A Study on the Situation of Pronunciation Instruction in ESL/EFL Classrooms

Abstract

Speaking a second language involves different skills like grammar, vocabulary, instruction, and so on. Pronunciation is one of the most important skills in English Language Teaching. If speakers have very bad pronunciation, their speech will not be understandable to the listeners. Despite the fact that acquiring pronunciation is so difficult, in many ESL/EFL classrooms, teaching pronunciation is granted the least attention. In this article, the researcher discusses the status of pronunciation teaching from the viewpoint of many English language teachers, researchers, and writers. Firstly, a brief history of teaching pronunciation and factors affecting the learning of pronunciation are discussed. Secondly, the reason of encouraging students to improve their pronunciation and the time of introducing pronunciation will be discussed. Thirdly, the researcher investigates the kind of pronunciation materials and segmental and suprasegmental features. Finally, the article discusses a number of suggestions for teaching pronunciation and indicates that the teaching of pronunciation can be made more effective in the ESL/EFL classrooms. Keywords : Pronunciation, Materials, Segmental, Suprasegmental, Suggestions