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From: Paul Rogers <englishtoday2002@yahoo.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov>
Subject: [NIFL-ESL:8725] "comprehension"- "production" - pronunciation
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a few points on the discussion on pronunciation:
1. A beginning ESL class usually consists of 15 to 45
people who know no or very little English.
So - what does "work on comprehension" mean in
this context?
2. Is the class bilingual or monolingual? I teach
bilingually, and, as I mentioned, I concentrate on
pronunciation drills for at least a month, using
explanations and demonstrations of specific sounds.
In this way, students learn English faster, I believe,
than in other kinds of classes.
3. "research" - I think research is very good, and I
guess I can say that, after developing my method over
a 12 year period, I have done my research.
4. I think also that an imporant ingredient is the
level of confidence a student achieves upon learning
to pronounce English fairly well, which serves as a
basis for the student to learn more quickly than in
non-phonetic based classes.
5. Finally, as I mentioned, I have studied 6 languages
to one degree or another, and in each and every case I
learned pronunciation first. If the pronunciation of
English is more difficult than that of other
languages,
the it would follow that more pronunciation is needed,
not less.
But let's look at it another way - when are
students supposed to learn and pronounce the alphabet
and numbers up to a million? I once substituted for a
class of Level 2 students, many of whom knew a lot of
English, but - lo and behold, everyone had diffiuclty
pronouncing the alphabet and spelling their names!!
Paul Rogers
But to return to pronunciation. I'd just argue that
> for a few weeks, at
> least, teachers should work on comprehension as
> opposed to production.
> Having done that, I believe that explanations of
> pronunciation,
> pronunciation drills, and reading aloud will be
> easier and more effective.
> However, I'd be glad to have any scholars out there
> save me a trip to the
> library and bring me up to date with research
> citations that will either
> tend to support my view or rebut it.
>
> Richard Russell
> richtiger@cableone.net
>
>
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