Exercise 1 – An introduction to phonology

1) Attitudes to pronunciation teaching: What is your opinion on these issues? After grading each
sentence, justify your answer:

0 = strongly disagree 5 = strongly agree

a) Adult learners of English are unlikely to achieve native-like proficiency with regard to pronunciation.

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b) The best model for teaching pronunciation is RP (Received Pronunciation: the prestige accent of
English).

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c) Intelligibility should be the criterion by which students’ pronunciation should be judged.

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d) Stress, rhythm and intonation are more important than getting individual sounds right.

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e) Pronunciation should be integrated into other activities rather than taught as a separate system.

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f) Pronunciation teaching should start with listening.

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g) Students should be taught to read phonemic symbols – /æ/, /Ɵ/ etc.

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h) Teaching pronunciation also involves teaching spelling.

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