28.3083, Review: English; Germanic; Applied Linguistics; General Linguistics; Language Acquisition: Schmitt (2016)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-28-3083. Mon Jul 17 2017. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 28.3083, Review: English; Germanic; Applied Linguistics; General Linguistics; Language Acquisition: Schmitt (2016)

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Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2017 11:13:06
From: Asmaa Shehata [asm.shehata at gmail.com]
Subject: Teaching English Pronunciation

 
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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/27/27-2624.html

AUTHOR: Holger  Schmitt
TITLE: Teaching English Pronunciation
SUBTITLE: A textbook for the German-speaking countries
SERIES TITLE: Sprachwissenschaftliche Studienbücher. 1. Abteilung
PUBLISHER: ISD, Distributor of Scholarly Books
YEAR: 2016

REVIEWER: Asmaa Shehata, University of Calgary

Reviews Editor: Helen Aristar-Dry

SUMMARY

“Teaching English Pronunciation: a Textbook for the German-Speaking Countries”
the most recent book by Holger Schmitt, provides an overview of pronunciation
teaching for German-speaking learners of the English language. The book is
divided into a preface and an introductory chapter that are followed by three
parts: Background, Specific problems, and Empirical work. While the preface
provides a general overview of the book, the introductory chapter provides a
detailed description of the significance of pronunciation as a tool of oral
communication and as an art. Part I (Chapters 2-4) presents the theoretical
background for pronunciation teaching including its main models, chief methods
and techniques and the influential factors that majorly influence it. Part II
(Chapters 5-8) focuses on discussing specific English pronunciation problems
related to both the segmental and suprasegmental features. Part III (Chapter
9) describes thoroughly the procedures to successfully get empirical
pronunciation data.

In Chapter 1, Schmitt argues the need for a work such as his about English
pronunciation for L1 German speakers as he presents a detailed theoretical
background for the concept of pronunciation, underlining its nature, which
differs from the other language aspects like vocabulary and grammar, its
importance as a medium of communication, and the principal challenges that
educators encounter in teaching it,, such as the lack of adequate training in
pronunciation pedagogy, and teaching materials. He concludes the chapter by
emphasizing that “the benefits of a good pronunciation may be well worth the
effort.’ (26).

Chapter 2 presents a brief history of two pronunciation models, Received
Pronunciation and General American, displaying the common features they share
and the differences between them as well. The author also presents one of the
functional varieties of English, i.e., the Lingua Franca Core that has been
introduced by Jenkins (2000) where its primary features and the arguments
against it are briefly summarized. Thenceforth the chapter proceeds to
describe other pronunciation models, such as Estuary English and Scottish
Standard English, and a list of factors that should be taken into
consideration when instructors make informed choices in pronunciation
teaching. Then the chapter concludes with an emphasis on the possibility of
mastering a foreign phonology by adults.

On the other hand, Chapter 3 exhaustively describes the factors that influence
second language (L2) learners’ attainment of phonological features; these
include the learners’ mother language  and motivation, the amount of exposure
time and the interlocutor. The chapter also discusses how biological factors
including age, sex and aptitude influence pronunciation learning. 

Chapter 4, my favorite chapter in the book, demonstrates how pronunciation
teaching looks  in practice by describing different pronunciation methods.
Here, the author shares numerous practical common and less common techniques
that teachers can use to facilitate pronunciation teaching. Teachers will also
find that a number of out-of-class activities and types of pronunciation
feedback are introduced too. The distinctive suggested techniques make
pronunciation learning memorable for learners and simple for teachers to
implement.

The next four chapters focus on specific pronunciation problems that L1 German
learners of English encounter. In Chapter 5, Schmitt centers on the
problematic individual English phonemes. The chapter not only highlights these
sounds’ realization and distribution but it also introduces effective
practical ways for teaching them that can help learners discriminate them. In
the same vein, Chapter 6 spotlights the phonological problems for German
learners of English that result from the differences in phonological rules
between English and German. By addressing these different phonological rules,
teachers not only raise learners’ awareness of these problems but facilitate
their learning process as well. Similarly, the author presents tips for how to
effectively introduce these phonological rules.

Chapter 7, however, is assigned to the suprasegmental differences between
English and German that are mainly related to stress, rhythm, intonation, and
phonotactics. The chapter also draws the readers’ attention to the differences
in the articulatory settings of the two languages as well. Unlike the three
previous chapters, Chapter 8 centers on the non-phonological differences
between German and English that affect L1 German learners’ pronunciation, such
as spelling, the morpholonlogical differences and the English language lexicon
peculiarities. Schmitt also suggests a number of strategies that can help
learners to successfully handle each of these problems.

Finally, Chapter 9 explores empirical data in pronunciation research,
highlighting the three main processes: data collection, coding, and
interpretation. The author advises readers not to use the book CD recordings
as a pronunciation data source due to the missing information about speakers’
length of study, methods of learning and their frequency of contact with
native speakers on one hand and the influence of language enjoyment on the
speakers’ production. The book ends with suggestions for further reading.

EVLUATION 

The book provides an excellent overview for English pronunciation teaching in
general and it also presents core pronunciation problems for German speakers.
Schmitt also shares a detailed description of pronunciation techniques and
sources that would definitely benefit English teachers. According to the
Preface, the purpose of the book is to “fill the gap between mere descriptions
of English phonology and general how-to-teach-pronunciation guides” (p.11).
This goal is thoroughly accomplished with careful explanation of the most
common problems that L1 German speakers encounter when they speak English.
Since the book’s writing style is clear and effective, and it  can easily be
followed by all interested audiences, it is also perfect for undergraduate and
graduate students.

Although the book could benefit from a tighter proofreading and a glossary, it
is an indispensable reference for teaching pronunciation to German-speaking
learners of English,, in which instructors of English will potentially find
new techniques for teaching pronunciation. This book can also be useful to
language researchers who are interested in a quick overview of English
pronunciation instruction in general and L1 German learners of English in
particular. 

To conclude, this book is well compiled and addresses a  timely topic that
makes it a remarkable reference for teachers and learners alike.

REFERENCES

Derwing, T.M. & Munro, M.J. (2015). Pronunciation fundamentals: Evidence-based
perspectives for L2 teaching and research. Amsterdam: John Benjamins

Derwing, T.M., Munro, M.J., Carbonaro, M. (2000). Does popular speech
recognition software work with ESL speech? TESOL Quarterly, 34(3), 592–603. 

Levis, J. M. (2005). Changing contexts and shifting paradigms in pronunciation
teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 39(3), 369–377.

Politzer, R.L. (1978). Errors of English speakers of German as perceived and
evaluated by German natives. The Modern Language Journal, 62(5–6), 253–261. 

Szpyra-Kozłowska, J. (2015). Pronunciation in EFL instruction. A
research-based approach. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Asmaa Shehata, is a faculty at the University of Calgary, School of Languages,
Linguistics, Literatures and Cultures. Her research interests include second
language phonology with particular focus on cross-language speech perception
and production.





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