This article analyses the importance of the development
of accuracy in pronunciation mainly in students from pedagogical
institutes who will have to be models of pronunciation in their
future work. It also calls the attention upon the fact that
teachers should know the phonological system as well as the
system of error correction of the target language so to apply it
in or outside the classroom. It touches on different styles of
correction, evaluation and the steps to follow to correct
pronunciation mistakes.
El artículo analiza la importancia del desarrollo de
la exactitud en la pronunciación, principalmente en los
estudiantes de los institutos superiores pedagógicos que
serán modelos en la
pronunciación como una habilidad profesional en su futuro
trabajo. También llama la atención a los profesores sobre la
necesidad de conocer el sistema
fonológico de la lengua
así como también el sistema de corrección de
la lengua extranjera para poder
aplicarlo dentro o fuera del aula. Otros aspectos que se
consideran son los diferentes estilos a utilizar para corregir
errores, la evaluación
y los pasos a seguir para corregir los errores.
Through years teachers and students have been aware of
the complexity that entails the process of foreign language
teaching. This fact lies on the great variety of elements to take
into consideration along the process___the different abilities :
listening, speaking, reading and writing; and other elements like
pronunciation, vocabulary usage, grammar rules and their usage,
style, etc.___which has to be analyzed as a whole and/or apart
depending on the moment, since they all function as a system in
anything you say.If one of this elements is wrongly used, the
teacher has to discriminated and correct it at once. To do this
task properly teacher trainers have to be fast and effective not
to lose the concentration of the students and to abstract the
wrong item and correct it tactfully.
Accuracy is a goal that every teacher seeks and looks
forward to. But accuracy in pronunciation is very hard to get and
demands constant effort on both sides___ that on the
teacher’s and the student’s.
Problems in pronunciation are detected at once because
people notice them before other problems, which are sometimes
disregarded because they follow the context. But when
pronunciation is not as accurate as it needs to be, that is, the
listener has to make an effort to decode the sounds, the message
is hindered with the subsequent break in the line of
communication.
Paul Tench stated that: "The learner needs to imitate
the teacher’s pronunciation of whole utterances in context,
imitating not only the features of consonants, vowels and
diphthongs, but rhythm and intonation too. He also needs specific
practice for certain pronunciation items which he finds awkward
and difficult…"
In order to carry out drills to correct errors, efforts
have to be made to motivate the students since willingness is
very important because the students with problems in the
production of sounds will have to work overtime and exert effort.
On the other hand, teachers have to clear out the importance of a
good command of the phonological system___being intelligible or
getting to be a model___ depending on the objectives of the
course. In our particular case, teacher trainers have to be
careful and demand from the students an accurate pronunciation as
close as that of a cultivated English speaker since they will
have to teach the language to others.
The science of phonetics is closely related to the
teaching of English as a foreign language. Teacher trainers are
expected to know how to describe, classify, and analyze the sound
system of the language in question. Phonetics provides for the
development of these abilities.
Having these factors in mind, it can be said that there
is an important premise teachers in charge have to master when
dealing with TEFL and it is through the knowledge of the
phonological system and the basic principles of phonetic
correction (error analysis). These two factors should function as
one because when trying to achieve accuracy in pronunciation
(which should be done during the elementary stage so as to save
time to devote it later to develop abilities or other aspects of
the language in question) the teacher has to bear in mind that
the majority of the mistakes are to be produced and expected at
the beginning and that it is the task of the teacher to correct
them following the standards of the pronunciation involved or the
objectives proposed.
Paul Tench expressed that: "If pronunciation is not
dealt with first of all, it is possible that a pronunciation
matter might interfere with the practice of a new feature, and
the teacher has two problems on his hands, simultaneously___ the
new feature and the new pronunciation problem."
In reality, sometimes the process of error corrctiopn is
not effective because the teachers of English as foreign language
do not know how to balance the two premises aforementioned. It is
the objective of this article to help somehow on this
matter.
It is obvious that teacher trainers on FLT are familiar
with the phonological system of the language involved, but it so
happens that the system of corrective phonetics is not
consciously applied because they may not know how to carry out
the process of error correction productively using the tools of
corrective phonetics.
It is true that teachers of EFL have their time
scheduled and have to keep in mind many facts which are not only
about the language, but also about methodological and
psychological (mainly motivational) aspects or
activities.
Correcting a student can be disturbing for him and for
the normal pace of the class. There is also the question of when
correction can be made: on the spot? At the end?
Outside the classroom?That is for the teacher to decide.
But there is a serious problem. Sometimes for the sake of doing
things on time and follow the steps of the lesson without
interruption,etc., teachers do pay due attention to problems in
pronunciation which unfortunately will be fixed and consequently
there might be no solution later on: the wrong pattern will stay
forever in the pronunciation of the students.
