Some people argue that Korean English teachers should not teach pronunciation, because (they say) students learn the 'wrong' English sounds from Korean teachers.
What do you think?
You may find it useful to refer to Harmer, page 249, in your response.
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Yes SOME but not all (maybe). I am not judging here, I am just expressing my ideas regarding this topic. Pobably yes, there are some Korean English Teachers who has difficulty in teaching pronunciation because of the fact that English is their second language. Although they studied the language but still they can not get the perfect pronunciation of some English words, the sound of the language. But as far as my study is concern it is not only happening in Korean society but also in some other countries where English is consider as a second language.One reason is, all languages has of its distinct sounds which is not similar to the English language. So, there's nothing to be ashamed of, because of that fact. But because English language was chosen to be the international language, we should study and teach the way that it should be learnt and taught so that we can communicate people from different races and maybe it can be the tool of solving the peace problem of the world.
ReplyDeleteTo become more effective teachers, there are many ways and means on how to obtain a productive output nowadays. For example, if we think we are incapable of doing the pronunciation lesson, we can use tapes or CDs that contains the specific lesson with the right pronunciation of the native-speakers. Or we can reproduce materials from the internet regarding the right pronunciation. There are so many varieties of ways and means in teaching nowadays, we only need to become more innovative and be aware of the new technologies.
Tae-sook Byeon said
ReplyDeleteI think students should be understood If thachers pronunciation is standard but the teachers pronunciation is not standard there is a serious danger that they will fail to communicate effectively. So whoever the English teacher have stressing words and phrases
correctly is vital.If emphasis is to be given to the important parts of messages and if words are to be understood correctly.
When they can hear correctly they are on the way to being able to speak correctly.
They can listen standard English pronunciation by native speaker also students can listen audio,or video or computers and cassette recorders with Korean English teacher.
Teaching Pronunciation(ch.15)
ReplyDeleteWeekend A, Yang-sook, Kim
Usually, in English Class, Korean teachers who teaches English are nervous of dealing with sounds and intonation, that's why we never had lesson of pronuncation and how to make sound in mouth except vocabulary, grammar and practice functional dialogues for preparing examination at school. Recently there are some students who had English lesson abroad. They can compare the teacher's language ability with native speakers' language skill. Teacher have to aware of its importance. In my case that bothered and also made me study more harder. Important thing is that we have to teach pronuncation and sound exactly now, and must be done with the utmost precision using electronic media and computer, native teacher including the Vowel & Consonants Table & Vocal Tract. There are enough material we use in English class.
I don't think Korean English teachers should not teach pronunciation.
ReplyDeleteQualified and well trained Korean English teachers can explain effectively how to pronounce 26 English alphabetical letters than non-qualified native teachers.
Speaking naturally doesn't not mean they can teach perfectly.
When Korean English teachers teach pronunciation, some advantages can be made.
First of all, they know exactly what students' difficulties to make sounds such as "v" "th" "f" "r".
They can focus on teaching these sounds with their language knowledges and pronunciation method.
They can use audio and video aids to help students develop their correct pronunciation in the same way of native speakers.
However, I do not resist that qualified native teachers would be the best to teach the English pronunciation for L2.
I don't agree that Korean English Teachers should not teach pronunciation.
ReplyDeleteThere are some reasons.
First, Korean English teachers are qualified and experienced. They know that their students have problems with different sounds, especially /l/ and /r/, /p/ and /f/, /b/ and /v/ etc. They can explain how to pronounce.
Second, They can understand their students' problems because they had same situation when they were students.
Third, Even though Korean English teachers can't pronounce like native speakers,they can use other materials such as audio,video, and internet for their students.
The key to successful pronunciation teaching is not so much getting students to produce correct sounds or intonation tunes, but rather to have them listen and notice how English is spoken either on audio or video or by teachers themselves.
