANDBOOK


1.2.1. Aims of the handbook

The aim of the present handbook is to present the three frameworks that were
developed in the project. It includes a good deal more material than the frameworks
themselves, providing as it does, a theoretical and research basis to support the
practical strategies presented.


1.2.2. Intended audience

The primary orientation of the handbook is towards English language and literacy
teachers who

 are native or very fluent speakers of English (non-native teachers will
also find it useful but their needs may be different in several respects
to those of native speaker teachers)
 have qualifications in English as a second language,
 have little background in or confidence with pronunciation teaching,
 work with learners who are at rather early stages of learning English
pronunciation (though they might be more advanced in other aspects
of English language).

For this reason the material has been kept as straightforward and direct as possible,
given that pronunciation is a very complex subject. Readers who wish to follow up
background issues are referred to the list of references, including the author’s own
publications, and to her website, which contains a much larger bibliography and
additional background material. Some additional remarks are also made in Section 1.2.4
below.


1.2.3. About the communicative approach

The approach to pronunciation teaching taken in this project, and in this handbook, is a
communicative one. It has been developed by the author over the last five years to fit in
with general principles of communicative language teaching, and to take account of
several factors which are known through empirical research around the world to be
important in making pronunciation teaching effective. It is not a ‘method’ as such but a
set of principles by which practices and materials can be devised to fit any particular
pronunciation teaching context .

Of course, many existing methods and materials are effective, or at least have good
aspects and components. The problem sometimes is assessing which of these are
Teaching Pronunciation: A handbook for teachers and trainers
© Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA)
11
useful for teaching a particular group in a particular situation. The communicative
approach therefore presents criteria not just for devising teaching materials and
curriculum, but also for judging the usefulness of existing materials for teaching
pronunciation in a particular context.

The principles of the communicative approach are not intended to be a one-size-fits-all
solution but to be basic enough and flexible enough to allow adaptation to any situation.
Such adaptation requires the understanding, insight and expertise of the teacher, and it
is this understanding which is the key to an ability to
integrate
pronunciation teaching
into other areas of teaching and training. A good deal of emphasis is placed in this
handbook on helping readers develop a deep understanding of the issues learners face
with pronunciation, and how to tackle them.

Much more is said about the communicative approach throughout the handbook, but it
may be useful to present the main points here.



The communicative approach to teaching pronunciation: ‘communicative’
in four ways

1. teaches material which is useful for real communication outside classroom

2. order of teaching is based on what is most important to listeners in
communication

3. learners are taught to think of speech as communication and pay attention
to needs of listener

4. focus on good communication between teachers and learners about
pronunciation itself



The last principle is the most important and the one that, for most teachers, requires the
greatest change in the way they think about pronunciation. A great deal of the material in
this handbook is devoted to deepening teachers’ and trainers’ understanding of
metalinguistic communication
– communication between teacher and learner about
language itself.
Teaching Pronunciation: A handbook for teachers and trainers
© Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA)
12

1.2.4. The broader context

It is important to emphasise, as was done in the
Coordinating Improvements
report, that
the problems migrants face with oral communication are by no means all attributable to
teachers’ lack of training. Some other factors are particularly salient in relation to the
current handbook.

1.2.4.1. Research issues

Academic research in the discipline of linguistics has until recently not paid much
attention to the topic of second language phonology and the process of acquiring the
pronunciation of a second language, and even less to the needs of teachers in
understanding pronunciation and how to teach it.

This handbook is based on research that has aimed to redress this (see references), but
it is clear that there is a need for much more work in this area, particularly for
collaborative work between academics and teachers.




In carrying out this research one of the main aims and principles has been to
adhere rigorously to the criterion that everything should be judged in relation to
the ultimate criterion:
does this lead directly to observable improvements in
learners’ pronunciation?
Other criteria, such as
does this give teachers
confidence?
Or
does this make learners happy in their classes?
Are also
relevant but are kept strictly secondary to the ultimate criterion.



1.2.4.2. Teacher training issues

A large reason for teachers’ lack of confidence with pronunciation is their own lack of
training in this area, since until recently it was the norm (though with a number of very
honourable exceptions) for teacher training institutions to offer extremely minimal
guidance in this area – sometimes to the point of none at all.

In very recent years, this has started to change, and an increasing number of institutions
are offering teacher training and professional development courses on pronunciation.
This is good but it is essential to realise the teachers need not just more information
about pronunciation, but a different kind of information from what they have traditionally
been given.

