Student Teachers’ Cognition about L2 Pronunciation Instruction

Student Teachers’ Cognition about L2

Pronunciation Instruction: A Case Study

Michael Burri

University of Wollongong, msb689@uowmail.edu.au

In view of the minimal attention pronunciation teacher preparation has received in second language (L2) teacher education, this study examined the cognition (i.e. beliefs, thoughts, attitudes and knowledge) development of 15 student teachers during a postgraduate subject on pronunciation pedagogy offered at an Australian tertiary institution.There are many things l have learned from this article, such as

1.      To identify and determine the critical links between postgraduate education and critical moments in teacher education where cognition development may be initiated or experienced further growth, the present study encompasses an in-depth examination of native and non-native English-speaking student teacher’s cognition development during a postgraduate subject on pronunciation pedagogy.

2.      The knowledge base is expected to be acquired in SLTE programs, and it comprises student teachers learning about segmentals (individual sounds such as consonants and vowels), their articulatory features (i.e. how these sounds are pronounced), sound-spelling correspondence and suprasegmentals. Suprasegmentals, also called prosody, include stress, rhythm, thought groups, connected speech (i.e. blending of words), and intonation.

3.      Other important components of the knowledge base of pronunciation pedagogy teaching techniques (Baker, 2014), fluency development (Gatbonton & Segalowitz, 2005) and the integration of pronunciation into ESL curricula

Whereas, l have some plans in the future when l teach my students:

1.      Prepare instructors to teach English pronunciation effectively

2.      Have a balanced approach to pronunciation instruction that includes the teaching of individual sounds (vowels and consonants) and prosodic elements such as stress, rhythm and intonation

3.      Make the combination of self-perceived pronunciation improvement

4.      Collaborative learning to work in small, ethnically diverse groups to compare particular varieties of English