I think some Korean teachers have difficulty in pronoucing English. However it is easy for teacher to get over that problem. They can take a phonic class and practice with some tapes. Especially, learning the form of lips and the location of tongue really matters. They can also correct their pronounce when they record their voice. Even if native speaker have differen pronounce and intonation, we Korean teacher correct wrong prounce.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with those who argue that most Korean English teachers should not teach pronunciation. Though Korean English teachers have practiced a lot how to pronounce unfamiliar English pronunciation, they can only be similar to native speakers, only except for those who have spent many years in English speaking countries and can speak English fluently with accurate pronunciation. Intonation is not well developed in Korean language. It is rather flat. Once Korean students get used to the flat intonation, it is very difficult to be fixed later. Moreover, there are no /f/ and /th/ sounds in Korean language, and students always have difficulties when they start learning English. They always get confused with /v/ and /b/, /f/ and /p/, and /l/ and /r/ sounds. Students should be gradually trained. Their ears need to hear correct pronunciation all the time in order to speak correctly. Therefore, Korean English teachers should just teach students the method of how those sounds are made through diagrams with explanation. After that, native-speaker teachers should demonstrate and let students get used to those pronunciation. It will be much more efficient and effective.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think so. Although Korean teachers’ pronunciation is not like native speakers, we can teach our students the pronunciation using DVD or audio materials. When Korean teacher show the students a specific sound through the DVD, sometimes students can not understand the the way how to pronounce. Then the teacher should explain how to pronounce in Korean. For example when the students learn the phonics /l/or /r/ some students can understand it but others can’t get it. we, Korean teachers can explain how to pronounce the sound in Korean and let them practice. I think pronunciation can be better when we practice more and more. Korean teachers can help the students to practice pronunciation.
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with the idea that Korean English teachers should not teach pronunciation as they would teach wrong pronunciation.
ReplyDeleteI think many Korean English teachers do not pronounce Enlgish words correctly, and they have different dialects. However, Enlgish language learners do not need to sound exactly like native English speakers, and for a beginner the goal should be to be understood.
It is true that Korean English teachers should keep studying hard on pronunciation, accent, and intonation to teach their students better.
These days many Korean Enlgish teachers study these things hard as we do TESOL program here.
I disagree with the opinion that Korean English teacher should not teach pronunciation.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is that teachers should understand and distinguish the differences of sounds. Teachers have to be able to know how to pronounce, even though their pronunciation is not like L1 speakers. Of course some of teachers' pronunciation is terrible to listen as my high school English teacher was. However teachers should be able to explain that how to articulate and make students understand the sounds which they may be confused to speak.
I believe that teachers should be able to make students work toward an intelligible pronunciation rather than achieve an L1 speaker perfection, as Harmer said. Furthermore, students' utterance can be achieved by audio and DVD materials.
Wonju Kim (MB)
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with the opinion. Though the intonation and pronunciation of Korean English teachers are not as similar and correct as those of native speakers, as they know well how to pronounce, what trouble students have in pronouncing English and the difference Korean and English, they can explain well to students to be accepted and understood. Instead of pronouncing themselves, they can teach students' pronunciation enough well using several materials like CD, tape, DVD, Internet, video and I think they can fill up the lack of accuracy of pronunciation and let them practice. However, once the wrong pronunciation is fixed, it's not easy to change it, therefore Korean teachers should try to pronounce correctly by training. I think unaccurate pronunciation can improve through practicing repeatedly.
I don't agree. It doesn't seem to make sense that Korean teachers should not teach English pronunciataion because of such a reason.
ReplyDeleteEven though there could be a danger of misleading students, Korean teachers are also the ones who can understand difficulties students might have and help them overcome them. And also, Korean teachers can explain how to pronounce English words easily by comparing the differences between these two languages. Of course, to make it possible, Korean teachers should try to improve their pronunciation by excercising relentlessly. One more thing, to make up for that problem, we can find and use many audio materials recorded by native speakers like CD-ROMs or the things on the Internet.
Although pronunciation is an important part in English, there are much more people who speaks English as non-native spearkers. And I think it is not that big problem as long as people can understand each other. The point is fluency, not pronunciation.
