Pronunciation teaching and learning

by Sandra Mikalsen

 

For this assignment, I will answer to given questions about my thoughts on teaching and learning pronunciation.

First of all, do I think pronunciation is difficult to teach and learn? If so, why?

I believe that learning how to properly pronounce the words in a new language can be difficult for anyone. It requires a new way of maneuvering and adjusting our muscles in the speech organ, but also a mental readjustment over to the new language. For younger learners I think this can be especially challenging because of their underdeveloped brain and mental abilities, whilst learning and speaking a new language requires multiple tasks and processes in the brain at the same time. I also think it can be quite a challenge to teach someone else how to pronounce English words, especially if one self is insecure about his or hers pronunciation skills. It can also be more difficult to teach others if one do not know how to explain what parts of the speech organ to use to get the right sound of a word. Thus I can imagine it will be a challenge to both learn and teach someone the pronunciation of a new language.

So, what model of pronunciation would I use in teaching pronunciation, and why?

I have not yet made up my mind about whether to use American English or British English pronunciation in my teaching, even though I mostly use an American accent when I do speak English. I find it difficult to choose between those two because there are arguments for each one. My arguments for using American pronunciation is that I believe it has become the most common spoken form of English now a days mainly because of (and through) social media and television. Therefore I think both many young and older children are more exposed to American pronunciation because of the increasing use of it in cartoons, tv-shows and social media. Also I believe it is easier for Norwegian children to pronounce this form because, as I find it at least, the tone in both American and Norwegian speech are quite similar. My arguments for using British English is not as extensive though. As I learned English pronunciation during my school years I found it easier to remember both how to spell the English words and how to pronounce it after listening to a British person speaking. Also, I would argue that the British English has less and smaller variations in their accent, contrary to the American English where the variations throughout their country are greater. Thus it can be an advantage to use British English pronunciation.