Changing Contexts and Shifting Paradigms in Pronunciation Teaching

Abstract

ccclxiv TESOL QUARTERLY is an international professional organization for those concerned with the teaching of English as a second or foreign language and of standard English as a second dialect. TESOL's mission is to ensure excellence in English language teaching to speakers of other languages. TESOL encourages professionalism in language education; individual language rights; accessible, high quality education; collaboration in a global community; and interaction of research and reflective practice for educational improvement. Information about membership and other TESOL services is available from TESOL Central Office at the address below.TESOL Quarterly is published in March, June, September, and December. Contributions should be sent to the Editor or the appropriate Section Editors at the addresses listed in the Information for Contributors section. Publishers' representative is Paul Gibbs, Director of Publications. All material in TESOL Quarterly is copyrighted. Copying without the permission of TESOL, beyond the exemptions specified by law, is an infringement involving liability for damages.Reader Response You can respond to the ideas expressed in TESOL Quarterly by writing directly to editors and staff at tq@tesol.org. This will be a read-only service, but your opinions and ideas will be read regularly. You may comment on the topics raised in The Forum on an interactive bulletin board at http://communities.tesol.org/ϳtq. TESOL Home PageYou can find out more about TESOL services and publications by accessing the TESOL home page on the World Wide Web at http://www.tesol.org/.Advertising in all TESOL publications is arranged by Sherry Harding, TESOL Central Office, 700 South Washington Street, Suite 200, Alexandria, Virginia 22314 USA, Tel. 703-836-0774. Fax 703-836-7864. E-mail tesol@tesol.org. OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2005-2006 QUARTERLY Founded 1966Editor's Note ■ Pronunciation is perhaps the linguistic feature most open to judgment. As a surface structure phenomenon that is most noticeable, one's accent easily evokes people's biases. For the same reason, pronunciation has been the most prescriptively taught aspect of language instruction. Pedagogies for accent reduction have bordered on the pathological. The articles in this special topic issue bring a much needed research focus on social and communicative considerations in pronunciation that can lead pedagogy in constructive new directions. Relating pronunciation to issues of identity, group membership, interpersonal negotiation, and the plurality of World Englishes, they treat the topic with great intellectual rigor.John Levis's editorial introduction and the article by Tracey M. Derwing and Murray J. Munro in the opening section discuss the importance of developing a research-based approach to pronunciation and chart the paradigm shift taking place in the field. In the next section, John Field and David Deterding shift the focus from the speaker to the listener as they explore the ramifications of negotiating intelligibility. The reality of Wo...

The Pronunciation Component in Esl Lessons: Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices

“…Celce Murcia et al (2006) argued that when ESL teachers neglect the pronunciation skills in their ESL lessons, they have failed in carrying out their duties as ESL teachers. As commented by Levis (2005), the stress on the importance of pronunciation has always been determined by the ESL teachers' own intuition and ideology rather than research. As what we have argued earlier, this study has proven that the participants have limited knowledge on the pedagogical aspects of pronunciation.…”

The role of curriculum design and teaching materials in pronunciation learning

“…The mastery of other language skills, although similarly important, does not usually lead to successful mutual interaction with other interlocutors without mastering pronunciation. This is so because, as argued by many scholars (e.g., Derwing & Munro, 2015;Levis, 2005;Setter & Jenkins, 2005), the inability to produce intelligible pronunciation of words and utterances can lead to both misunderstanding and frustration on the part of listeners. Therefore, pronunciation is regarded as complementary to other language skills that determine the overall proficiency of speakers which ultimately affect successful communication.…”

Towards Better Teaching of Pronunciation: Review of Literature in the Area

“…As Levis (2005) pointed out, accent is a crucial marker of social belonging since speakers speak in a way to conform to the ethics of the social groups they belong to or desire to belong to. In addition, accent and phonology can shape part of individual's identity (Dyer, 2007).…”