I strongly agree with the idea that Korean teacher should not teach pronunciation. According to the text book, “for many teachers the most problematic area of pronunciation is intonation”. Actually, When I learn English in Korea, I had never learned intonation. In Korea, most of students have learned English from Korean teachers. Even though they are teachers who have a qualified certificate, their pronunciation is not same as native speakers. That’s why students can learn wrong pronunciation. If native speakers teach students pronunciation, their burden on English can be reduced and they can learn correct pronunciation.
ReplyDeleteSome people will be worry about teaching pronunciation of Korean English teacher. But I don’t think that students must necessarily learn to English native speaker by reason students learn the ‘wrong’ English sounds from Korean teachers. First of all, whether English native speaker or Korean teacher, we must consider whether they are well qualified as a teacher. Even though we don’t depend on native speaker, pronunciation learning can supplement with CD or various audio material. Even if students learn the wrong sounds from Korean teacher, they follow correct pronunciation with various audio material.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with the idea that Korean teacher should not teach pronunciation.
ReplyDeleteBecause If the goal of learning a foreign languge is communication we don't have to pronounciate perfectly like native speakers.
Of course the better we sound english as native the better we think speaking english may seem to be. But We can understand and infer what the speaker means on the context when we hear. That means teachers and students should not always use the prefect pronounciation as the same which is native speakers if we can understand each other. And also various materials such as viedo, CD player and so on can be supplanted as the teacher use these properly to teach pronountion.
When I've heard the teacher's pronunciation on the usual school, it's not good.
ReplyDeleteOf course all the teachers don't have worse pronunciation. However they can't be compared with native speaker. Some people think they must not teach pronunciation. I don't agree with this opinion. The most basic and important element of language teaching is communication and as Harmer mentioned, it will be okay if the pronunciation is not perfect but intelligible. Moreover, Korean teacher can tell the experience of how to learn pronunciation in EFL. But language input is important factor. Quality of input can be high if the teacher has not good pronunciation but proficiency of language use. If the teacher is lack of it, he or she can lower the confidence on the use of notion and function of language. The use of language can be improved by the contact with native speaker.
Through the listening to broad cast , audio-material and watching video, also the ability can be developed consistantly. In addition, teacher should prepare for the lesson about what to speak and what to ask for the student to speak and practice it before the lesson. Actually students don't care about the pronunciation if teacher implement excellent contents.
In my opinion, Korean English teacher could be helpful to Korean English learners in pronunciation. Some people say that Korean English teacher can not pronounce exactly. Maybe it would be right but not all. There are lots of teachers who can pronounce like a native speaker. Even though a teacher can not pronouce exactly, they can explain how to pronounce well.When students learn the pronunciation from native speaker, they only repeat their sounds without explaining. And then I am also non-native teacher. So I may not pronounce exactly. However, I can teach and explain how to pronounce precisely. That's why I think Korean English teacher can be more helpful than native speaker.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Korean English teacher could be helpful to Korean English learners in pronunciation.
ReplyDeleteSome people say that Korean English teacher can not pronounce exactly. Maybe it would be right but not all. There are lots of teachers who can pronounce like a native speaker.
Even though a teacher can not pronouce exactly, they can explain how to pronounce well.When students learn the pronunciation from native speaker, they only repeat their sounds without explaining. And then I am also non-native teacher. So I may not pronounce exactly. However, I can teach and explain how to pronounce precisely. That's why I think Korean English teacher can be more helpful than native speaker.
I think skill integration is a prominent feature. Mostly, we use language in terms of four skills – reading, writing, speaking and listening. When I was young, I heard first round about sounds “Mommy”, after the time I could speak to hear “Mommy”. If I only heard it, I couldn’t speak. Thus The students are involved cooperative skills. They will be four skills almost simultaneously. It makes to integrate skills that we want to provide maximum learning chance for the other students in our classes.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with that idea although I don't think that Korean teachers can be perfect pronunciation models.
ReplyDeleteKorean Teachers have had many courses related with linguistics and how to pronunce some specific sounds, therefore, even though they don't have exactly same pronunciation with native speakers', they have sufficient knowledge about pronunciation and they can explain it.
Especially, Korean teachers konw well what souns are difficult to prounce or differenciate for Koreans, so they can help students overcome those difficulties.
