English pronunciation is still unduly neglected or ignored in some of our colleges or universities. An English phonetic course is usually left to chance or given no place in our teaching and learning. The result is that students’ mistakes which have been repeated for years are impossible to eradicate and the entire learning process isn’t effective.

Many students and teachers have incorrect understanding of what it means to learn and teach pronunciation of English. Some of them consider that learning the pronunciation means learning how to pronounce the individual vowels and consonant sounds. Others are of the opinion that it is difficult, if not possible, for students to hear and pronounce some sounds, therefore, it is useless to spend time on pronunciation.

The purpose of this paper is to point out the importance of teaching pronunciation in language learning and to describe a compulsory English phonetic course conducted with the first-year students majoring in translation.

In order to make oneself intelligible and to understand the spoken language, one must have a good knowledge of the pronunciation of that language. The importance of pronunciation takes an even greater significance when we understand the connection between pronunciation and other aspects of language use, such as listening comprehension, spelling, grammar and reading. Therefore, in English language teaching, attention should be paid to the teaching of pronunciation throughout all stages of the entire learning process.

Speaking about teachers’ views on pronunciation and learners’ difficulties with it, it is necessary to say that learning the pronunciation of English doesn’t mean learning how to pronounce the individual vowels and consonant sounds. The scope of pronunciation is much broader than an inventory and description of sounds. It embraces the elements of rhythm and intonation, which function in the communication process. Thus, any learner of English for communicative purposes needs to learn the rhythm and intonation of English. Besides, sometimes it is really difficult for students to hear and pronounce some sounds, such as the difference between the vowel sound in ship and the vowel sound in sheep or the difference between the vowel sounds in same and sat, father and call, love and color etc. Often, a learner’s difficulties with pronunciation originate from a misinterpretation of the spelling system rather than difficulty with the pronunciation of the sounds.

The rhythm of English is created be the contrast in syllable lengths within words as well as across word boundaries. For example, in the word English the first syllable Eng- is pronounced longer than the second syllable -lich. The lengthening of a syllable is conditioned by stress. When syllables are unstressed, the pronunciation of the vowel in that syllable sometimes changes, as it happens to the vowel in the second syllables of atom and atomic. Thus, it is not enough to know how a sound is pronounced, because its pronunciation can change when it occurs in different contexts. Intonation is characterized by the rises and falls of pitch when we speak. Where the rises and falls occur in a sentence determines the meaning of the sentence.

We believe that to become professional translators, students must acquire accurate pronunciation as well as phonetic knowledge. The compulsory English phonetic course designed by the teachers of our department helps promote the entire learning process. It involves the students in meaningful and communicative activities which make learning as interesting and motivating as possible.

An essential step in the learning of a new language is to acquire some familiarity with the sound system of that language. By comparing the sound system of the native language with that of the target language, the teacher can predict the likely areas of difficulties his\her students will encounter and plan teaching strategies accordingly. After identifying the consonants which cause the most difficulty for the students, we use several techniques or a combination of techniques in teaching English consonant phonemes. These include: 1) a description of the speech organs as the sound is being produced; 2) a diagram of the speech organs; 3) a comparison with the nearest sound in the students native language; 4) a modification of a known English sound.

Perception and production refer to the processes of perceiving and producing the sounds. Obviously perception should be more important than production because it provides the necessary means for acquiring the accurate phonemes, the intonation curves, or the stress patterns. Perception training is done with the teacher as producer or with tape-recorded models. After the work of perception, the students are assigned to practice the intonation by imitating the selected recordings. These recordings are of immense help in developing the students’ perceptual and productive skills.

Teaching pronunciation should be done in a meaningful and motivating way. As good pronunciation is closely linked with clear oral communication, it is advisable to place students in a meaningful and contextual situation, rather than present them with a serious of isolated sentences. In selecting or designing materials, special attention should be paid to those which contain not only a sufficient concentration of the sound to be practiced, but short dialogues, pair word, or other contextual practices as well. Therefore, students become active participants in their pair or group work, applying the phonetic rules they have learned to the actual practice.

Student motivation can also be increased by using songs, games, and tongue twisters. The selected songs should be simple enough for the students to practice stress and rhythm as well as individual sounds. Pronunciation games can make practice in this area lively and entertaining. Tongue twisters are particularly useful for the students who have unique pronunciation problems.

Our experience has shown that the activities mentioned above help students make progress in their pronunciation and intonation, which, in turn helps enormously in developing other basic skills, particularly speaking.

Literature:

1. Parashchuk V. Theoretical Phonetics of the English Language. − Vinnytsa: Nova Knyga, 2005.

2. Dvorzhetska M. Phonetics of the English Language. − Vinnytsa: Nova Knyga, 2005.