Second Language Accent and Pronunciation Teaching

205 Pages·2005·1.25 MB·English

by  Cybertech Enterprises

QUARTERLY
CONTENTS
Founded 1966
ARTICLES
Guest Editor’s Introduction and Overview
Changing Contexts and Shifting Paradigms in Pronuniciation Teaching 369
John M. Levis
Second Language Accent and Pronunciation Teaching:
A Research-Based Approach 379
Tracey M. Derwing
Murray J. Munro
Intelligibility
Intelligibility and the Listener: The Role of Lexical Stress 399
John Field
Listening to Estuary English in Singapore 425
David Deterding
World Englishes
Phonetic Parameters and Perceptual Judgments of Accent in English
by American and Japanese Listeners 441
Timothy J. Riney
Naoyuki Takagi
Kumiko Inutsuka
Pronunciation Issues and EIL Pedagogy in the Periphery:
A Survey of Greek State School Teachers’ Beliefs 467
Nicos Sifakis
Areti-Maria Sougari
Identity
Learners’ Ethnic Group Affiliation and L2 Pronunciation Accuracy:
A Sociolinguistic Investigation 489
Elizabeth Gatbonton
Pavel Trofimovich
Michael Magid
Becoming “Black Lambs” Not “Parrots”:
A Poststructuralist Concept of Intelligibility and Identity 513
Paula Golombek
Stefanie Rehn Jordan
ccclxii TESOL QUARTERLY
Volume 39, Number 3 (cid:1) September 2005
FORUM—THE LINGUA FRANCA CORE
Implementing an International Approach to English Pronunciation:
The Role of Teacher Attitudes and Identity 535
Jennifer Jenkins
The Lingua Franca Core: A New Model for Pronunciation Instruction? 543
Rebecca M. Dauer
Using Student-Produced Recordings With Monolingual Groups to
Provide Effective, Individualized Pronunciation Practice 550
Robin Walker
SOFTWARE REVIEWS
Streaming Speech: Listening and Pronunciation for
Advanced Learners of English 559
Richard Cauldwell
Reviewed by Dorothy Chun
Connected Speech 563
Virginia W. Westwood and Heather Kaufmann
Reviewed by Lucy Pickering
Information for Contributors 567
REVIEWS ccclxiii
QUARTERLY
Volume 39, Number 3 (cid:1) September 2005
A Journal for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages
Founded 1966 and of Standard English as a Second Dialect
Editor
A. SURESH CANAGARAJAH, Baruch College, City University of New York
Guest Editor
JOHN M. LEVIS, Iowa State University
Assistant Editor
CRAIG A. TRIPLETT, TESOL Central Office
Assistant to the Editor
SARAH M. NAKAMARU, New York University
Editorial Advisory Board
Sarah Benesch, David Luna,
College of Staten Island, Baruch College, City University
City University of New York of New York
Grace Bunyi, Paul Kei Matsuda,
Kenyatta University University of New Hampshire
Maria Angeles Clemente, Anna Mauranen,
Universidad Autonóma “Benito Juárez” University of Helsinki
de Oaxaca Shondel J. Nero,
Alister Cumming, St. John’s University
University of Toronto Lucy Pickering,
Pauline Gibbons, Georgetown University
University of Technology, Sydney Charlene Polio,
Greta Gorsuch, Michigan State University
Texas Tech University Peter Robinson,
Constant Leung, Aoyama Gakuin University
Kings College London Norbert Schmitt,
Jo A. Lewkowicz, University of Nottingham
University of Hong Kong Ali Shehadeh,
Patsy Lightbown, King Saud University
Harwich, MA Mack Shelley,
Angel Lin, Iowa State University
City University of Hong Kong Bryan Smith,
Dilin Liu, Arizona State University East
Oklahoma City University Elaine Tarone,
University of Minnesota
Additional Readers
Ellen Block; Simon Borg; George Braine; Anne Burns; David Carless; Anna Chang; Andrew Cohen;
Susan Conrad; Graham Crookes; Rod Ellis; Dana Ferris; Linda Harklau; Margaret Hawkins;
John Hedgecock; Eli Hinkel; Alan Hirvela; Yasuko Kanno; Ryuko Kubota; Xiao-Ming Li; Aya Matsuda;
Peter Medgyes; Naoko Morita; Paul Nation; Gayle Nelson; Ekaterina Nemtchinova; Bonny Norton;
Elizabeth O’Dowd; David Palfreyman; Christine Pearson Casanave; Jim Purpura; Vaidehi Ramanathan;
John Read; Jenelle Reeves; Joan Rubin; Miyuki Sasaki; Nico Sifakis; Bernard Spolsky; Kelleen Toohey;
Roberta Vann; Manka Varghese; Ann Wennerstrom; Yaoying Xu; Robert Yates
Credits
Advertising arranged by Sherry Harding, TESOL Central Office, Alexandria, Virginia U.S.A.
