ESL Pronunciation Teaching: Could it Be More Effective?

1. Do we need to teach orthoepy?\nThe pendulum has swung back again, and most ESL teachers presently agree that explicit orthoepy dogma is an demand social function of language courses. On the oneness hand, confidence with orthoepy on the wholeows learners the interaction with native speakers that is so essential for all aspects of their linguistic development. On the other hand, poor orthoepy can mask differently good language skills, denounce learners to slight than their deserved social, pedantic and work advancement.\nWhile on that point is little doubt just round teachers appreciation of the importance of pronunciation instruction, there is even less doubt about learners protest demand for powerful pronunciation teaching: almost all learners rate this as a priority and an area in which they need more guidance. For both remaining sceptics, it may be worth briefly rehearsing the sideline responses to reasons sometimes given for non teaching pronunciation exp licitly in an ESL program.\n\na) it is lawful that learners are very unlikely to advance a native-like accent - scarcely their intelligibility can be greatly improved by effective pronunciation teaching;\n\nb) it is accredited that pronunciation improves most done the gradual intuitive changes brought about by real interaction with native speakers - but for a large proportion of ESL learners the skills that change this type of interaction do not come by nature; most need a leg-up from explicit pronunciation teaching.\n\nc) it is rightful(a) that it is offensive to prescribe an accent norm to which learners moldiness assimilate, and it is true that people should be free to express themselves in whatever accent they pick - but it is not true that\nthis freedom is given by withholding pronunciation teaching. On the contrary, it is effective pronunciation teaching that offers learners a genuine prime(prenominal) in how they express themselves.\n\n2. The conundrum: not whether to teach, but how to teach, pronunciation\nDespite widespread agr...