Furtheremore, teachers can use various kinds of teaching matetials such as CDS, DVDs to make up their weakness. And Koreand teachers can ask native teachers to be models for pronunciation because nowadays almost all the schools have a native teacher and students have at least 1 class with him/her a week.
Fianlly I would like to say something to people with prejudice that Korean teachers have bad pronunciation. English-speaking people also have different accents and dialects. Are you OK with British or Texan accent ? How about Philippine English ? Do you think that pronunciations of English-speaking people are always acceptable though they are quite different ? Why not Korean style ?
I don't agree with the opinion that Korean English teacher should not teach pronunciation.
ReplyDeleteI think it is really a matter of the importance of having some background knowledge to understand the students' problems. As several English consonant sounds do not exist in the Korean speech sound system.
What happens if Korean teacher can't manage a very good pronunciation of English and how do the students react to the fact that what they're hearing from their teacher doesn't sound at all like what they're hearing on their text book.
I think that it's not usually something that really causes a block between a teacher and the students. There are a lot of teachers who are extremely good teachers but, however hard they try, their pronunciation really isn't anything like a native accent. But they are trying to cope with English using CD, tape, DVD, video.
Pronunciation training be combined and integrated with other communicative grammar, vocabulary, listening and situation.
There is no real need for the students in the class to try to sound like native speaker.
The most important is to reach a point where students can communicate well in the world at large.
If Korean teachers get proper education for pronunciation, they can teach pronunciation to students. English is not a language of several nations any more. It is the common language in the world. There are so many countries that use English and they have small differences in intonation and stress. But, we listen to their pronunciation and understand what they say.
ReplyDeleteNow, Korea has a lot of exposure to English. For example, there are so many TV channels, radio stations and internet sites for English. This allows students to have the opportunity to learn the correct intonation, stress and pronunciation. They can also fix their wrong pronunciation by their own efforts, but teachers should be careful not to teach different pronunciation to students.
I disagree with the idea that Korean English teachers should not teach
ReplyDeletepronunciation due to their 'wrong' pronunciation. As a matter of fact, before one or two generation, English teachers tended to have a bad pronunciation coming from not having proper English education at school, and having less opportunities to contact with authentic English speaking situation in real life or even through the mass media. However, nowadays the story is different from the old one. Korean society has changed a lot from the old days, teachers teaching English at school have much experience of being exposed in English through many resources including school education. Their pronunciation is good enough to communicate with native speakers well without making any serious problems. In fact, it's very difficult to have almost the same pronunciation like native speakers, but when we think of the main purpose of teaching foreign language, it can't be any matter for Korean teachers to teach English pronunciation as long as they know how to pronounce it and their pronunciation makes it possible to communicate well with English speaking people.
Jung Eun, Choi(WB)said...
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with the opinion that Korean English teacher should not teach pronunciation. As we've experienced, all native speakers' pronunciation is not totally same. It could depend on what countries they are from, so far as what cities in the same country. What I want to say is that we need to get used to various English pronunciation. All people who we meet and communicate with are only not American. They can be Indians, Mexicans and so on. But it doesn't means Korean English teachers are allowed to pronounce unusually. They have sufficient knowledge about pronunciation and they can explain it to students. They also understand what problem Korean students have and help them. If we need only exact English pronunciation some materials like CDs and DVDs are more useful.
I would like to say that I disagree with the statement. Many students seem to acquire the pronunciation in their studies but there are limits to everything. Because some students have great difficulty hearing pronunciation features. There fore teachers must help students till students can hear correctly. Pronunciation teaching makes students aware of different sounds and sound features and improve comprehension ability. There are some ways of teaching students in the text book. For example, teachers can provide how sounds are made through demonstration, diagrams and explanation or draw the sounds to their attention they appear on a recording or in various conversation. As harmer says, teachers will be a help to students and when students can hear correctly, they will be able to speak correctly.
