OnhowoimprovePronunciaionTeachinginJuniorMiddleSchool_开题报告

In the teaching of English as a foreign language, discussions on pronunciation are not so much around how to teach pronunciation as around the value of teaching pronunciation. Some  people claim that students do not need to learn pronunciation because pronunciation will take care of itself as the students develop overall language ability. Xu Guozhang pointed out that for learning pronunciation well, except for imitation, it is important to know the principle of pronunciation, especially each of the organs that produce sound, and to the change of the shape of mouth when we speak. 

Much research has been done to test a hypothesis proposed by linguists called the Critical Period Hypothesis. This hypothesis states that if humans do not learn a foreign language before a certain age (perhaps around puberty), then due to changes such as maturation of the brain, it becomes impossible to learn the foreign language like native speaker. No definite answer to this hypothesis has been found and it is still debated by researchers, but there is some evidence that this hypothesis is true for acquiring native-like pronunciation even though there is less evidence that it is true for acquiring the grammar or the vocabulary of a foreign language. Pronunciation should be smooth, natural, understandable to the listeners, and pronunciation should help to convey the meaning that is intended by the speaker.

Martin Wedell who was from Britain said in his book, learners need to be able to produce and comprehend the sounds and prosodic features of the second language. In terms of production, they must, when speaking the language, be intelligible to listeners. This does not mean that the goal should be having the native speakers’ pronunciation and intonation patterns. For some widely used languages such as English there are, anyway, several sets of rules (i.e. American versus British English pronunciation). In terms of comprehension, learners must be able to cope with the second language sounds in natural speech uttered at normal speed in a variety of common accents.

There are many books about pronunciation. For example, An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English (A.C. Gimson, 1970), Better English Pronunciation (J.D.O'Connor, 1967) and English Phonetics and Phonology (P. Poach, 1983). Good pronunciation is important to an English learner if he wants to make himself easily understood while expressing himself. It is also proved by the well-known fact that the better we pronounce and speak English, the easier we understand it when we hear it. To have good English pronunciation means to pronounce correctly all the individual speech sounds in English, to pronounce correctly the speech sounds in their combinations in isolated words as well as in sentences, to speak fluently with correct rhythm, including the correct placement of stresses and pauses and the transition of sounds according to the context; to speak with appropriate intonation according to the context. 

In sum, all above studies have focused on the rules and principle of pronunciation teaching. When talking about pronunciation, many people automatically think of sounds and phonetic symbols and rules. I think that pronunciation is an umbrella term covering many aspects besides sounds and phonetic symbols, such as stress, intonation, and rhythm. Of course, these aspects are not isolated from each other. Rather, they are interrelated. In my research paper, I will focus on how to improve pronunciation teaching in my class, analyze the problems of pronunciation teaching, and list some methods of learning pronunciation. We should teach students how to pronounce the simple words, sentences and paragraphs. Pronunciation plays the key role in English teaching.

Outline

1.Introduction

2.Research situation of pronunciation teaching

3.The problems of pronunciation teaching

4.4 Methods of pronunciation teaching

4.4.1 Listening to tapes 

4.4.2 Practising tongue twisters

4.4.3 Explaining the contrast in pronunciation

4.4.4 Drawing support from gestures

5. Conclusion

6. References

References 

[1] Peter Roach. English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course [M]. Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, Cambridge University Press, 2000 P201-205

[2] Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary

The Commercial Press; Oxford University Press 2003 P105-108

[3] 王蔷 程晓堂 Cheryl Moen Bob Adamson  A Course in English Language Teaching《英语教学法教程》[M] 高等教育出版社，2000 P55-59

[4] 王桂珍English Pronunciation ＆ Intonation Practice  《英语语音语调教程》[M] 高等教育出版社，1996年第51-52页。

[5] 张冠林 A Handbook of English Pronunciation Exercises for First-Year College Students 《大学一年级英语语音练习手册》[M] 外语教学与研究出版社,1988 第30-35页。

[6]〈英〉Wedell. M 〈中〉刘润青 《外语教学与学习—理论与实践》（英汉对照） [M] 高等教育出版社，1995年第52-54页。

[7] 曹云 “关于语音教学的思考” 山西广播电视大学学报，2005年4月第2期 第23-25页。

[8] 李佳俊 《英语读音奥秘》[M] 中国国际广播出版社，1998，4月 第55-58页。

[9] 李阳疯狂英语 《国际音标美国音标速成》 广东省语言音像出版社，2002 第35-37页。

[10] 许国璋 《英语》[M] 外语教学与研究出版社，1992年第37-40页。

[11] 杨冰 “英语语音教学现状及教学改革思路” 辽宁师专学报（社会科学版），2005年第4期，第15-18页。

[12] 顾秀玲 “英语语音教学的困惑和对策” 大庆师范学院学报，2005年01期， 第20-22页。