Pronunciation in English as a lingua franca: A brief introduction (original) (raw)
Related papers
Intellectual Discourse, 2018
The spread of English as the world lingua franca has evoked the rethinking of the significance of native-speaker norms and models in teaching English, and as a result, the target of pronunciation teaching and learning has shifted from imitating native accents to achieving speech intelligibility. The Lingua Franca Core proposal introduced a list of phonological features in English that are, arguably, the minimum required to achieve intelligibility and argued that mispronouncing these features is expected to cause a breakdown in communication among non-native speakers. As a consequence of this, it has been suggested that LFC be prioritized in teaching and learning English pronunciation. In response to the LFC proposal, researchers have become polarized; while some have found LFC a promising approach, others have argued against its appropriateness as a target of pronunciation teaching and learning. This paper evaluates the controversial position of the LFC proposal in the literature, focusing on three main dimensions: the LFC’s potential to result in intelligible communication, its teachability and its scope of function as an alternative target to the NS models, and the influence of different attitudes on the success of implementing the LFC.
The status of English as a lingua franca (ELF) has become an increasingly popular topic in Applied Linguistics and there is a lively discussion around which pronunciation model to use in classrooms (Dauer, 2005). Jenkins (1998, 2000, and 2002) proposed the Lingua Franca Core (LFC): a list of features which are presumably the minimum required to result in intelligible communication among non-native speakers of English (NNSs) and should form the basis upon which the pronunciation syllabus of learners of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) should be designed. While very few teachers of English today would (theoretically) argue that aiming at native-like pronunciation is necessary or even desirable, many teachers, nevertheless, remain skeptical about the teachability of the LFC (Jenkins, 2007). This paper addresses this doubt introducing the construct of the 'LFC', its potential implication in classroom, and its scope and function beyond classroom setting.
Teaching pronunciation in the post-EFL era: lessons from ELF and implications for teacher education
The development of English as a lingua franca (ELF) has raised pressing challenges for language policy, curriculum design, teaching methodology and teacher education. Communication between non-native users of English on a global scale is more widespread than, and therefore at least of equal importance with, communication between non-native and native users of the same language. This has had serious repercussions on the understanding of the role and, by consequence, the teaching of pronunciation. In this chapter, I argue that such demands can best be accommodated within a “post-EFL” paradigm. I begin by describing the ways in which the “post-EFL” paradigm can be distinguished from the “traditional EFL” paradigm and go on to discuss the following questions: In what ways does learner pronunciation play a unique role in oral communication? What is intelligibility and comprehensibility in oral communication and how does “accommodation” work? How are issues like speaker identity, ownershi...
Robin Walker, Teaching the Pronunciation of English as Lingua Franca, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2010, i-xx, 224 pp.
English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) research provides valuable insights for English Language Teaching (ELT). An ELF-based approach in ELT prepares students for global communication in English. The English language is used as a means of communication between speakers from a large range of first-language and socio-cultural backgrounds and with different experiences and levels of learning and using English. Research on ELF communication has shown that this English, mutually negotiated in each contact situation, is particularly flexible and fluid. The material and tasks in English textbooks should be adjusted to this use of English. On the phonological level, ELF research has focused on how intelligibility is established and maintained. The most influential work to date is Jenkin’s (2000) Lingua Franca Core (LFC), which presents a set of phonological features essential for intelligibility in ELF interactions. The LFC was a starting point for further, more process-based, studies. The results of these studies challenge established views on phonological proficiency. Phonological ELF research demands adjustments of teaching material. The empirical part of this thesis reviews the listening material and the pronunciation tasks in the textbook Global by Macmillan. Global is a recent six-level English course for adult learners of English for global communication. In the analysis, a selection of Global’s promotional texts is examined and contrasted to the conception of English reflected in the coursebooks and audio-CDs. The empirical investigation of the listening material primarily focuses on the linguistic background of the speakers and is complemented by an e-mail interview with a Macmillan representative. The pronunciation model underlying the course is examined, and the pronunciation tasks dealing with individual phonemes are compared with the LFC. Suggestions for working with the material in the ELF-based language classroom are given.
Rethinking pronunciation teaching in teacher education from an ELF perspective
Vienna English Working Papers (VIEWS), 2016
It has long been thought that teachers of English should strive to acquire a native-like accent in order to be a good pronunciation model for their students. The so-called 'nativeness principle' (Levis 2005), i.e. the idea that a native-like accent is an achievable and desirable goal for an L2 learner, is still influencing pronunciation teaching practices in non-native language teacher education. However, this principle has been seriously challenged by applied linguists and especially by English as a lingua franca (ELF) researchers, who question the relevance of native speaker pronunciation norms for teachers and learners and call for a focus on international intelligibility in pronunciation teaching. This paper takes a critical look at the nativeness principle, arguing that it cannot be regarded as a satisfactory approach to pronunciation teaching in general and in teacher education in particular. I therefore present an alternative, ELF-informed approach to English pronunciation teaching and provide suggestions for its implementation in a specific teacher education context.
English Lingua Franca: New Parameters for the Teaching (and Testing) of English Pronunciation?
10 | 3 | 2021, 2021
The recent (2018) Companion Volume to the Common European Framework offers an overhaul of many of the scales of descriptors, including, notably, phonology. A single, skeletal, scale for ‘phonological control’ is replaced by three scales, describing overall control, sound articulation, and prosodic features. In each of these, the focus has become intelligibility, rather than proximity to a native speaker accent. In this article I examine the development of pronunciation teaching since the communicative revolution, and the rise of English as a lingua franca (ELF) in which intelligibility is crucial. The article concludes with a reflection on how (if at all) the revised framework could inform an ELF aware assessment of pronunciation.
Pronunciation in course books: English as a lingua franca perspective
ELT Journal, 2021
Pronunciation in course books: English as a Lingua Franca perspective In recent decades there has been a growing research and pedagogical interest in the use of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), for example identifying the Lingua Franca Core (LFC), or pronunciation features important for intelligibility in ELF contexts. While some analyses of course books (CBs) have shown ELF research findings are not yet reflected in these materials, only two studies have focused specifically on how pronunciation is presented in CBs, and none from an ELF perspective. Consequently, this study analysed to what extent pronunciation syllabi of six globally published CBs follow LFC, and what beliefs informed the CB authors' choice of pronunciation features. The results show that LFC features represent only between 5 and 33 per cent of the pronunciation syllabi. While most CB authors were aware of LFC and eager to focus on intelligible pronunciation, they either did not think it was important to follow or could not do so due to publisher's demands.