The Teaching of English Pronunciation in class

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Abstract：the teaching of english pronunciation must first be considered in the wider context of learning it. This paper not only contains the relationship between teaching and learning a foreign language， but also covers practicing pronunciation (sounds， phonetic syllables， stress， and intonation) mainly. Furthermore， it is also pointed out that regarding teaching of pronunciation as a performance， so performance training (self-observation， psychological preparation) is added at the end of this paper.

Key words：pronunciation sounds stress intonation

Ⅰ. The relationship between teaching and learning

The teaching of pronunciation must first be considered in the wider context of learning a language. Now not only is a language a complex thing， but language activities can take a variety of forms. There can be few foreign language learners who do not wish eventually to become proficient in a number of these activities， of which the most basic are： listening， speaking， reading and writing.

1.Teaching and Learning

Successful teaching means having succeeded in creating conditions in which learning take place. To aim at effective teaching means to try to achieve conditions-within limitations imposed by the situation in which the teacher finds himself-in which effective learning occurs.

Much teaching is carried out by word of mouth-orally， and the learner then learns through listening-aurally. Teaching can also be conducted through some of writing；

2.Learning factors and learning skills

Some of the good factors that can contribute to the success or otherwise of the process involved in this type of learning are： the clarity of the description or explanation that is given； the choice of words， adapted to the age and degree of maturity or sophistication of the learner； the order of presentation and the grading of material， with the elementary preceding and leading to the more advanced. And also there are some adverse factors affecting learning， such as background noise and visual consideration should not be overlooked.

The learning of skills is quite another thing. Here， the ability to perform specific actions consisting usually of complex and precisely coordinated movements is what has to be cultivated， and this needs developing to the point where the actions become habitual through much rehearsal and repetition so that they get carried out automatically and unconsciously， in the exact form required.

So， the guidance of a teacher may take the form of putting into operation certain techniques and procedures， or may consist of imparting relevant information. It is always up to the teacher to judge what form the guidance should take and at what point in time it is best given.

Ⅱ.Teaching of English Pronunciation

Before going into problems of actually the teaching of a foreign language， let us discuss something about speaking and pronouncing. Speaking and pronouncing both relate to the same basic activity but pronouncing concentrates on how the speaking is done； though speaking necessarily involves pronouncing， a consideration of speaking takes into account also what is said， the ideas expressed， the words used， the constructions and turns of phrase， the style and so forth.

Speaking a language， then， clearly involves more than just pronouncing it. But one could pronounce a language well and know or use relatively few words and phrases of it； one could pronounce a language well and still be quite unable to converse in it； or express oneself adequately in it， or discourse on certain topics while using it. And one could be capable of pronouncing a language well but when the occasion arises for using it be unable to find the words to match the situation， or only them， and so utter them， slowly and with unwanted hesitations.

1. Why pronounce well?

Before focusing on problems of actually teaching the pronunciation of a foreign language， let us examine the attitude that can be summarized by the question： why has a good pronunciation? -Whether the attitude， on the part of teacher or taught， be put into words or not. The reasons are as follows：

Poor pronunciation may cause problems for the learning of other skills， such as speaking and listening and so on. As for listening， if the words you hear are different from your own pronunciation， maybe your listening is affecting by your poor pronunciation.

Both consistency and accuracy in pronunciation are very important.

Wrong stress and bad intonation can lead to serious misunderstandings. Stress and intonation are as important as the sounds themselves， and should be taught from the very beginning， there is an example， different intonation for “yes” indicate different meanings.

2.The goal of teaching pronunciation

Considering our English learning context， generally speaking， beginning Chinese learners of English need a certain degree of focus on pronunciation. However， great care should be taken over the distinction between pronunciation and phonetics. The teaching of pronunciation should focus on the students' ability to identify and produce English sounds themselves. Students should not be led to focus on reading and writing phonetic transcripts of words， especially young students， because phonetic transcripts are more abstract and less meaningful. It is true that the students' pronunciation should be as good as possible. But should we require the students to acquire native-like pronunciation? The question is probably not whether we should or should not require the students to acquire native-like pronunciation. The question is whether the students themselves can achieve that goal at all. Generally speaking， learners of English as a foreign language cannot acquire native-like pronunciation， except those who start learning English at a very young age. However， admitting the difficulty in acquiring native-like pronunciation does not mean that teachers should not encourage students to improve their pronunciation as much as possible.

