Teaching English Pronunciation is a book entirely focused on the language classroom and the “how to” of doing pronunciation instruction.
While there is some theoretical stuff there, it is very much in the background to the practical side. The book covers issues such as sounds and spelling, introducing word stress and sounds, and so on.
About The Teaching English Pronunciation
This book is intended to help teachers with an aspect of English which many view as full of perplexities – pronunciation.
Teachers observe their learners trying to pronounce English and realize that something is wrong. But exactly what is wrong and why? How does one account for the fact that learners seem to vary so much?
Some learners seem to have few pronunciation problems, others have a great many; some individuals progress well, while others seem stranded on the proverbial plateau. And why is an individual’s performance so variable?
Sometimes a learner can make a sound perfectly and then, in the next instant, their performance seems to deteriorate.
Why all this instability? Sometimes it seems that it is not making a sound which is difficult but knowing when and where to use it. There are some aspects of pronunciation that seem especially elusive, such as intonation.
And lastly, the question that is most important for teachers – how can the teacher help? What should be taught and how?
We will explore the answers to these questions in the two parts of this book. In Part One we will examine the basic problems and principles of teaching pronunciation. In the design of any teaching program, it is essential that the process of learning is taken into account, so we begin in Chapter 1 by looking at some basic assumptions about pronunciation learning.
We also consider the goals of pronunciation teaching and the roles of teacher and learner. The notion of intelligibility is crucial to pronunciation teaching. This notion and its relevance to establishing priorities in teaching pronunciation will be explored in Chapter 2.
