Phonetics in Language Teaching

This Element connects phonetics knowledge and language teaching practice, informing effective teaching techniques and strategies.

Di Liu (Author), Tamara Jones (Author), Marnie Reed (Author)

9781108994354, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 19 January 2023

75 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 0.5 cm, 0.144 kg

This Element explores ways in which language teachers, especially teachers of English, can benefit from knowledge of phonetics. It also offers recommendations for introducing and improving pronunciation teaching in the classroom. While hoping that this Element is useful to instructors of all languages, the majority of the examples comes from North American English (NAE) and the English language classroom. At the same time, the Element acknowledges that English language teaching is rather different from the teaching of other languages, since nowadays, most interactions around the world in English do not involve a native speaker, and use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) has become widespread. Teachers of English should be aware that their students may not want to mimic all aspects of native-speaker pronunciation; since some native-speaker patterns of speech, such as the extensive simplification and omission of sounds may not be helpful in enhancing intelligibility.

1. Introduction
2. Phonetic transcription
3. Articulation of segments
4. Coarticulation and connected speech processes
5. Prosody
6. Advances, issues, and technology
Conclusion
Glossary
References.

Subject Areas: Speaking / pronunciation skills [CJCK], Phonetics, phonology [CFH], Language acquisition [CFDC]