If we should not require native-like pronunciation， then what should be our realistic goals? Our realistic goals of teaching pronunciation should be：

Consistency： the pronunciation should be smooth and natural

Intelligibility： the pronunciation should be understandable to the listeners

Communicative efficiency： the pronunciation should help to convey the meaning that is intended by the speaker.

3. How to practice pronunciation

“Practice makes perfect”. Language learning needs a lot of practice and this is especially true with pronunciation. As far as pronunciation is concerned， students benefit from both mechanical practice (that is mechanical repetition) and meaningful practice. Mechanical practice is necessary for the development of many skills， for example， we learn typing not only from knowing the keyboard， but also by mechanically hitting the individual keys until it becomes automatic without thinking. Meaningful practice is more desirable. Everything can be learned more effectively if it is meaningful.

2.3.1 Practicing sounds

It is important to combine drilling pronunciation exercises with some meaningful exercises whatever aspect of pronunciation is the focus for the lesson.

Focusing on a sound

When teaching pronunciation， very often we need to focus on individual sounds， especially those sounds are difficult. For example， /v/ and /w/ in “very well”， “everyone” etc.

Perception practice

Perception practice is aimed at developing the students' ability to identify and distinguish between different sounds. Correct perception of sounds is vital for listening comprehension. Below is an example of perception practice of English sounds.

Using minimal pairs. Minimal pairs are two words， which have only one different sound. The teacher reads either word of each pair and asks the students to tell which word is read.

Production practice.Production practice of pronunciation varies from mechanical imitation to production in meaningful context. Let's look at two types of production practice activities.

Listen and repeat. The students repeat what the teacher says. This activity can practice individual sounds， individual words， and sentences.

Use tongue twister.They are fun and motivating. Also the relaxing atmosphere helps students to overcome inhibition.

2.3.2 Practicing stress

The most important thing in practicing stress is making the students be aware of where to stress the word or phrase. Below are three ways to show the stress pattern of words， phrases and sentences.

Use gestures. The teacher can indicate the stress by clapping hands or using arm movements as if conducting music.

Use the voice. The teacher can raise the voice to indicate stress. Sometimes this can be done in some exaggerative ways.

Use the blackboard. The teacher can highlight the stress by underlining them or writing them with colored chalks or in different size.

2.3.3 Practicing intonation

Intonation can greatly affect the intention of the speaker's message. Let's also look at some examples：

` That's `not the `book he `wants (the book in question is not the one he wants)

That's `not `the `book he wants? (Is that not the book he wants?)

That's not the book he wants. (There's some other book he wants)

3. Summary

In conclusion，before going into problems of actually teaching the English pronunciation and learning； I mentioned the reason why we should have a good pronunciation and the final goal of teaching pronunciation. However， the main part is about how to practice pronunciation， in this part. It is only pointed out that practicing sounds， stress and intonation， but there are some more， such as linking， reduction etc， within the limitation of space， and I don't even mention it. At last， something more is pointed out， that is performance training (self-observation and psychological preparation)

References

[1]Gimson， A.C. An introduction to the pronunciation of English.London： Edward Arnold， 1962.

[2]MacCarthy， P.A.D. English pronunciation.Cambridge： Heffer， 1944.

[3]MacCarthy， P.A.D.The teaching of pronunciation. Cambridge university press， 1978.

[4]Windsor Lewis.J. A guide to English pronunciation.Oslo： Scandinavian universities press， 1969.

[5]王蔷.A course in English language teaching. China advanced press， 2001.

(作者单位：新疆石河子大学外国语学院)