In the few cases where academics have responded to requests from teachers for
information on phonology and pronunciation, the tendency has been to ‘keep things
simple for the teachers’. Of course it is essential to tailor information for teachers who
quite rightly have spent their education on learning to teach rather than learning
linguistics. However in some cases this simplification has been of the wrong kind.
Explanations have generally been limited to discussion of the phonemes of English,
supplemented by a little basic English prosody, whereas what teachers most need to
Teaching Pronunciation: A handbook for teachers and trainers
© Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA)
13
know is how and why speakers of other languages find the phonology of English so
difficult.

The present handbook is based on research and experience regarding how best to
present the more essential kinds of information about pronunciation to teachers.

This means that it is challenging material, requiring teachers to rethink ideas they may
have held for a long time. The fact that it is based on the program of sessions in which a
group of teachers who are typical in many ways of most of the readers of the handbook
is a great advantage, in that it has been possible to build on participants’ own discussion
and questions in a way which, it is hoped, makes the explanations appropriate for and
interesting to other teachers and trainers.

1.2.4.3. Policy issues

It has been observed on numerous occasions (see references) that tuition and training
specifically on pronunciation and oral communication for ESL migrants has been very
limited, especially in relation to the major focus on literacy over the last decade or more.
This itself has been a major factor in creating the poor outcomes for learners described
above.

There are many reasons for this neglect of oral communication. One of the major
reasons has been the difficulty of demonstrating that pronunciation tuition is effective in
helping migrants improve their oral communication. The reason this has (often, not
always) been difficult to demonstrate is quite simply that much pronunciation tuition has
not
been effective.

It is important to emphasise that this does not demonstrate that pronunciation tuition
cannot
be effective; simply that it has often been done by people who do not know how
to make it effective, for reasons outlined above and in
Coordinating Improvements
.

This means that it is crucial for those who can teach pronunciation well to demonstrate
the improvement in learners’ pronunciation brought about by their lessons – and not just
by asking learners whether they enjoyed the lessons, but by objective documentation of
the improvement, and the effects of the improvement in workplace communication or
other areas. Only with this kind of evidence will policy makers, institution administrators
and employees be gradually persuaded to change their attitude to pronunciation tuition.

One last issue that should be raised briefly here is that problems in communication
between English native speakers and English language learners are by no means all the
‘fault’ of the learners. This handbook is directed towards helping teachers and trainers
help migrants with pronunciation, and that is a crucial part of improving intercultural
communication.

However, programs which help native speakers improve the effectiveness of their oral
communication with ESL migrants are also essential – and also require trainers with
specific expertise in pronunciation issues.
Teaching Pronunciation: A handbook for teachers and trainers
© Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA)
14

1.2.5. Overview of the handbook

This handbook presents three frameworks which can be used by teachers to devise or
adapt material for use with learners at different levels and in different situations. Before
looking in detail at the frameworks, it sets out some background ideas which apply to all
three frameworks.

Within each framework, there is a section applying the background ideas to the
particular group, discussion of participants’ own examples and anecdotes, and a
Question and Answer section reflecting the actual questions raised by participants
during the sessions, and the answers that were suggested.



Some terminology

teacher
includes anyone who is teaching pronunciation

learner
includes anyone who is learning English as a second language, at any
level

student
means someone who is studying a formal course, whether that is a
language course or some other course



1.2.6. How to use this handbook

Obviously most readers will want to turn to the parts of the handbook that are most
relevant to their own situations.

However, there is a sequential flow to the ideas in the handbook, and it is advisable in
the first instance to look through it from beginning to end, and then to dip into the
sections that seem most relevant. Also it should be mentioned that the approach is in
places somewhat different to what most teachers will be familiar with.

It should be emphasised again that this handbook does not provide a curriculum or a set
of teaching materials but a set of ideas and principles organised into frameworks which
teachers can use to develop their own curriculum and materials.

Some of the most important points in this handbook are difficult to fully grasp from a print
based explanation, and are much better demonstrated with audio and visual examples.
The CD
Teaching Pronunciation
has been created to allow teachers to work through
audiovisual material at their own pace. It is strongly recommended that readers gain
access to this CD if at all possible.

It is hoped that readers will be interested enough in the material presented in this
handbook to want to pursue some issues in pronunciation further. Indeed pronunciation
is a complex and fascinating topic involving insights from phonetics, phonology,
psycholinguistics and other disciplines, as well as from education. This handbook can do

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