What are the aims in the classroom when we teach pronunciation? Or more importantly, what should the aims be?
Many a school policy is designed to teach the “native” model of pronunciation, but is this a realistic notion? Not only does research suggest that the so-called “native” models of English are amongst the least intelligible but the model itself is often unattainable.
English itself has so many varieties around the globe that there is no one standard and that’s one of the reasons why the “native” model is typically unattainable. We have people from parts of USA that have difficulties communicating with people from parts of England… They are both L1 speakers and use a “native” model, but in an international setting it’s just unrealistic.
There has been a push in recent years toward English as a Lingua Franca [ELF] (and English as an International Language [EIL]) where certain phonological features have been deemed redundant for successful communication. If this model is the new thing and it actually assists communication as well as offering an attainable model of pronunciation for students, then why isn’t it being promoted in the ELT world more aggressively?
There are a few possible reasons for this… Perhaps the biggest of these being the ELT industry itself would implode if the English “native” became redundant. Imagine the chaos if the acceptable model of pronunciation was a “non-native” variety. There would be a total uproar… I mean, afterall… which English is dominant? L2 speakers of English already outnumber L1 speakers by quite a way…
But seriously, aren’t we as teachers supposed to be helping our students to communicate effectively? And if ELF is the way to do this, why isn’t it gaining recognition in the larger markets of North-East Asia (Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan)? …Are the institutions to blame? Is it we teachers? …And what do students really want – a “native” accent or communicative skills?
