Pamela Rogerson-Revell

University of Leicester, UK

Revisiting some myths and misconceptions in pronunciation teaching


Abstract
Despite a growing interest in pronunciation teaching in recent years and an increasing body of research in the field, there still seems to be a substantial gap between pronunciation research and practice. This disconnect can mean that approaches to pronunciation pedagogy tend to be intuition-based rather than informed by research evidence. Relying on experiences and intuitions can sometimes be very helpful for teachers but as Derwing and Munro (2005) point out ‘ expecting teachers to rely solely on intuition is unrealistic and unfair’ (p.389) and, I would argue, may also result in the perpetuation of myths and misconceptions which have little or no basis in empirical reality (Rogerson-Revell, 2011; 2012). For example, ideas such as “ accent is the primary cause of unintelligibility; “all wh-questions have a falling tone”; or “students need to pronounce all sounds clearly and accurately” are common (Pennington and Rogerson-Revell, 2019:431). It is not surprising that such misconceptions develop, given that many teachers lack confidence to teach pronunciation, either through limited knowledge or training opportunities.
In this talk, I hope to demonstrate some of the benefits of creating stronger links between pronunciation research and teaching practices, showing how an understanding of key issues and relevant research can help teachers prioritise pronunciation content and select relevant teaching approaches. To illustrate, I will revisit some areas of pronunciation which have been susceptible to myths and misconceptions, such as tone and sentence type, minimal pairs, rhythm and linking. In some cases this may mean revising or rejecting ideas or approaches in light of new research findings while in others it may result in reconsidering notions or methods that were previously disregarded.
It is hoped that stronger links between teaching and empirical research may mean that, as Brinton (2017) puts it, ‘some of the ‘methodological bandwagons’ of past decades receive diminished attention from teachers, materials developers and curriculum designers’ (p.458). This is an exciting time for pronunciation teachers and researchers with many opportunities for closer collaboration in order to improve the effectiveness of pronunciation teaching and learning. ReferencesBrinton, D. (2017). Innovations in pronunciation teaching. , In Kang, O. Thomson,R. & Murphy, J. (Eds.)The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary English Pronunciation (pp. 93-122). New York: Routledge.Derwing, T. M. & Munro, M. J. (2005). Second language accent and pronunciation teaching: A research-based approach. TESOL Quarterly, 39, 379–397.Rogerson-Revell, P. (2011). English phonology and pronunciation teaching. London: Bloomsbury.Rogerson-Revell, P. (2012). Can or should we teach intonation? IATEFL Pronunciation SIG Newsletter, 47, 16 –20.Pennington, M. & Rogerson-Revell, P. (2019). Teaching and Researching Pronunciation: Contemporary Perspectives. Research and Practice in Applied Linguistics Series. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Bio

Dr. Pamela Rogerson Revell is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Leicester, UK. She has researched and published widely in the field of phonology and pronunciation teaching. Her most recent book, ‘Teaching and Researching Pronunciation: Contemporary Perspectives’) has just been published (Pennington and Rogerson-Revell, 2019). She is also author of English Phonology and Pronunciation Teaching' (2011) and has published two textbooks in this area, and ‘Speaking Effectively', and 'Speaking Clearly' , the latter with Judy Gilbert. She is currently involved in a funded research project investigating pronunciation teachers’ cognition and practice, with co-investigator Dr Wafa Zoghbor at Zayed University, United Arab Emirates. She has a keen interest in online language learning and has developed an OER (Open Educational Resource ) which is a practice and review unit for students of phonology and phonetics, 'The Phonology and Phonetics Review'. She has also recently led the development of a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) entitled ‘An introduction to Applied Linguistics and TESOL’ which is a joint collaboration between the University of Leicester and Futurelearn.