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Teaching and Learning English Pronunciation

Code: 106310 ECTS Credits: 6
2024/2025
Degree Type Year
2504212 English Studies OT 3
2504212 English Studies OT 4
2504393 English and French Studies OT 0
2504393 English and French Studies OT 3
2504393 English and French Studies OT 4
2504394 English and Classics Studies OT 3
2504394 English and Classics Studies OT 4

Contact

Name:
Julio Miguel Cebrian Puyuelo
Email:
juli.cebrian@uab.cat

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

To enrol in this subject it is necessary to have passed English Phonetics and Phonology 1 (and English Phonetics and Phonology 2 for the English Studies Degree, or similar, if available, for Combined Degrees). An initial level of English of C2 (proficiency) of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages is required.


Objectives and Contextualisation

This is a third or fourth year subject, following the completion of at least the subject English Phonetics and Phonology I (see Prerequisites). The course addresses and examines several issues including the importance and role of pronunciation in the teaching and learning of foreign languages (English in particular), the most relevant factors (individual and linguistic factors, orthography), approaches and theories in second/foreign language learning and the techniques and strategies in second/foreign language teaching, from a theoretical but above all a practical perspective.


Competences

    English Studies
  • Apply scientific ethical principles to information processing.
  • Demonstrate skills to work autonomously and in teams to fulfil the planned objectives.
  • Distinguish and contrast the distinct paradigms and methodologies applied to the study of English.
  • Make changes to methods and processes in the area of knowledge in order to provide innovative responses to society's needs and demands. 
  • Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Understand and produce written and spoken academic texts in English at advanced higher-proficient-user level (C2).
  • Use digital tools and specific documentary sources for the collection and organisation of information.
  • Use written and spoken English for academic and professional purposes, related to the study of linguistics, the philosophy of language, history, English culture and literature.
    English and French Studies
  • Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
  • Apply the concepts, resources and methods acquired to the different fields of applied English and French linguistics, in a global, multilingual, social context of language learning.
  • Demonstrate the ability to work autonomously and in teams with the aim of attaining the planned objectives in multicultural and interdisciplinary contexts.
  • Make changes to methods and processes in the area of knowledge in order to provide innovative responses to society's needs and demands.
  • Understand and produce oral and written academic texts with appropriateness and fluency in distinct communicative contexts.
  • Use digital tools and specific documentary sources to gather and organise information.
  • Use spoken English and French correctly for academic and professional purposes related to the study of linguistics, history, culture and literature.
    English and Classics Studies
  • Apply the concepts, resources and methods acquired to the study of the English language in order to understand its diachronic change, as well as its current geographic and social diversity, and to study its acquisition and learning in a global and multilingual society.
  • Demonstrate the ability to work autonomously and in teams in order to achieve the planned objectives in multicultural and interdisciplinary contexts.
  • Make changes to methods and processes in the area of knowledge in order to provide innovative responses to society's needs and demands. 
  • Understand and produce oral and written academic texts with appropriateness and fluency in distinct communicative contexts.
  • Use digital tools and specific documentary sources to gather and organise information.
  • Use written and spoken English correctly for academic and professional purposes related to the study of English linguistics, history, culture, and literature.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyse learning situations, identify areas for improvement and propose new methods or alternative solutions.
  2. Apply the knowledge and competences acquired to the analysis of problems and their resolution.
  3. Express oneself in English orally and in writing in an academic register and using appropriate terminology in relation to the study of language acquisition and teaching.
  4. Identify and understand distinct methodologies of English language teaching and pronunciation.
  5. In an effective manner, organise the autonomous component to learning.
  6. Incorporate ideas and concepts from published sources into work, citing and referencing appropriately.
  7. Locate specialised and academic information and select this according to its relevance.
  8. Maintain an attitude of respect for the opinions, values, behaviors and practices of others.
  9. Plan work effectively, individually or in groups, in order to fulfil the planned objectives.
  10. Understand specialised academic texts on research in English language acquisition, learning and teaching at Mastery level (C2).
  11. Understand specialised academic texts on research in English language acquisition, learning and teaching at higher-proficient-user level (C2).
  12. Understand specialised academic texts on research in English language acquisition, learning and teaching.

