Pronunciation Matters

Provides independent instructional units that help overcome pronunciation difficulties

Provides independent instructional units that help overcome pronunciation difficulties.

This book offers new insights into the language gains of adult learners enrolled in an English-medium instruction (EMI) degree programme. It provides longitudinal empirical evidence of the phonological gains of the learners; discusses which individual factors contribute to the changes in the learners’ pronunciation and investigates whether and to what extent increased exposure to the target language in EMI classrooms leads to incidental learning of second language pronunciation. Furthermore, it expands on the discussions surrounding the Critical Period Hypothesis, the native-speaker norm, foreign language accent and the role of English as a Lingua Franca. The comparative and longitudinal design of the research study fills a significant gap in the literature and the book offers considerable original and important research-informed insights into the fields of EMI, bilingual education and second language acquisition. As such, it is a valuable resource and must-read book for researchers, practitioners and policymakers in these areas.

This book examines the pronunciation goals of teachers, course leaders, and learners on a ten-week UK pre-sessional access course, particularly with regard to suprasegmental instruction and target of instruction on how these goals are reflected in pronunciation assessment, and how teacher goals are informed by their attitudes and beliefs. A mixed methods approach, including direct observation and semi-structured interviews, is employed to address the area of enquiry. Results show a lack of clarity of course goals. Although there is a firm emphasis on suprasegmental instruction, in semi-structured interviews, teachers report a lack of clear course goals and guidance. Assessment and practice do not always adhere to a goal of intelligibility, and support for teachers, in terms of the materials and how they might be exploited seems limited. The book concludes with tentative recommendations on how suprasegmental instruction might be facilitated on EAP and other courses

Sound matters. The New Testament's first audiences were listeners, not readers. They heard its compositions read aloud and understood their messages as linear streams of sound. To understand the New Testament's meaning in the way its earliest audiences did, we must hear its audible features and understand its words as spoken sounds. Sound Matters presents essays by ten scholars from five countries and three continents, who explore the New Testament through sound mapping, a technique invented by Margaret Lee and Bernard Scott for analyzing Greek texts as speech. Sound Matters demonstrates the value and uses of this technique as a prelude and aid to interpretation. The essays that make up this volume illustrate the wide range of interpretive possibilities that emerge when sound mapping restores the spoken sounds of the New Testament and revives its living voice.

English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) is one manifestation of the changing role of English in the world today. This book and audio links explore how ELF may be relevant to teaching your students pronunciation. It draws on the Lingua Franca core, a set of pronunciation features that research has found to be essential to intelligibility in ELF communications, and explores how adopting an ELF approach can benefit students. It covers techniques and materials for teaching ELF pronunciation, including planning and assessment and the influence of learners' first language pronunciation. The audio links feature dialogues between ELF speakers from fifteen different first language backgrounds.

The book titled 'Pronunciation Matters (British vs American) - A Beginner's Guide' is a modest attempt on the part of writer to provide a supporting system for teachers and learners working in low resource conditions across India. This book intends to help teachers in lending support and giving practice to their students in pronouncing the words intelligibly with ease and confidence. As this book is a Beginner's Guide, it will ensure one in understanding the importance of pronunciation of British vs American words. As English is not the first language in almost all the states in indiaa, it becomes quite difficult for students and teacher's at times to pronounce all the words correctly. The book aims to focus on the fundamentals of pronunciation of both British and American words. With the advent of globalization and industrialization, English language has gained momentum and it has become necessary to speak and write English with free of errors. Spoken English is all about how one utters the words and pronounces them. As English is an orthographic language, the tendency to mispronounce the words is highly possible. Good pronunciation skill can give more self-confidence when one speaks in front of many people. In addition, as professional communication has become important, all that matters is how one pronounces the words without nervous and hesitation. Regular practice of the words listed in the book would render a great help in improving pronunciation. Keeping in mind of all the above, by this volume, I tried to not only create awareness in teachers and learners about the importance of pronouncing words clearly, but also to assist whoever takes initiative and comes forward to improve their spoken English. Finally, volume will help as a substantial guide in changing the approach of students towards understanding pronunciation in broad. I sincerely hope and believe that this book will be a source of help and support to all the teachers and learners who wish to improve their spoken skills.

Pronunciation Games is a photocopiable resource book for use with students of elementary to proficiency level.

Pronunciation raises many questions. Since learners of English are exposed to a bewildering variety of native and nonnative Englishes, they are challenged to reflect on the importance of accent both in their own English and in that of others. New developments in teaching and the introduction of common European standards have also prompted teachers to incorporate pronunciation training into their curricula. In this collection, contributors discuss the most recent research on pronunciation issues to provide insight into matters of teaching, testing, and the wider communicative context, ranging from business English as a Lingua Franca to English communication between the Dutch and the Chinese."

This book offers contemporary perspectives on English pronunciation teaching and research in the context of increasing multilingualism and English as an international language. It reviews current theory and practice in pronunciation pedagogy, language learning, language assessment, and technological developments, and presents an expanded view of pronunciation in communication, education, and employment. Its eight chapters provide a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of pronunciation and the linguistic and social functions it fulfils. Topics include pronunciation in first and second language acquisition; instructional approaches and factors impacting teachers’ curriculum decisions; methods for assessing pronunciation; the use of technology for pronunciation teaching, learning, and testing; pronunciation issues of teachers who are second-language speakers; and applications of pronunciation research and pedagogy in L1 literacy and speech therapy, forensic linguistics, and health, workplace, and political communication. The chapters also critically examine the research base supporting specific teaching approaches and identify research gaps in need of further investigation. This rigorous work will provide an invaluable resource for teachers and teacher educators; in addition to researchers in the fields of applied linguistics, phonology and communication.