Teaching English Pronunciation for the Real World

Teaching English pronunciation
for the real world
Laura Patsko
Advancing Learning Webinar
7th November 2018

In this webinar…
1 Why teach pronunciation?
2 Who uses English nowadays?
3 What should we prioritize for learners’ pronunciation?
4 What can we do in the classroom?
5 Further reading & reflection
6 Q&A

3
Teaching English pronunciation for the real world / 7 Nov 2018
1.0
Why teach pronunciation?

Why include pronunciation in ELT courses?
• Research shows that controlled pronunciation instruction leads to improvement in
spontaneous speaking contexts (Saito, 2012; Lee et al, 2015)
• In particular, it greatly impacts spoken intelligibility and listening (Jenkins, 2000; Derwing &
Munro, 2009; Field, 2008)
• In fact, phonological awareness impacts all 4 skills, plus grammar and vocabulary
(Walker, 2014)
• Teachers worldwide tend to lack confidence and training in teaching
pronunciation (Henderson et al, 2015)

5
2.0
Who uses English nowadays?
5

1. For every native speaker of English in the world, there are at least ____
non-native speakers.
2. Approximately ____ of spoken interaction in English takes place with no
native speakers present.
3. At least ____ of the English language teachers in the world are non-native
English speakers.
(Crystal, 2008; Beneke, 1991; Canagarajah, 1999)
3
80%
80%
NNS NS
Who uses English nowadays?

English as a lingua franca
In most interactions in English nowadays, English is not the first language of all
or any of the speakers, and they might not share the same L1.
“English is the communicative medium of choice and often the only option.”
(Seidlhofer, 2011, p. 7)

8
8
“Comfortable intelligibility”
…comfortable to whom?

9
9
“We are already living in a world where most of the varieties we encounter are
something other than traditional British or American English. We do our students a
disservice if they leave our care unprepared for the brave new linguistic world which
awaits them.”
Crystal, 2000, p. 6
Embrace variety!

New challenges and opportunities
• Focus on intelligibility:
• “the extent to which a speaker’s message is actually understood by a listener”
(Munro & Derwing, 1999, p. 289)
• Identifying words + understanding the speaker’s intended meaning (Levis, 2007)
• Choosing (from) materials
• What constitutes an “error” (Walker, 2010, p. 71)
• Narrower focus à more time

11
3.0
What should we prioritize
when teaching English pronunciation?

What matters for ELF intelligibility?
Vowel sounds Only /ɜː/ + length before certain consonants
Consonant sounds (except /θ/ and /ð/)
Schwa and weak forms
Connected speech features
Tone (rising, falling)
Stress – focus on nuclear stress
(Jenkins, 2000)
https://elfpron.wordpress.com/2013/11/21/what-is-the-lfc/
Just focus on receptive
understanding of these
features – no need to
produce them. (Producing
them can actually reduce
intelligibility!)

Over to you!
What does this mean for
speakers of English whose first
language is…?
For example:
Brazilian Portuguese
The Lingua Franca Core:
• Most consonant sounds + one
vowel (/ɜː/)
• Preservation of most consonant
clusters
• Vowel length (especially before
voiced/unvoiced consonants)
• Appropriate word grouping and
placement of nuclear stress

These may need attention:
Consonants, especially:
• /p t k/ (aspiration)
• /t/ and /d/
• Contrasts (e.g. /r/ vs. /h/)
• /m/ and /n/ (end of words)
• Clusters (maybe…)
Vowels:
• /ɜː/
• Length before voiced/unvoiced
consonants
(da Silva, 2010)
(de Castro Gomes, 2013)
What does this mean for Brazilian Portuguese speakers?

Don’t worry about these:
• /θ/ and /ð/
• [ɫ] at ends of words
• /ə/
• Word grouping and stress (maybe…)
• Precise vowel quality (just be
consistent!)
• Rising/falling intonation
• Syllable-timing
(da Silva, 2010)
(de Castro Gomes, 2013)
What does this mean for Brazilian Portuguese speakers?

Over to you!
What does this mean for
speakers of English whose first
language is…?
The Lingua Franca Core:
• Most consonant sounds + one
vowel (/ɜː/)
• Preservation of most consonant
clusters
• Vowel length (especially before
voiced/unvoiced consonants)
• Appropriate word grouping and
placement of nuclear stress

17
4.0
What can we do in the classroom?
17

Evolution, not revolution
• Focus on intelligibility: ‘addition’ of skills, not ‘reduction’ of features
• Needs analysis (benchmark: LFC)
• Productive and receptive skills
• Filter & supplement your materials
• Drilling + simple awareness-raising techniques
• Discrimination exercises
• Homework & on-the-spot correction

Mixed-L1 classes
• Exploit ELF setting (peer interaction)
• Observe intelligibility (to other ELF users)
https://elfpron.wordpress.com/2013/11/21/needs-analysis-multilingual/

Shared-L1 classes
• Need to find examples of other L2 voices
• Can exploit common areas of challenge/ease
• Teachers who share the learners’ L1:
o Have a bilingual advantage
o Are good L2 role models
• “Being an NNEST or NEST is not a critical factor in teachers being effective
pronunciation teachers.” (Levis et al, 2016:25)

Raising awareness (Part 1)
• of one’s own voice
• of others’ voices
• of real-world communicative needs
• of language in context
“How would you say […]? Is it similar or different to speaker X? How? Why? What are
some other ways we can say it?”

