1. What’s the goal of teaching pronunciation?
We teach pronunciation to help students become confident and effective communicators in real-life interactions. Clear pronunciation makes it easier for listeners to understand what learners say (intelligibility) and reduces the effort needed to understand them (comprehensibility).
2. Everyone has an accent
Teaching pronunciation is not about reducing or eliminating learners’ accents – because everyone has an accent! Instead, we should help students speak clearly and confidently while embracing their linguistic identity.
3. Pronunciation is more than sounds
Pronunciation extends far beyond individual consonants and vowels (segmentals). Features such as stress, rhythm, intonation . . .
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