English Pronunciation Teaching and Research: Contemporary Perspectives

510 Pages·2019·5.147 MB·English

by  Martha C. Pennington, Pamela Rogerson-Revell

Research and Practice in Applied Linguistics
Series Editors: Christopher N. Candlin and Jonathan Crichton
English Pronunciation
Teaching and Research
Contemporary Perspectives
Martha C. Pennington and
Pamela Rogerson-Revell
Research and Practice in Applied Linguistics
Series Editors
Christopher N. Candlin
Macquarie University
Sydney, NSW, Australia
Jonathan Crichton
University of South Australia
Adelaide, SA, Australia
“English Pronunciation Teaching and Research: Contemporary Perspectives breaks
new ground in presenting an applied, sociolinguistic orientation to pronuncia-
tion teaching and research that is both up-to-date and comprehensive in scope.
Written by two well-known pronunciation specialists, one British and one
American, the book is a welcome addition to the pronunciation literature that
should be on the reading lists of all language teachers and applied linguists.”
—Rodney H. Jones, University of Reading, UK
“This interesting and informative book makes a valuable contribution by con-
necting research and practice while providing a comprehensive scope. This is
much appreciated given the extensive amount of research in the field as well as
in related areas.”
—Jose Antonio Mompean Gonzalez, University of Murcia, Spain
This flagship series was created and overseen by Professor Christopher
N. Candlin, and continues his work by providing the essential cross-over
between research in applied linguistics and its practical applications in
the professions. Books in the series address the growing need for profes-
sionals concerned with language and communication issues to keep up to
date with applied linguistic research relevant to their practice. Central to
this agenda, the series offers students and practising professionals rapid
and authoritative access to current scholarship and research on key topics
in language education and professional communication more broadly,
emphasising the integration and interdependence of research and prac-
tice in a useable way. The series provides books with a common structure,
each book offering a clear, up-to-date and authoritative overview of key
concepts, research issues and developments in the particular topic, iden-
tifying: research evidence for the main ideas and concepts competing
issues and unsolved questions the range of practical applications available
for professional and organisational practice that draw on such concepts
and ideas a synopsis of important issues open for action and practice-
based research by practitioners/students. These state-of-the-art overviews
are supported by selected cases studies of the practical applications of
research and ‘how to’ research guides and resources, all designed to extend
and localise knowledge of the topic and its relevance for the reader.
Throughout the books, readers are encouraged to take up issues of enquiry
and research that relate to their own contexts of practice, guided by reflec-
tive and exploratory questions and examples that invite practical connec-
tions to their work. Written by leading scholars and practitioners, the
books will be essential reading for MA or PhD student in Applied
Linguistics, TESOL, Communication Studies and related fields and for
professionals concerned with language and communication who are keen
to extend their research experience.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14504
Martha C. Pennington
Pamela Rogerson-Revell
English
Pronunciation
Teaching and
Research
Contemporary Perspectives
Martha C. Pennington Pamela Rogerson-Revell
SOAS and Birkbeck College English
University of London University of Leicester
London, UK Leicester, UK
Research and Practice in Applied Linguistics
ISBN 978-1-4039-4235-7 ISBN 978-1-137-47677-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47677-7
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018946548
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Preface
This book is the product of a collaboration between two pronunciation
specialists, one educated and based in the United Kingdom (Rogerson-
Revell) and one in the United States (Pennington). We got to know each
other and our common interest and work in pronunciation as colleagues
in the English Department of City University (then Polytechnic) of Hong
Kong under the Headship of Professor Jack C. Richards in the 1990s,
and since that time, we have remained in touch and kept interacting
about our work. It was therefore natural that we became partners in this
book project, first commissioned by Prof. Chris Candlin with Martha
and later reconceptualized as a coauthored work combining our two dif-
ferent orientations and backgrounds and incorporating a wide range of
knowledge and perspectives on pronunciation teaching and research.
We have written this book aiming to present a novel, state-of-the-art
and issues-centered view of the teaching of English pronunciation that
also connects teaching to research. There are many books available on
pronunciation, including textbooks for teachers with practical teaching
ideas and introductory books on phonology and phonetics. However,
there is still little that has been written which brings together research
and teaching or relates pronunciation to wider contexts. This book aims
to fill this gap, helping teachers to see the relevance of research to teach-
ing and presenting phonology in a wide-angle view as a crucial compo-
nent of communication, identity, and the presentation of self.
v
vi Preface
We want to encourage and disseminate a view of pronunciation
research and teaching, and of research and pronunciation practice more
generally, as connecting in a two-way process in which research and prac-
tice function synergistically, in a trading relationship in which (i) the
results of research inform practice and (ii) the contexts of practice provide
sites for research and research results that inform future research. This
creates an ongoing cycle in which practice, rather than evolving in rela-
tive independence from research, is continually referenced to it, thus cre-
ating applied knowledge. The synergy between research and practice also
