Module 5:
TEACHING
PRONUNCIATION
Beliefs about teaching
pronunciation
Statements
1. Pronunciation is not teachable
2. The ultimate goal of pronunciation
teaching in an ELT context is to make
foreign language students’
pronunciation sound like native
speaker.
3. Teaching pronunciation makes
students aware of different sounds
and sound features.
4. There are many different sounds
which cause difficulties for different
first language speakers.
Agree Neutral Disagree
Beliefs about teaching
pronunciation
Statements
5. Segments and suprasegmentals
should be balanced in the teaching of
intelligible pronunciation.
6. Communicative language teaching
ignores pronunciation
7. Imitating a native speaker model
facilitates the acquisition of a target
like pronunciation.
8. With the focus of pronunciation on
isolated words and/ or sentences,
there is little transfer from practice to
natural communication.
Agree Neutral Disagree
Teaching pronunciationMethodological variation
Method
Focus
Tolerance of
pronunciation
mistakes
Method used
Summary
Grammar
translation
Accuracy
Relatively
tolerant
Teacher correction
via lecture/
explanation
Little or no attention is
paid to pronunciation
Audio-lingual
Accuracy
Relatively
intolerant
Teacher correction
Repetition drill and
practice in the
language lab
Minimal pair drill
Pronunciation is
emphasized and taught
from the beginning
Communicative
approach
Fluency
obligatory
Accuracy
optional
Relatively
tolerant
Learner engagement
in authentic listening
and speaking tasks
Communicatively
adequate pronunciation
is generally assumed to
be a by- product of
appropriate practice over
a sufficient period of time
Teaching pronunciationMethodological variation
Method
Focus
Tolerance of
pronunciation
mistakes
Method used
Summary
Grammar
translation
Accuracy
Relatively
tolerant
Teacher correction
via lecture/
explanation
Little or no attention is
paid to pronunciation
Audio-lingual
Accuracy
Relatively
intolerant
Teacher correction
Pronunciation is
Intelligible
pronunciation
emphasized
and taught
Repetition drill and
NOT
from
the beginning
practice in the
language lab Native- like pronunciation
Minimal pair drill
Communicative
approach
Fluency
obligatory
Accuracy
optional
Relatively
tolerant
Learner engagement
in authentic listening
and speaking tasks
Communicatively
adequate pronunciation
is generally assumed to
be a by- product of
appropriate practice over
a sufficient period of time
Contents
• Aspects of pronunciation
• Principles for teaching pronunciation
• Techniques for teaching pronunciation
• Common pronunciation mistakes
Aspects of pronunciation
• What are the major aspects of
pronunciation?
Work in pairs/ groups with your friends and
note down different aspects of pronunciation
Read the descriptions of lesson extracts and
decide which aspect of pronunciation it aims to
practice
TEACHING APPROACHES
Bottom-up approach
Top-down approach
Stress, Rhythm, Tone,
Intonation
Stress, Rhythm, Tone,
Intonation
The articulation of
individual sounds or
phonemes
The articulation of
individual sounds or
phonemes
Consonants
Vowels
Word stress
Rhythm
Intonation
Voice quality setting
Breath
Pennington, 1996: 157)
Foundation of good
pronunciation
WHEN TO TEACH?
• Whole lesson
• Discrete slots
• Integrated phases
• Opportunistic teaching
• PHASES IN A PRONUNCIATION LESSON
Description and Analysis
Listening discrimination
Controlled practice and feedback
Guided practice and feedback
Communicative practice and feedback
TECHNIQUES FOR TEACHING PRONUNCIATION
Minimal pairs
1. Listen and circle the correct word
2. Use visual aids- pictures:
Ask students to circle the pictures if they
hear the words
TECHNIQUES FOR TEACHING PRONUNCIATION
• Making repetition fun:
– Play with volume: Ask students to say something in a
louder voice/ or ask students to speak in a whisper,
very quietly.
– Experiment with tone: Say something in a curious,
surprised, angry, bored or frightened tone. Eg.: “Yes”,
“What?”
– Playing with rhyme: eg.: day….play…say…pay…grey
Divide the students in 2 teams. Students take turn to
initiate a word/ start the chain
TECHNIQUES FOR TEACHING PRONUNCIATION
• Raising students’ awareness of sentence
stress (Humming)
Mary and I went to the market on Friday
COMMON PRONUNCIATION PROBLEMS
AMONG VIETNAMESE LEARNERS
DISCUSSION