“Ping pron”
ELF10 report: What happens when ELF users try to understand
each other’s accents?
- Veronika Thir
https://elfpron.wordpress.com/2017/08/22/elf10-thir/
hat had

Sound hunt
One interesting thing about the features of the
Lingua Franca Core is that many learners, from
many different first language backgrounds, have
difficulty producing certain sounds. So even if you
think you don’t know enough about the huge
range of potential problems learners can have, you
can start with this one and have a good chance
that you’ll be doing something relevant and useful!
/ŋ/

ng spelling commonly pronounced /ŋ/*
thing language doing
*but not when followed by e!
range
/n/ + /k/ often pronounced as /ŋ/ + /k/
think Franca

ng spelling commonly pronounced /ŋ/*
thing language doing
*but not when followed by e!
range
/n/ + /k/ often pronounced as /ŋ/ + /k/
think Franca
This is true of many languages!
Frankfurt banco Lenka

“Borrowing”
banco
/ŋ/
doing

“Borrowing”
1. Find an example of the target sound in the student’s L1.
2. Get the student to pronounce this word in the L1.
3. Isolate the target sound.
4. L2 can now “borrow” it.
https://youtu.be/bWTsdVJDa_g

28
5.0
Further reading
and ideas for reflection
28

Further reading
• Patsko & Walker
(2017)
• Chapter 9
• Teaching the
pronunciation of ELF
in England and in
Spain
• Walker (2010)
• Recordings,
activities,
diagnostic tasks,
L1-specific
guidance
• Jenkins (2000)
• Detailed
explanations of
origins of LFC
• Patsko & Simpson
(2018)
• Available from
Amazon, Smashwords
& iBooks

More materials and resources
http://elfpron.wordpress.com
• Patsko & Simpson
(launched 2013)
• Training videos
• Resources

Some thoughts to take back to your staffroom…
Who do learners want/need to sound like?
What counts as a pronunciation ‘error’?
What is a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ accent?
Should we allow L1 in the classroom?
What pronunciation should a teacher have?

32
6.0
Q&A
32

Thank you
Teaching English pronunciation for the real world
7 Nov 2018
laurapatsko.com
@lauraahaha
33

34
References & further reading (1)
Beneke, J. (1991). Englisch als lingua franca oder als Medium interkultureller
Kommunikation. In R. Grebing, Grenzenloses Sprachenlernen. Berlin: Cornelsen. 54-66.
Canagarajah, A. S. (1999). Interrogating the Native Speaker Fallacy: Non-linguistic roots,
non-pedagogical results. In Braine, G. (Ed.). Non-native educators in English Language
Teaching. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 77-92.
de Castro Gomes, M. L. (2013). Understanding the Brazilian way of speaking English. In
Levis, J. & LeVelle, K. (Eds.). Proceedings of the 4th Pronunciation in Second Language
Learning and Teaching Conference, Aug. 2012. (pp. 279-289). Ames, IA: Iowa State
University.
Crystal, D. (2008). ‘Two thousand million?’ English Today, 93, Vol. 24, Issue 1, pp. 3-6.
Derwing, T. M. & M. J. Munro (2009). Putting accent in its place: Rethinking obstacles to
communication. Language Teaching and Research, 42 (4), 476-490.
Graddol, D. (2006). English next: Why global English may mean the end of ‘English as a
Foreign Language’. Published online by the British Council.

35
Henderson, A., Curnick, L., Frost, D., Kautzsch, A., Kirkova-Naskova, A., Levey, D.,
Tergujeff, E., & Waniek-Klimczak, E. (2015). ‘The English pronunciation teaching in
Europe survey: Factors inside and outside the classroom.’ In J. A. Mompean & J. Fouz
González (Eds.),. Basingstoke, UK and New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. Investigating
English Pronunciation: Current Trends and Directions
Jenkins, J. (2000). The phonology of English as an International Language: New models,
new norms, new goals. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Jenkins, J. (2015). Repositioning English and multilingualism in English as a lingua franca.
Englishes in Practice 2/3: 49-85. De Gruyter Open.
Levis, J. (2007). Guidelines for promoting intelligibility. Paper presented at International
TESOL, Seattle, WA March 2007.
Levis, J. M., S. Sonsaat, S. Link & T. A. Barriuso (2016). Native and non-native teachers
of L2 pronunciation: Effects on learner performance. TESOL Quarterly.
doi: 10.1002/tesq.272
Munro, M. & Derwing, T. (1999). Foreign accent, comprehensibility, and intelligibility in
the speech of second language learners. Language Learning, 49 (supp. 1), pp. 285-310.
Murphy, J. M. (2014). ‘Intelligible, comprehensible, non-native models in ESL/EFL
pronunciation teaching’. System, 40, pp. 258-269.

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Patsko, L. & K. Simpson (2014). ‘Learner needs and goals: who cares?’, Speak Out! The
newsletter of the IATEFL Pronunciation Special Interest Group, 51, pp. 47-55.
Patsko, L. & K. Simpson (2015). ‘Practical pronunciation ideas for teaching in an ELF
context’, Speak Out! The newsletter of the IATEFL Pronunciation Special Interest Group,
52, pp. 41-47.
Seidlhofer, B. (2003). A concept of international English and related issues: From “real
English” to “realistic English”? Language Policy Division, DG-IV-Directorate of School,
Out-of-School and Higher Education, Council of Europe.
Seidlhofer, B. (2008). ELF findings: form and function. Plenary paper, 1st International
ELF Conference, Helsinki, 6-8 March 2008.
Seidlhofer, B. (2009). Common ground and different realities: World Englishes and
English as a lingua franca. World Englishes 28.2, 236–245.
Seidlhofer, B. (2011). Understanding English as a Lingua Franca. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
da Silva, R. (2010). ‘Portuguese’ in R. Walker: pp. 123-127.
Walker, R. (2010). Teaching the Pronunciation of English as a Lingua Franca. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.

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