Teaching Pronuntiation

INDEX

1. INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………….. 5

2. PROBLEM 1 ………………………………………………………………… 5

3. PROBLEM 2 . ………………………………………………………............. 6

4. THE THREE “E” VARIABLES

4.1 EXPOSURE ……………………………………………………. 6

4.2 EXERCISE …………………………………………………….. 7

4.3 EXPLANATION ……………………………………………….. 7-8
5. BRISTON’S FIVE VARIABLES
5.1 LEARNER VARIABLE …………………………………………8
5.2 SETTING VARIABLE …………………………………………. 8
5.3 INSTITUTIONAL AND METHODOLOGICAL VARIABLES ..8
5.4 LINGUISTIC VARIABLES ……………………………………. 8-9
6. CONCLUSIONS …………………………………………………………… 9
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………………… 10
8. APPENDICES ………………………………………………………………. 11








1. INTRODUCTION


When people are learning a second language one important component during thisprocess is pronunciation, but to lose their native accent and to pronounce the target language sounds without any interference is a big challenge goal (Avery &Ehrlich, 1987). One aspect affecting the accuracy of learning the target language sounds is the way that pronunciation is seen as an articulation of consonants, vowels and minimal pairs in language teaching (Celce-Murcia, 2001). Even though, thesituation is improving by integrating the suprasegmental features, such as stress and intonation, still there is not enough attention to it in language classrooms.

Most of the pronunciation errors that language learners make in the target language are not random. The sound system of a foreign language can influence in the pronunciation of its learners who due to the transfer of sounds fromtheir native sound system into the second language unintentionally make the target language word sound “foreign” (Sedláckova, 2009). However, correct pronunciation is very important because serious weaknesses in it can create communication barriers and thus significantly impair one’s ability to communicate.
In this paper I will study two different problems of pronunciation at the segmental level, Iwill explain the causes of these problems and finally I will suggest some solutions taking into account the three “E” variables and Brinton’s five variables.

2. PROBLEM 1
The first problem is the pronunciation of the sound /v/. In English the sound of letter v is fricative-labiodental, like in the word very, while in Spanish, the letter v is pronounced /b/ like in vino (=v). Learners usuallycarry over this rule into English and replace /v/ by /b/. (e.g. very /veɹi/ → berry /beɹi/).

3. PROBLEM 2
The second problem is the sound /θ/. In English this sound is fricative dental like in word think, while this sound th-cluster is not common at all in Spanish, learners replace it with /t/ in some words. Therefore, thick /θɪk/ would be pronounced as tick /tɪk/.
The learner for the analysisis a 40-year-old male who studies English for a year with Native teachers in the USA. As long as he could remember, during his high school years all his non-native English teachers gave more importance to grammar than other skills including pronunciation. The two problems mentioned above causes him difficulty while having a conversation with other learners and native speakers.

4. THE THREE “E”VARIABLES
To support the learner to improve the problems mentioned above and to improve his pronunciation I will focus the activities according to the “Exposure, Exercise and Explanation” paradigm by Dalton and Seiddlhofer (1994).
4.1 EXPOSURE
The contact with the target language is very important because there is an increasing awareness of his weaknesses in the target language.
In theexposure procedure the learner will develop different audio resources like radio station programs, TV movies, music, etc. The learner will have to do these activities as much as possible. He will pace the activities as follows:
- In the morning while he is driving he will listen to the radio station, as soon as he arrives home he will write the words beginning with the sounds he is having troubles....