What do we know about pronunciation?

There is a saying that goes something like “ the more you know, the more you know you don’t know”.  I felt very much like that this week after reading about how first languages (L1) can affect learner’s pronunciation.  I was aware of differences in other languages such as the difficulties of Chinese speakers with R and L sounds. However, after reading about differences in languages (ESL 2017), I am now aware that most languages will have some form of L1 interference, even ones that are closely related to English.  

The other aspect of language which I now know I need more information is about speech elements.  When we talk about speech we tend to focus on pronunciation of  segmentals or the vowel consonant sounds, but adding suprasegmentals (stress, rhythm, and intonation) adds a whole other dimension to speech.  And how important these are to our speech!  Think about how flat sounding our language would be without melodic rhthym. How boring our voices would sound!  How we would misunderstand or misinterpret what is said without inflection, pitch, and intonation! So, when teaching English, we must really emphasize these when speaking to our students.  One teacher I have worked with is wonderful in front of the class, and very good at conveying emotions like excitement, sadness, surprise, etc when speaking.  She is a good example for me, because I know it’s very important to do this so the students know how they can do it with their voices, because it may be very different in their own languages. 

Are there other ways that learners can learn pronunciation?  A friend explained to me that she learned much of this from listening and watch TV and videos. She would watch segments over and over again, listening closely and repeating.    Exposure to English and trying to mimic is a good way for learners to tune their ear to the sounds of the English language.  Before they can speak, they must hear the sounds.  Many English sounds are not found in other languages, so teaching learners how to position their mouth to make the sound is very important as well. There are also sounds in their L1 that they have in their language that are not found in English.  Some will try to incorporate or substitute these sounds for English sounds.  This is also something that needs to be corrected.  

I see this week as just a beginning along my pronunciation learning path.  My eyes are wider open, and I have much more empathy for the students!  

ESL. (2017). Language Differences. Retrieved from http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/langdiff/