ReplyDelete"Absolutly no!" Korean English teacher shoud not teach pronunciation. They can never make articulation exactly like native speaker.Who said that perpect pronunciation like inner circle people is the final achivement of teaching pronunciation. Harmer said intelligibility is the prime goal of prounciation teaching rather than making sound exactly like native speaker(Harmer,2007,p249). According to the point of this view, Korean Education department and Korean perants shoud reset their wrong expectation toward English Education. And korean English teacher might believe that they teach students pronunciation with phonetic symbols and authentic intonation and pitch. Remember,English becomes Ligua Franca!
ReplyDeleteSin Sook Bahn said...
ReplyDeleteMany Korean teachers who do not study in English speaking countries and so do not experience native English pronunciation might have wrong pronunciation. They would have difficulties in teaching English pronunciation to students. In this case, on my opinion, instead of teaching students English pronunciation directly, they can use audio tapes and CDs or mp3 which contains native speaker’s pronunciation. Those teachers can make students listen native speakers’ pronunciation at first, and then let them follow after pronunciation in audio tapes or CDs. In doing so, they can teach students English pronunciation correctly and properly.
Pronunciation is important. So you should learn grammar, reading, listening and etc with pronunciation. But you have to understand what they say first if you want to talk another people or to read articles.
ReplyDeleteSometimes Korean is talking a foreigner to use in English each other. But they use either short sentences or a noun. It disregards pronunciation which is good or bad. They need to understand meaning.
It dose not mean pronunciation is unnecessary. Every fact must link together. In conclusion, I think understand meaning is first before pronunciation so Korean teacher can teach pronunciation. Even if it’s little bit wrong.
I think it depends on circumstances.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Harmer the problem of pronunciation is a problem of intelligibilty except for one occasion that pronunciation is vital for someone to get himself understood.
Therefore it is not necessary to pronounce like native speaker if someone's pronunciation is intelligible to another person.
In other words the native-like pronunciation is not vital in communication but it is about identity and the global nature of English.
So I think the opinion that Korean English teachers should not not teach pronunciation, because students learn the 'wrong' English sounds from Korean teachers is wrong because they don't teach wrong English sounds but they teach non-native pronunciation which is intelligible in international communication.
I think, however,that Korean English teachers should not not teach pronunciation, because most of Korean studens do indeed wish to sound exactly like a native speaker.
I don’t think Korean English teacher should not teach pronunciation. Native English speakers can pronounce well. But it does not mean they can teach Korean students pronunciation well. Korean has different structures of pronunciation. So Korean teachers can find out the differences of pronunciation between Korean and English and help the students easily. Korean teachers and students have similar experiences to try to pronounce such as ‘th, f, v, r, z, …’ clearly. If Korean teachers had studied phonology well and they use technical material like CD, tape, DVD properly, Korean English teachers can teach pronunciation correctly.
ReplyDeleteWhen students learn English sound, if native speakers teach pronunciation, it looks good.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, What is the standard English sound?
In my opinion, there are many dialects in English like Korean, so according to the purpose of learning pronunciation, Korean teacher can also teach it.
In addition, Teachers may use some materials for students to pronunciation perfectly such as CD, DVD, internet site and so on.
Sometimes Korean teacher can explain how to sound English more understandable than native speakers who cannot speak any Korean.
And recently, we can go Native countries to learn standard English, therefore the qualify of Korean teachers getting better and better.
I have think teaching pronunciation importance.
ReplyDeleteand... refer to http://www.starfall.com/ phonics principle.
One of the difficulties in learning English as a foreign language is English doesn’t have an ideal contrastive relation between pronunciations and letters. So it makes learners more difficult to learn. Especially in vowels are much worse than in consonants.
For example. spelling a is /ei/(name), /æ/(sat), /e/(any), /a/(father), /i/(village) so on...show all kinds of phonem. phonem /i/ also declaration feet. evil. people, beat, police, key, quay so on... ten kinds spelling.
Phonics is solution this hardship. Phonics helps beginners of English like children discover regularity and pattern between letters and sounds. Rules of phonics give them great helps to guess pronunciation.
Bearing the above factors in mind, teachers should follow some pronciples of effective pronunciation teaching. In particular:
1. They should learn to describe pronunciation and show how foreign language sounds are physically articulated (Phonetic or phonemic symbols can come in handy).