Typesetting by Capitol Communication Systems, Inc., Crofton, Maryland U.S.A.
Printing and binding by Pantagraph Printing, Bloomington, Illinois U.S.A.
Copies of articles that appear in the TESOL Quarterly are available through ISI Document Solution, 3501 Market Street,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 U.S.A.
Copyright © 2005
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc.
US ISSN 0039-8322 (print), ISSN 1545-7249 (online)
REVIEWS ccclxi
is an international professional organization for those concerned
with the teaching of English as a second or foreign language and of
standard English as a second dialect. TESOL’s mission is to ensure
excellence in English language teaching to speakers of other languages. TESOL
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OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2005–2006
President Mary Ann Boyd Lía D. Kamhi-Stein
ELLIOT L. JUDD Illinois State University California State University
University of Illinois (Emerita) Los Angeles, CA USA
at Chicago Towanda, IL USA
Penny McKay
Chicago, IL USA
Brock Brady Queensland University of
American University Technology
President-Elect
Washington, DC USA Brisbane, Queensland
JUN LIU
Australia
University of Arizona Christine Coombe
Tucson, AZ USA Dubai Men’s College JoAnn Miller
Dubai, United Arab Emirates EFL Consultant
Past President Lynne Díaz-Rico Mexico City, Mexico
MICHELE J. SABINO California State University Suchada Nimmannit
University of Houston– San Bernardino, CA USA Chulalangkorn University
Downtown Language Institute
William Eggington
Houston, TX USA Bangkok, Thailand
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT USA Amy Schlessman
Treasurer
Rose Academies
MARTHA EDMONDSON Liz England
Tucson, AZ USA
Washington, DC USA American University in Cairo
Cairo, Egypt Stephen Stoynoff
Minnesota State University
Mabel Gallo
Mankato, MN USA
Instituto Cultural Argentino
Norteamericano
Buenos Aires, Argentina Executive Director/Secretary
CHARLES S.
AMOROSINO, JR.
Alexandria, VA USA
ccclxiv TESOL QUARTERLY
QUARTERLY
Founded 1966
Editor’s Note
■ Pronunciation is perhaps the linguistic feature most open to judgment. As
a surface structure phenomenon that is most noticeable, one’s accent easily
evokes people’s biases. For the same reason, pronunciation has been the
most prescriptively taught aspect of language instruction. Pedagogies for
accent reduction have bordered on the pathological. The articles in this
special topic issue bring a much needed research focus on social and
communicative considerations in pronunciation that can lead pedagogy in
constructive new directions. Relating pronunciation to issues of identity,
group membership, interpersonal negotiation, and the plurality of World
Englishes, they treat the topic with great intellectual rigor.
John Levis’s editorial introduction and the article by Tracey M. Derwing
and Murray J. Munro in the opening section discuss the importance of
developing a research-based approach to pronunciation and chart the
paradigm shift taking place in the field. In the next section, John Field and
David Deterding shift the focus from the speaker to the listener as they
explore the ramifications of negotiating intelligibility. The reality of World
Englishes raises new questions for pronunciation in the third section, where
the authors argue that “deviant” accents should be treated as legitimized in
other speech communities. This does not mean, however, that speakers of
various institutionalized local Englishes do not experience conflicts over
which accent is preferable. Articles by Timothy J. Riney, Naoyuki Takagi, and
Kumiko Inutsuka and by Nicos Sifakis and Areti-Maria Sougari explore the
relativity of World English accents in this section.
