The purpose of this paper is to introduce both theoretical and practical aspects of English pronunciation teaching to learners and teachers of elementary school English. The acquisition of a good pronunciation in the target language is commonly held t...
The purpose of this paper is to introduce both theoretical and practical aspects of English pronunciation teaching to learners and teachers of elementary school English. The acquisition of a good pronunciation in the target language is commonly held to be the most difficult tasks in language teaching. The major part of this study is devoted to techniques of teaching pronunciation - articulation, stress and intonation - at the level of elementary school English.
We have had the experience when listening to a foreigner speaking our language of having great difficulty in understanding what he/she is trying to express. Pronunciation is probably the most neglected aspect of English teaching.
Work on pronunciation is important for two main reasons: to help the students understand the spoken English to hear, and to help them make their own speech more comprehensible and meaningful to others. The various elements are considered in this paper: individual sounds, word stress, sounds in connected speech, rhythm and stress in utterances, and intonation. Pronunciation should be an integral part of an English teaching program from the early stages, just as the teaching of structures and vocabularies.