Student Voices on the Teaching & Learning of Pronunciation

Abstract

This research study focuses on the importance of teaching our students pronunciation, on looking at the difficulties students have, and finding solutions for them. In the past, questions were raised about the importance of pronunciation as an instructional focus. Recent discussions have focused on whether or not to teach pronunciation. Today learners too are seen as active learners with needs, not passive recipients. The results from the survey questions in this study show the importance of teaching pronunciation today, difficulties students are facing in this area of English language learning, and some possible solutions. In the past, we knew little about pronunciation, how it was taught or learned, although it was emphasized in language teaching at the time of the audio-lingual approach. Today, students can go online and get pronunciation practice too. Our goal is not to make our students perfect, but it is to make them intelligible and communicative users of English to serve their purposes in and outside the classroom.

Keywords: learning pronunciation, student voices on pronunciation, teaching pronunciation