2006 年4 月 中国英语教学 （双月刊） Apr．2006

第 29 卷　第2 期 CELEA Journal（Bim onthly） ．29 No．2

Vol

A REVIEW OF HOW TO TEACH PRONUNCIATION

BY GERALD KELLY

Fan Dinghong
Chongqing University

Abstract
　　This book is a guide to the theory of pronunciation and to the practical skills required in its teaching．It
offers a su m mary of the key features of pronunciation ，an overview of approaches and techniques in the
teaching of pronunciation ， and analysis of key topics such as vo wels ，consonants ，stress ，and intonation ，with
a variety of sam ple lessons for each topic．It is an easily accessible resource book that has incorporated new
pedagogic and phonetic theories．This book is especially appropriate for Chinese teachers of English ， asthere is
a general feeling of doubt am ong the m as to ho w to teach English pronunciation．

Key w ords
pronunciation teaching ；approach ；technique

Gerald Kelly． 2000． How to Teach Pronunciation． Pp．vi ＋154． London ：Pearson Education
Limited．Second im pression ， 2001．ISBN 0582 429757
Series editor ：Jere m y Harm er

English pronunciation teaching in the Chinese classroo m tends to be neglected． This pheno m enon
m ay not be due to teachers lacking interest in the subject but rather to a feeling of doubt as to how to
teach it．In this sense ，How to Teach Pronunciation by Gerald Kelly is especially appropriate for Chinese
teachers of English． This book is ，according to the back cover blurb ， “a guide to the theory of
pronunciation and to the practical skills required in its teaching． ” It not only helps teachers gain
theoretical knowledge and to confirm and extend w hat they already know ，but also suggests a variety of
practicalideas ，skills and activities for the classroo m ．It is an easily accessible resource book on the
m ethodology of English pronunciation teaching that has incorporated new pedagogic and phonetic
theories．

This book consists of eight chapters．

Chapter 1 introduces the m ain features of pronunciation ，and distinguishes between phone m es and
supraseg m ental features．It explores the physiology of pronunciation ，the articulation of phone m es ，and
introduces phone mic transcription．It also distinguishes between phonetics and phonology ，and suggests
that both areas have practical significance for teachers．

Chapter 2 looks closely at various ways of dealing with pronunciation in the classroo m ．It claims that
there are tw o sides to pronunciation teaching ：the teaching of productive skills and the teaching of
receptive skills．This is a very good point to m ake and has im portant practical im plications．In the EFL
circle there is a tendency for pronunciation teachers to focus on production as the m ain proble m affecting
the learners．However ，m ost research shows clearly that the proble m is m ore likely to be reception．If
the English sound is not clearly received ，the learner is likely to convert it into a similar sound in his／her
ow n language．
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Chapter 2 also describes various techniques and activities that can be used in class to foster productive
and receptive pronunciation skills ，and goes on to exe m plify these techniques and activities in use in the
three different types of pronunciation lesson ： Integrated lessons ，w here pronunciation is fully integrated
with the other aspects of the language being taught ；Re m edial lessons and activities ，w hich deal with
pronunciation difficulties and issues w hich arise in class ；and Practice lessons and activities ，w here
particular aspects of pronunciation are addressed in their ow n right．This chapter also considers the issue
of pronunciation m odels for students ，and suggests that teachers can w ork on issues of production and
reception independently ，enabling students to understand a wide range of varieties ，w hile allowing the m
to choose their ow n target m odel so long as it is widely co m prehensible．

Chapters 3 to 8 separate out various areas of pronunciation ：vowels （ Chapter 3 ），consonants

（Chapter 4），w ord and sentence stress（Chapter 5）， intonation（Chapter 6），other aspects of connected
speech including assimilation ，elision ，linking and intrusion ，juncture ，and contractions （Chapter 7 ），
pronunciation and spelling（Chapter 8） ．Each chapter covers theory ，factual knowledge and ideas for the
classroo m ．Throughout these chapters it is asserted tim e and again that pronunciation needs to be treated
as an integral part of language analysis and lesson planning ，w hich is indication of a new pedagogic
theory．Through the sa m ple lessons in these chapters the book shows how pronunciation issues can be
planned into a lesson．Chapter 5 discusses stress timing and syllable timing and concludes that English is
neither exclusively stress－
tim ed nor syllable－
tim ed ，but has a tendency towards the form er．This has very
im portant practical im plications for English pronunciation teaching in China ，since English has
traditionally been regarded as exclusively stress－tim ed in the Chinese classroo m ．

All the chapters except the first one contain a range of sa m ple lessons w hich de m onstrate Integrated ，
Re m edial and Practice lesson types ， and so m e of the m even contain further ideas for activities．The wide
range of sa m ple lessons and further ideas for activities are especially helpful for Chinese teachers of
English ，and it is very easy for the m to plan their ow n lessons and activities according to these sa m ples．

Throughout these chapters ，the book attaches great im portance to awareness－ raising ，and offers
valuable suggestions to raise awareness of English pronunciation．Take Chapter 3 ，for exa m ple．Chapter
3 considers ways of raising awareness of vowel sounds in the classroo m ，and offers the following
suggestions to raise general awareness of vowel sounds ：

Using a phonemic chart ：The chart is show n on page 143 ，w hich explains the relationships between
sounds in a student－
friendly way．

Drilling ，repetition and associating sounds with ideas ：On pages 38－ 39 are so m e（occasionally light－
hearted ）suggestions to help students associate sounds with particularideas ，w hich ， for m ostlearners ，will
m ake the m easier to re m e m ber． Here is the suggestion for the sound ／／： “ The ‘Friday afternoon’
sound．Relax your w hole body ， slu m p your shoulders ，relax your face and m outh ，and say ／／， as though
co m pletely exhausted” （p．38）．
“Halfway house”sounds ：If students are having proble ms producing a particular sound ，the teacher
can treat the sound that they are having difficulty with as a“halfway house”between a“ho m e”sound and
a“destination”sound．This idea can help students to appreciate the subtle differences between vowels ，
and in so m e cases ，show how English sounds differ fro m similar sounds in L1．

Chapters 3 and 4 also list the first languages（including Mandarin Chinese）of those speakers w ho
m ay have productive difficulties with vowel sounds and consonant sounds in English．This inform ation is
certainly teacher－friendly ，but to be well inform ed about our students pronunciation difficulties and
proble ms ，Chinese teachers of English need further investigation into the phonological contrastive
analysis of English and Chinese．

The Task File at the back of the book co m prises a nu m ber of tasks relevant to each chapter．After
that ，there is a substantial set of appendices ，including a newly designed learners reference chart of
English sounds ，a sum mary of co m m on pronunciation difficulties ，a set of sound and spelling tables ，and
suggestions for further reading．Pronunciation teachers will find these appendices especially helpful．There is
also a Co m pact Disc acco m panying the book that contains exam ples of sounds and sentences fro m the text．
（ Continued on p．112．．．）
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