2. They should record their learners' speech and have them listen to recordings of themselves.
3. They should be aware of their own pronunciation. (A teacher's accent may be different from the Received Pronunciation, which students may think to be correct).
4. They should create a non-threatening, confidence-raising atmosphere.
5. They should teach pronunciation a little at a time (presenting segmentals first, then suprasegmentals).
6. They should set realistic goals.
To sum up, teaching pronunciation is of paramount importance in foreign language learning. To ensure effective pronunciation teaching, there are certain factors that should be considered learning to describe pronunciation, creating a non-threatening atmosphere, and teaching pronunciation step by step.
I think Korean English teachers should teach pronunciation. All of students don't want to acquire "perfect" pronunciation of native speakers. Some students may aspire to imitate pronunciation of prestige variety of English like American or British English, while others want to retain their own accent because that is part of their identity, so they wish to be speakers of English as Lingua Franca.
ReplyDeleteFor the formers, teachers can inform them of where they can find learning materials like websites and movies on which they can study about pronunciation of native speakers.
However, as English has been regarded as Lingua Franca, it has become common for English teachers to consider intelligibility as the main aim of pronunciation teaching, which means students should be able to use pronunciation that is good enough for them to made themselves understood.
Therefore Korean English teachers don't necessarily need to teach perfect pronunciation and it's desirable enough for students to model pronunciation of their non-native speaker teachers.
But Korean English teachers should be careful to teach some sounds that could cause confusion in getting messages across, and also should attend to teach stressing words and phrases, intonation and pitch, all of which affect successful communication.
I understand that the evidence of the argue.
ReplyDeleteIt is absolutely comedy that mother crab teach to her son walk correctly, even though she is sidewalker. Likely, wrong teacher can lead their student to wrong.
But I don’t agree with that the mother crab send her son abroad to learn horse’s walking. The baby crab is going to feel more comfortable when he/she learn the way from his/her mother. They have rapports, society, and story.
In my argue, the best important thing is the mother crab has to know that how can walk like a horse. The horse can teach the baby crab, how to walk. But if the mother crab knows the way, she can teach her baby more efficiently. She pass the way that how crabs walk like a horse.
That’s it. The Korean teachers have to teach the correct pronunciation to their student. For this thing, they have to study and study. They must overcome their afraid.
in my opinion korean english teachers should not teach english pronouncitation unless their enlish pronounciation is superb as much as native english speakers. If krean teachers who are not good at speaking correct prononcitation, teach students their incorrect pronounciation, students possibly can compuse listening. I think, speaking and listening have a really intimate realation each other. For instance, If some teachers pronounce "buy" as a original meaning of "boy", students must prononce buy as a meaning of boy. and then If some native english teachers pronounce "Buy", students must perceive buy as a meaning of boy. this is a only simple side effect of learing incorrect pronounciation. teaching incorrect pronounciation can give rise to a serious side effect to students. That`s why I think, only native english teachers should teach students pronouncitation for promoting student`s speaking and listening proficiency.
ReplyDeleteI have exactly same to Hammer's point of view on pronunciation. In my case, I am usually speaking in class but, to be honest, I have never tried to copy native speakers' sound. Moreover I encourage students to pronouce English with their mother tongue because it could possibly cause to lag student's confidence in speaking as long as I believe.
ReplyDeleteAs Hammer mentioned, however, stressing words and phrases correctly is vital if emphasis to be given to the important parts of messages and if words are to be understood correctly.
I think there are lots of benefits to teach pronunciation. I also have learned quite important pronunciation tips from teachers since I started attending TESOL class.
ReplyDeleteBut my teachers are native speakers.
Even though they are korean teachers who cannot prounce perfect and fluent English, it is helpful for students to learn pronunciation to improve their speaking.
Since English is now used more often as a "Lingua Franca" than as a native language so our pronunciation is for world English and global Enlgish. If intelligibility is a main goal of our global English, it is important for teachers to help students to use pronunciation which is good enough for them to be understood.
But there's no doubt that teacher's pronunciation can be model of pronunciation to to their students.