Content

1. Basic concepts in the study of the learning and teaching foreign languages.

2. Key issues and theories of language acquisition relevant to the learning and teaching of pronunciation.

3. Approaches and techniques for teaching segmental features (vowels and consonants), suprasegmental features (accent, rhythm, intonation) and connected speech processes in English.

4. Pronunciation diagnosis. Detection and typology of pronunciation errors. Improvement strategies. New technologies.


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lectures and practical sessions 36 1.44 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Type: Supervised      
Assignments preparation and execution 27 1.08 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11
Type: Autonomous      
Homework and in-class exercises, study and test preparation 40 1.6 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

Methodology

Directed activities:

Lectures, practical sessions and in-class demonstrations.

Supervised activities:

Exercises, preparing assignments, correcting exercises, group discussions.

Autonomous activities:

Readings of basic and recommended bibliography. Practical exercises (individually and in groups). Use of the Virtual Campus (Moodle).

 

Note: 15 minutes of a class will be reserved, within the timetable established by the centre/title, for the complementation by the students of the assessment surveys of the teaching staff's performance and the assessment of the subject.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Assignments 25 12 0.48 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Exam 35 3 0.12 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 11, 12
Homework, in-class exercises and participation 15 32 1.28 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Assessment

• This subject is evaluated with two or three assignments throughout the course (50%) and an exam at the end of the semester (35%), in addition to continuous evaluation in the form of in-class exercises, homework, participation and other activities (15%).

• Assignment and exam completion dates will be specified in the course calendar, published on Moodle at the beginning of the semester. Any calendar changes will be notified in advance.

• Students will obtain a “Not assessed/Not submitted” course grade unless they have submitted more than 35% of the assessment activities.

• The level of English will be taken into account when correcting exams and in the assessment of the final grade.

• In the case of a justifiable absence on the day of an exam, assignment or any other important task (for example, because of illness), the student must present the pertinent documentation in order to justify the absence. In that case, an alternative evaluation date may be offered.

• In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.

Irregularities refer, for instance, to copying in an exam, copying from sources without indicating authorship, or a misuse of artificial intelligence (AI) such as presenting work as original that has been generated by an AI tool or programme. These evaluation activities will not be re-assessed.

VERY IMPORTANT: Partial or total plagiarism will immediately result in a FAIL (0) for the plagiarised exercise. Repeated instances of plagiarism will result in a FAIL (0) of the whole subject. PLAGIARISING consists of copyingtext from unacknowledged sources -whether this is part of a sentence or a whole text- with the intention of passing it off as the student's own production. It includes cutting and pasting from internet sources, presented unmodified in the student's own text. Plagiarising is a SERIOUS OFFENCE. Students must respect authors' intellectual property, always identifying the sources they may use; they must also be responsible for the originality and authenticity of their own texts. 

Exam review: After each evaluation activity, students will be informed (on Moodle) of the procedure and of the time and place for the exam/grade review.

Single assessment: This subject allows for single assessment, which will consist of the following items: 1) Exam (50%), 2) Assignments (on the day of the exam; 50%)

Reassessment

Reassessment will consist of a maximum of two assessment items (the exam and one assignment or two assignments), depending on the case. Reassessment will take place on the date and time set by the Faculty.

The following conditions will apply:

• The minimum overall course mark should be at least 3.5/10.

• Students must have completed all the evaluation items.

• 35% of the subject must be passed.

• The maximum grade that can be obtained in a reassessment item is a 5 out of 10.

 


Bibliography

Main bibliography

Avery, Peter & Ehrlich, Susan. (1992) Teaching American English Pronunciation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Celce-Murcia, Marianne, Donna Brinton, Janet M. Goodwin. (1996). Teaching pronunciation: a reference for teachers of English to speakers of other language. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Derwing, Tracey M. & Munro, Murray J. (2015). Pronunciation Fundamentals: Evidence-based Perspectives for L2 teaching and research. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Kelly, Gerald. 2000. How to teach pronunciation. Harlow : Longman.