Steven H. Mc Donough said: "At each stage the
teacher’s decision will be influenced by a number of
considerations, such as the importance of the error, its
frequency in the class, weather the correct version is in fact
known to the students, possible loss of face by the student, or
undesirable gloating by other students. All these decisions have
to be taken fast in order not to interrupt the flow of the
lesson."
Sometimes the process of correcting mistakes gets to be
too individualized because there is only one student with a
certain problem. So the teaching process gets to be too private
leaving the rest of the students by themselves. But pronunciation
drills for error correction, individual or collective, should be
carried out for the sake of the quality of the pronunciation of
our students. If the teacher trainer has to leave the rest of the
students on their own for too long, then he can stop the
correction and continue later on. When?
The answer accounts for flexibility: inside the
classroom or outside, whenever or wherever the teacher or the
student might feel comfortable. When pronunciation problems are
not generalized it is better to work with them outside for
several reasons:
- The normal pace of the class is not
altered. - The students with pronunciation problems will not
have to put up with a "difficult moment in front of their
classmates. - The teacher has more time to assess the problem in
detail and find a proper solution. - The students have more time to adjust to the solution
and practice the language.
This suffices the question of when, but
how?
Firstly, the the teacher should know what the mistake is
about, what the cause is and decide if it is too disruptive or
repetitive that might form a wrong model. Secondly, depending on
what was said before, the teacher should decide when the
correction can be carried out and in what way.
The description, explanation and correction of mistakes
in pronunciation can be effected through two different ways:
correction from the side of the teacher, and self-correction
within the group of students. The latter springs from the former,
that is , through familiarizing the students with error
correction the teacher indirectly develops abilities and habits
of self-correction.
Teachers should develop abilities of self-correction
within the group. It is quite useful because it is one of the
ways of centering the attention of the group when one of the
students is making use of the language, for they will not only be
attentive to the content but also to the form. This gives them
the opportunity to express their doubts about ways of expression
that might not be familiar to them.
In our particular case, this technique prepare the
students on their future work on error correction once they
become English teachers. What is more, there are cases when there
is a supposed mistake in pronunciation when in fact there is not.
On the other hand, The responsibility of error correction does
not fall entirely upon the shoulders of the teacher, which may be
a positive psychological factor because the students will be
corrected by their fellow classmates, and it is up to a certain
extent a compromise with his peers. When teaching a foreign
language teachers have to pay attention to many aspects related
to the language, so there might be the case that he might miss
any, but if the students are well trained, one of them at least
might detect it and call attention upon it.
With this type of correction a sort of competence is
established, that is, one student is able to correct another one,
it will mean that the one to make the mistake is supposed to know
already because the other one does. So this particular student
will get conscious that he has to do something about it. It may
motivate him to work harder and pay more attention. It also
serves as self-evaluation.
When the correction is made completely on the party of
the teacher, the student may think that the teacher may use any
particular part of the language because he knows already and has
experience.He is still learning, so he will expect the teacher to
be forgiving and not demand too much from him. He will have more
time to work later on to solve the problem___ which might never
happen.The motivation to solve the problem might not be as strong
as when it comes from one of his classmates.
When the correction is made on the part of the teacher
there are different steps to follow in order to solve the problem
productively:
- Assess the mistake.
- Establish the cause.
- Determine the objective or objectives.
- Choose the appropriate corrective technique or
techniques. - Decide where to make the correction and/or if the
students will participate in the process.
The process of phonetic correction has to be fast in
order to be expedient and effective. Besides, it demands
expertise because the teacher has to discriminate pronunciation
problems among a myriad of other elements and
abilities.
Fortunately, corrective phonetics offers a system of
techniques to improve the quality of pronunciation in EFL
students.The first possible step is that teachers get familiar
with it and put it into practice.
Steven H. Mc. Donough said: "(…) It is clear that
avoidance of error is impossible; tolerance of error may be
unproductive, but prediction and diagnoses of error may be
all-important."
– Lectures on English Phonetics and Phonology. Compiladores
Faustino Sotto
Vazquez et al. Ministerio de Educación, 1982. Ed.
Pueblo y Educación.
- Gimson, A.C. An Introduction to the pronunciation of
English.La Habana, Ed Pueblo y Educacion, 294 p. - Gonzales Rey, F.Comunicación, Personalidad
y Desarrollo. - Mc. Donough, Steven H. Psychology in foreign Language
Teaching. Edicion Revolucionaria. 164 p.
By:
Ana Roque del Toro.
Assistant Professor at Teachers’ Training College,
Holguín, Cuba.