So teachers should know and be able to explain exactly where sounds are pronounced to their students. And we also use not only our pronunciation but many kinds of audio track and video materials to make our students be exposed to opportunities to correct and practice their pronunciation.
First of all, I admit that some Korean English teachers have bad - sometimes wrong - pronunciations. I met some Korean English teachers who have wrong pronunciation and even try to correct them. This can be one of the reasons that some people say Korean English teachers should not teach pronunciation.
ReplyDeleteI think that for general communication, if there's any difficulties and misunderstandings with someone's pronunciation, that would be enough.
However, in professional territory ; like teaching English or interpretations, just understandable pronunciation wouldn't be enough at all.
I don't mean that Korean English teachers all should achieve L1-speakers' perfect pronunciation. I'm the one who believes that intelligibility is the most essential part while English is just the tool of communications. However, as a English teachers, we should definitely try to give our students more accurate, more correct and more fluent pronunciations.
I don't agree with the opinion Korean English teachers should not teach pronunciation, because students can learn the wrong English sounds. It can be true but it can't entail English should be taught by only native teachers because of the pronounciation. I agree that teachers should be best models for students in many ways. But various kinds of English is emerging now and teachers have not to forget the final objective of learning language that is for communication. Of course, Korean English teachers must know about what is the exact pronounciation and how can sound it so that they can teach these things to students. Some students feel nervous getting rid of the accent of their own language when they produce foreign language to want to keep their identity. If teachers are able to produce proper sounds of English they can also use high technology things. So I don't think only native teachers should teach English.
ReplyDeleteThere is an ongoing debate over whether Korean English teachers should not teach pronunciation or not. A majority of people agree with that view because of the fact that students learn the 'wrong' English sounds However, in contrast to the popular opinion, I strongly oppose the idea.
ReplyDeleteThe reason is that, as Harmer says that intelligibility is the prime goal of pronunciation teaching rather than making sound exactly like native speaker (Harmer,2007,p249), Korean- English teachers have a enough ability to make student understand English pronunciation as a language. Of course, for some of Korean English Teachers who has difficulty in teaching pronunciation, there are many audio materials to study several advanced alphabet Korean does not has like /f/,/v/,/th/,/r/,/l/ and so on.
But the point is that I don’t think there are big struggles to communicate with English speakers because of the pronunciation difficulty.
Nowadays, as English is Lingua Franca, many different races use English with not exactly native speaker’s pronunciation. The opinion that Korean English teachers should not teach pronunciation is too an outdated thought.
I believe the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. If the coursework needs to be changed, and no one does anything about it that means the staff is in a rut with their teaching routines. A course book lesson should not put constraints on the teacher. They should be able to react to the students abilities, and determine what exactly is best for the student.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to say yes or no, actually. Because some Korean teachers' pronunciation is great and others are not. Teachers who have good pronunciation can teach well and are more confident I think. Also, they can provide better corrective feedback to a student who is mispronouncing words. Students can learn how to pronounce and stress words properly and can also learn intonation.
ReplyDeleteThis is ideal as many Korean English teachers do not have great pronunciation. How many do?! Not many...and they also lack confidence. Of course, they were taught by their teachers who couldn't pronounce words correctly either. I have the same problem. I didn't learn how to pronounce words so when I say something, and other people don't understand me, I become confused and frustrated. Occasionally I have to spell a word out for it to be understood. I have improved quite a bit now thanks to my amazing husband, so most of the time I am fine.
So I think classes should be taught by both a foreign and Korean teacher. They can help each other if the Korean teacher doesn't know how to pronounce something. Students can finally hear the difference between "won't" and "want"!!!
The aim to learn English is not to be American or British or Canadian but to communicate with them. Students can communicate with foreigners although the cannot pronounce perfectly like a native speaker.
ReplyDeleteFrequently English-speaking people as a foreign language speak English with their own accent. It is more natural. It does not necessarily have perfect pronounce. There can be students to sound exactly like a native speaker. And they can learn from CD with native speaker's sound or native speaker. So I think Korean English teachers can teach pronounce if their pronounce is not terrible.