Kenworthy, Joanne. (1987) Teaching English Pronunciation. London: Longman.

Levis, John. (2018). Intelligibility, oral communication and the teaching of pronunciation. Cambridge University Press.

Reed, Marnie & Levis, John. (editors). (2015). The Handbook of English Pronunciation. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell.

Sardegna, Veronica G. & Jarosz, Anna. (2023). English Pronunciation Teaching. Theory, Practice and Research Findings. Volume 160 in the series Second Language Acquisition. Multilingual Matters.

 

Additional bibligraphy

Bell, Masha. (2004). Understanding English Spelling. Pegasus Ed.

Carney, Edward. (1997). English spelling. London: Routledge.

Cruttenden, Alan. (2001). Gimson's pronunciation of English [6th edition]. London: Edward Arnold.

Finch, Diane F. & Ortiz Lira, Hector. (1982). A course in English phonetics for Spanish speakers. Heinemann Educational Books.

Gómez González, María de los Ángeles & Sánchez Roura, Teresa. (2016). English Pronunciation for Speakers of Spanish. From Theory to Practice. Mouton de Gruyter.

MacKay, Ian R. A. (2023). Phonetics and Speech Science. Cambridge University Press.

Monroy-Casas, Rafael & Arboleda-Guirao, Inmaculada (eds.) (2014). Readings in English phonetics and phonology. Valencia: Universitat de Valencia.

 

Pronunciation practice books

Baker, Ann. (2006). Ship or Sheep? An intermediate pronunciation course. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Brazil, David. (1994). Pronunciation for advanced learners of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Dale, Paulette & Poms, Lillian. (2005). English Pronunciation Made Simple. New York: Longman/Pearson.

Dauer, Rebecca. (1993). Accurate English: A complete course on pronunciation. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Regents.

Estebas, Eva. (2009, or later editions). Teach yourself English pronunciation: An interactive course for Spanish speakers.  Netbiblos/UNED.

Gilbert, Judy. (1993) (2nd edition). Clear speech: pronunciation and listening comprehension in American English. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Hancock, Mark. (2003). English Pronunciation in Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Harmer, Jeremy & Lethaby, Carol. (2005). Just Speaking and Listening. Marshall Cavendish.

Hewings, Martin & Goldstein, Sharon. (1999). Pronunciation Plus: Practice through interaction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Hewings, Martin. (2004) PronunciationPractice Activities: A Resource Book for Teaching English Pronunciation. New York: Cambridge University Press. – Introduction.

Hewings, Martin. (2007). English Pronunciation in Use. Advanced. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Jones, Daniel. (2006). Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary. 17thed. Cambridge University Press.

Kenworthy, Joanne. (2000). The pronunciation of English: a workbook. London: Edward Arnold.

Miller, Sue F. (2000). Targeting pronunciation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin

Rogerson, Pamela & Gilbert, Judy. B. (1990). Speaking Clearly. Cambridge University Press.

Teschner, Richard V. & M. Stanley Whitley. (2004) Pronouncing English: a stress-based approach. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press.

Smith, Jonathan & Margolis, Annette. (2007) Pronunciation: A Study Book. Reading: Garnet Education.

Vaughan-Rees, Michael. (2002). Test Your Pronunciation. Pearson Ed. Limited. 

Wells, John C. (2000) [1990]. Longman pronunciation dictionary. London: Longman.

Wells, John C. (2006) English Intonation: An Introduction. Cambridge: CUP.

 

Online resources


See English phonetics at UAB for an extensive list of online resources on pronunciation practice, general phonetics and English phonetics.

  


Software

Praat (speech analysis software): www.praat.org


Language list

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(PAUL) Classroom practices 1 English first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 1 English first semester morning-mixed