In the fourth section, authors discuss the ways in which issues of identity
complicate pronunciation. Some speakers may not prefer what is socially
prestigious or pedagogically correct. This important sociolinguistic perspec-
tive on the pressures from one’s social group is developed by Elizabeth
Gatbonton, Pavel Trofimovich, and Michael Magid. From a poststructuralist
perspective, the choice of accent may indicate the agency of subjects to
construct new and imagined identities. Paula Golombek and Stefanie Rehn
Jordan show how two nonnative teacher trainees struggle to position
themselves between accents. In the Forum section, Jennifer Jenkins, Rebecca
Dauer, and Robin Walker explore different aspects of the exciting new
ITNES TOHL IQSU IASRSTUEERLY Vol. 39, No. 3, September 2005 365
research on the lingua franca core. Although research showing that speakers
of English as an international language may be developing new norms and
practices for communicating across communities is insightful, how it might
translate to language teaching is open to debate.
The guest editor, John Levis, should be congratulated for bringing
together a talented group of international scholars and presenting research
from geographically diverse contexts to produce this pathbreaking issue on
pronunciation.
Suresh Canagarajah
Editor
366 TESOL QUARTERLY
TESOL Quarterly
In Press, December 2005
The December issue of TESOL Quarterly will contain articles
focusing on research and teaching in atypical contexts.
Negotiating Language Contact and Identity Change in
Developing Tibetan/English Bilingualism
Seonaigh MacPherson
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada
Motivators That Do Not Motivate: The Case of Chinese EFL Learners
and the Influence of Culture on Motivation
Judy F. Chen
The Overseas Chinese Institute of Technology
Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China
Clyde A. Warden
National ChungHsing University
Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China
Huo-Tsan Chang
National Changhua University of Education
Changhua, Taiwan, Republic of China
Contextual Influences on Instructional Practices:
A Chinese Case for an Ecological Approach to ELT
Guangwei Hu
National Institute of Education
Nanyang Technological University
Singapore
Learning in an Additional Language in a Multilingual Society:
A South African Case Study on University-Level Writing
Brenda Leibowitz
University of the Western Cape
Bellville, South Africa
Making the Invisible Visible: A Responsive Evaluation Study of
ESL/Spanish Language Services for Immigrants in a
Small Rural County in Indiana
Faridah Pawan
Indiana University
Bloomington, Indiana, United States
Terri Thomalla
Indiana University
Bloomington, Indiana, United States
IN THIS ISSUE 367
Changing Contexts and Shifting
Paradigms in Pronunciation Teaching
JOHN M. LEVIS
Iowa State University
The history of pronunciation in English language teaching is a study
in extremes. Some approaches to teaching, such as the reformed
method and audiolingualism, elevated pronunciation to a pinnacle of
importance, while other approaches, such as the cognitive movement and
early communicative language teaching, mostly ignored pronunciation
(Celce-Murcia, Brinton, & Goodwin, 1996). Currently, it seems clear that
pronunciation deserves neither fate, either to be unfairly elevated to the
central skill in language learning or banished to irrelevance.
To a large extent, pronunciation’s importance has always been deter-
mined by ideology and intuition rather than research. Teachers have
intuitively decided which features have the greatest effect on clarity and
which are learnable in a classroom setting. Derwing and Munro (this
issue), recognizing this tendency toward teacher intuition in determin-
ing classroom priorities, make an appeal for a carefully formulated
research agenda to define how particular features actually affect speaker
intelligibility. That such an appeal is needed suggests, in Derwing and
Munro’s words, that pronunciation “instructional materials and practices
are still heavily influenced by commonsense intuitive notions” and that
such intuitions “cannot resolve many of the critical questions that face
classroom instructors” (p. 380).
During the past 25 years, pronunciation teachers have emphasized
suprasegmentals rather than segmentals in promoting intelligibility
(Avery & Ehrlich, 1992; Morley, 1991), despite a paucity of research
evidence for this belief (Hahn, 2004). Recent carefully designed studies
have shown some support for the superiority of suprasegmental instruc-
tion in ESL contexts (e.g., Derwing & Rossiter, 2003). Also, wider
availability of software that makes suprasegmentals’ discourse functions
more accessible to teachers and learners will encourage work with supra-
segmentals (Chun, this issue; Pickering, this issue). However, the impor-
tance of suprasegmentals for communication in English as an inter-
national language (EIL) is uncertain (Jenkins, 2000; Levis, 1999). It is
also by no means clear that all suprasegmentals are equally learnable.
Pennington and Ellis (2000), for example, found that although some
TESOL QUARTERLY Vol. 39, No. 3, September 2005 369
elements of intonation, such as nuclear stress, appear to be learnable,
other elements, such as pitch movement marking boundaries and the
intonation of sentence tags, are not. Even for those who advocate the
centrality of suprasegmentals, a more nuanced approach is clearly
needed.
