View Content #25797

By Misaki Kato, CASLS Fellow

A language's sound system is an essential part of its grammar. In order to be proficient in a language, a speaker needs to know what kinds of sounds are used in the language and how they are combined with one another to form a word, phrase, or sentence. A growing number of researchers acknowledge that learners’ pronunciation is often responsible for communication breakdown, and advocate for the need to integrate pronunciation instruction in second language classrooms (Isaacs, 2009).

However, the struggle often is that there is little direction in terms of what to teach and how to teach to improve learners’ pronunciation. Regarding what to teach, should teachers work towards reducing learners’ foreign accent or increasing intelligibility? These two things are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but more intelligible speech is not always less accented speech either (Munro & Derwing, 1999). Also, should segmental aspects (i.e., pronunciation of particular sounds, such as /l/ and /r/) be more emphasized than suprasegmental aspects, such as intonation or stress patterns? While there is no clear consensus, what we do know is that these two aspects are both important. For example, learners’ mispronunciation of consonants of high functional load impacts listeners’ perception of comprehensibility and accentedness (Munro & Derwing, 2006). Non-native speakers’ prosodic errors also affect listeners’ comprehension of the speech (Hahn, 2004). While more research is needed to determine what aspects of learners’ speech affect listeners’ perception, there is evidence that segmental and suprasegmental aspects can be trained to improve comprehensibility, accentedness, and fluency of their speech (Derwing, Munro, & Wiebe, 1998). These studies support that various aspects of learners’ pronunciation, not just morphological and syntactic errors, affect how their speech is perceived, and explicit instruction cam promote understanding of non-native speech.

The next question is how should we teach pronunciation? It can be difficult to incorporate form-focused instruction, such as pronunciation practice, in a communicative language classroom where meaning-based activities are emphasized. However, form-focused instruction does have its place in a communicative language classroom. DeKeyser (1998) suggests that an exclusive focus on meaning is not adequate for the acquisition of second language (L2) phonological forms. In fact, teachers can incorporate various types of form-focused training, such as explicit explanation (Derwing et al., 1998) and recasts (Lyster, 1998), to encourage learners to notice a particular linguistic feature in their input or output, promoting learners’ awareness to understand and deliver their messages clearly. Another effective form-focused practice is repetition. Gatbonton and Segalowitz (2005) suggest that repetition strengthens the connection between an utterance and its function, and promotes accurate and fluent productions. Furthermore, repetition practice can be implemented communicatively, encouraging learners to make connections between pronunciation and meaning (see examples in Trofimovich & Gatbonton, 2006; Isaacs, 2009).

These studies suggest that explicit instructions draw learners’ attention to certain features of phonological forms that can be neglected in exclusively meaning-focused activities. The accompanying Activity of the Week will introduce an activity to promote learners’ awareness of their own pronunciation.

References

DeKeyser, R.M. (1998). Beyond focus on form: Cognitive perspectives on learning and practical second language grammar. In C. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition (pp. 42-63). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Derwing, T.M., Munro, M.J., & Wiebe, G. (1998). Evidence in favor of a broad framework for pronunciation instruction. Language Learning, 48, 393-410.

Gatbonton, E., & Segalowitz, N. (2005). Rethinking communicative language teaching: A focus on access to fluency. Canadian Modern Language Review, 61, 325-353.

Hahn, L.D., 2004. Primary stress and intelligibility: research to motivate the teaching of suprasegmentals. TESOL Quarterly, 38, 201–223.

Isaacs, T. (2009). Integrating form and meaning in L2 pronunciation instruction. TESL Canada Journal, 27(1), 1-12.

Lyster, R. (1998). Negotiation of form, recasts, and explicit correction in relation to error types and learner     repair in immersion classrooms. Language Learning, 48, 183-218.

Munro, M.J., & Derwing, T.M. (1999). Foreign accent, comprehensibility, and intelligibility in the speech of second language learners. Language Learning, 49 (Supp. 1), 285-310.

Munro, M. J., & Derwing, T. M. (2006). The functional load principle in ESL pronunciation instruction: An exploratory study. System, 34(4), 520-531.

Trofimovich, P., & Gatbonton, E. (2006). Repetition and focus on form in processing L2 Spanish words: Implications for pronunciation instruction. Modern Language Journal, 519-535.