ensures that theory, rather than evolving in isolation from practice,
evolves with it, at the intersection of research and practice, so that theory
has applicability in real-life contexts.
The book takes a broad-based look at English pronunciation teaching
and research in a twenty-first century context of widespread knowledge
of English as a second or international language and changing views of
the importance of pronunciation in language teaching and communica-
tion. It aims to situate pronunciation teaching and research within a
wider context that includes language learning theory, language assess-
ment, technological developments, and the broader relevance of pronun-
ciation in both education and employment. The view of pronunciation
that we present encompasses the production and perception of meaning-
ful sound contrasts in English consonants and vowels as well as prosodic
or suprasegmental contrasts in stress, intonation, and other features that
contribute not only to denotative meaning, and so to intelligibility, but
also to many aspects of pragmatic meaning (e.g., in expression of style,
identity, stance, and politeness), and so to understanding in a larger sense
and the impact that a speaker has on a listener. We also include discussion
of voice quality and fluency as aspects of spoken language performance
that are considered to be part of pronunciation, and consider the nature
of accent and its place in pronunciation teaching. The contexts in which
pronunciation is considered include language classrooms and many kinds
of real-world contexts, from courtrooms, to doctor’s offices and hospitals,
to call centers. They also incorporate testing as an important aspect of
pronunciation practice and research.
One goal of the book is to offer up-to-date information on these dif-
ferent aspects of pronunciation, as a form of continuing education and
Prefac e vii
inspiration for teachers and as directions for researchers. The book is
aimed primarily at those who teach pronunciation or wish to teach pro-
nunciation, both in-service and pre-service teachers, whether teaching in
countries where English is the primary or a secondary language, and
whether teaching classes specifically focused on pronunciation or not. It
will also be of value to those in the research and testing communities with
an interest in pronunciation, in addition to those who have a concern
with pronunciation as a job-related issue for employers, employees, and
customers. We believe that our book offers something for all of these
audiences, and we hope all readers will find it informative, original, and
interesting, in its broad scope, its up-to-date coverage, and the range of
topics discussed.
The book is structured in eight chapters providing in-depth coverage
with extensive and current references to literature. Chapter 1 addresses
the nature of pronunciation in our broad conception and the types of
meanings and functions it fulfills in communication, as we attempt to
show that it has a greater importance in communication than is often
realized, and so should command significant attention in teaching.
Chapter 2 considers language learning with a focus on second language
(L2) acquisition in instructed and uninstructed contexts and as con-
trasted with first language (L1) acquisition. Chapter 3 sets the teaching of
pronunciation in a historical, theoretical, and international context and
considers the factors that can be involved in making curriculum and
teaching decisions about pronunciation and how these decisions might
be influenced by research. Chapter 4 continues the focus on teaching by
looking more closely at teachers and teaching approaches and methods.
Chapter 5 is devoted to educational technologies and their potential for
enhancing pronunciation teaching, learning, and assessment. Chapter 6
then turns to assessment and the many issues associated with the stan-
dardized testing of pronunciation as part of speaking proficiency or as a
separate aspect of proficiency, with implications drawn for classroom-
level assessment and for testing research. Chapter 7 considers the wider
applications of pronunciation beyond the L2 speaking or pronunciation
classroom, including in L1 literacy, speech therapy, and teacher educa-
tion; in forensic linguistics, healthcare, and business and professional
communication; and in the styling of speech in politics and social
viii Preface
communication. The final chapter, Chap. 8, offers a reconsideration of
teaching and research in pronunciation and of the importance of con-
tinually relating research to practice and practice to research, and of
cross- fertilizing different areas of knowledge.
London, UK Martha C. Pennington
Leicester, UK Pamela Rogerson-Revell
Acknowledgements
Martha would like to acknowledge the profound and enduring influence
on her thinking and writing of the thinking and writing on phonology of
Dwight Bolinger and David Brazil, each of whom she met only once but
whose works she continues to benefit from studying, and of the thinking
and writing in language learning and language teaching of Nick C. Ellis,
Michael H. Long, and Jack C. Richards, all of whom she had the pleasure
to work with for a period of time that set an ongoing interest in their
ideas. She also owes continuing debts for both inspiration and knowledge
of linguistics in general and phonology in particular to William Labov
and Michael Halliday. Each of these scholars has influenced her contribu-
tion to this book through various stages of development.
Pamela has similarly been influenced by the many great phonologists
and linguists who have helped take the field forward in recent decades
and by the dedicated individuals, such as Richard Cauldwell, Judy
Gilbert, John Levis, and many others, who have shown the importance of
relating pronunciation research to pedagogic practice.
We also wish to thank two contemporary pronunciation specialists,
José Antonio Mompéan González of the Universidad de Murcia and
Jonás Fouz-González of the Universidad Católica San Antonio, for read-
ing the preliminary version of our manuscript and giving detailed feed-
back on it. Their combined expertise in pronunciation theory, research,
teaching, and technologies meant that they were able to provide us with
ix