COMPETING IDEOLOGIES
More fundamentally, pronunciation research and pedagogy have long
been influenced by two contradictory principles, the nativeness principle
and the intelligibility principle. The nativeness principle holds that it is
both possible and desirable to achieve native-like pronunciation in a
foreign language. The nativeness principle was the dominant paradigm
in pronunciation teaching before the 1960s, but its influence was rapidly
diminished by research showing that nativeness in pronunciation ap-
peared to be biologically conditioned to occur before adulthood
(Lenneberg, 1967; Scovel, 1995), leading to the logical conclusion that
aiming for nativeness was an unrealistic burden for both teacher and
learner. Despite extensive ongoing research into a critical period for
acquiring pronunciation, in practice very few adult learners actually
achieve native-like pronunciation in a foreign language. Factors such as
motivation, amount of first language (L1) use, and pronunciation
training are positively correlated with more native-like pronunciation,
but none of these other factors seems to overcome the effects of age
(Flege & Frieda, 1995; Moyer, 1999).
Although an overwhelming amount of evidence argues against the
nativeness principle, it still affects pronunciation teaching practices.
Popularly, the principle drives the accent reduction industry, which
implicitly promises learners that the right combination of motivation
and special techniques can eliminate a foreign accent. In language
classrooms, it is common for learners to want to “get rid of” their accents
(as one of my recent students expressed it). Many teachers, especially
those unfamiliar with pronunciation research, may see the rare learner
who achieves a native-like accent as an achievable ideal, not an exception.
The second principle is the intelligibility principle. It holds that
learners simply need to be understandable. The intelligibility principle
recognizes that communication can be remarkably successful when
foreign accents are noticeable or even strong, that there is no clear
correlation between accent and understanding (Munro and Derwing,
1999), and that certain types of pronunciation errors may have a
disproportionate role in impairing comprehensibility.
The intelligibility principle implies that different features have differ-
ent effects on understanding. Instruction should focus on those features
370 TESOL QUARTERLY
that are most helpful for understanding and should deemphasize those
that are relatively unhelpful. This assumption of differential importance
is evident in most intelligibility-based arguments for pronunciation
instruction. For example, the longstanding belief that instruction should
focus on suprasegmentals (e.g., Avery & Ehrlich, 1992) assumes that a
focus on these features leads to better and quicker speaker intelligibility
than a focus on segmentals.
Jenkins’s (2000) lingua franca core (LFC), a proposal for intelligibility-
based pronunciation instruction, shares this assumption about intelligi-
bility, albeit with an important difference in communicative context.
Jenkins argues that her approach supports EIL (also called ELF, or
English as a lingua franca) communication, but her recommendations
have caused pronunciation teachers in all contexts to revisit their beliefs
about intelligibility and the primacy of suprasegmentals. Dauer (this
issue) provides an ESL response to the LFC, both praising its renewed
emphasis on segmentals and arguing that its de-emphasis on supraseg-
mentals will not serve learners well, given that the boundaries between
ESL and EIL communication are more fluid than the LFC suggests.
The LFC also raises issues for EFL contexts, where its recommenda-
tions would seem to be most at home. However, because students in EFL
classrooms share the same L1, they converge toward second language
(L2) pronunciation that is heavily influenced by the L1. Thus, the
documented tendency of different L1 speakers to converge toward more
internationally intelligible pronunciation (Jenkins, 2000) does not seem
to operate in EFL contexts. Walker (this issue) describes a technique
used successfully to help learners who share the same L1 converge
toward pronunciation that will be more intelligible in EIL communication.
Despite the current dominance of intelligibility as the goal of pronun-
ciation teaching, both the nativeness and intelligibility principles con-
tinue to influence pronunciation in the language curriculum, both in
how they relate to communicative context and in the relationship of
pronunciation to identity.
THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTEXT
Most currently published pronunciation materials are consistent with
the nativeness principle. These materials hold that prestige native
speaker versions of English are the proper models for pronunciation
learning. Although most native speakers of English speak neither Gen-
eral American nor Received Pronunciation (RP), published materials
rely on these accents for examples, giving a skewed view of pronuncia-
tion that may not serve learners’ communicative needs. Deterding (this
issue) describes how Singapore English speakers who are used to RP
CHANGING CONTEXTS AND SHIFTING PARADIGMS 371