Pronunciation for english as an international language from research to practice

Pronunciation for English as • articulation of English speech sounds and basic transcription; • connected speech processes; • current issues in English language pronunciation teaching; •

Pronunciation for English as

• articulation of English speech sounds and basic transcription;

• connected speech processes;

• current issues in English language pronunciation teaching;

• multimedia in English language pronunciation practice;

• using speech analysis to investigate pronunciation features

Using the latest research, Pronunciation for English as an International Language

will facilitate effective teaching and learning for any individual involved in ing English as a second, foreign or international language

teach-Ee-Ling Low is Associate Professor of English Language & Literature and Head,

Office of Strategic Planning and Academic Quality at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Routledge Research in Language Education

The Routledge Research in Language Education series provides a platform for

established and emerging scholars to present their latest research and discuss key issues in language education This series welcomes books on all areas of language teaching and learning, including but not limited to language education policy and politics, multilingualism, literacy, L1, L2 or foreign-language acquisition, cur-riculum, classroom practice, pedagogy, teaching materials, and language teacher

education and development Books in the series are not limited to the discussion

of the teaching and learning of English only

Books in the series include:

Teaching Chinese Literacy in the Early Years

Psychology, pedagogy and practice

Hui Li

Pronunciation for English as an International Language

From research to practice

Ee-Ling Low

The Role of English Teaching in Modern Japan

Diversity and multiculturalism through English language education in

a globalized era

Mieko Yamada

Pronunciation for English

as an International

Language

From research to practice

Ee-Ling Low

First published 2015

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2015 E L Low

The right of E L Low to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced

or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,

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Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or

registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and

explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Low, Ee Ling, author.

Pronunciation for English as an international language :

from research to practice / Ee-Ling Low.

pages cm—(Routledge Research in Language Education)

1 English language—Pronunciation by foreign speakers

2 English language—Pronunciation—Study and teaching

3 English language—Phonology—Study and teaching I Title.

Typeset in Times New Roman

by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon

List of illustrations vii

Acknowledgements xii

List of abbreviations xiv

2 Articulation of English speech sounds and basic transcription 20

10 Current issues in EIL pronunciation teaching 128

12 Using speech analysis software to investigate pronunciation

features 168

13 Bibliography on phonetic features and EIL pronunciation

Figures

2.1 Vocal folds coming together (left) and apart (right) 21

2.3 The organs of speech located on the upper and lower articulators 232.4 Lower articulators with parts of the tongue labelled 252.5 Vowel quadrilateral showing mouth and tongue position 302.6 Vowel quadrilateral with diagonal line separating rounded

2.7 Vowel quadrilateral showing all the long monophthongs in

English 312.8 Vowel quadrilateral showing short monophthongs in English 312.9 Vowel quadrilateral showing the closing diphthongs 322.10 Vowel quadrilateral showing the centering diphthongs in English 332.11 Vowel quadrilateral showing the complete monophthongs found

3.1 Sound wave (upper half) and spectrogram (lower half) of a female

3.2 Sound wave (upper half of diagram) showing female speaker

3.3 The dB measurement of the word bead (see the shaded part)

3.4 Duration measurement between the vowel in bit versus beat 43

3.6 Male speaker producing the sentence John can swim and Can

4.3 Vowel quadrilateral for the monophthongs of British English 618.1 Low’s Venn Diagram showing the pull for Expanding Circle

varieties towards the norms of both the Inner and Outer

viii Illustrations

10.1 Pakir’s quadrant analysis of the three paradigms International

English, World Englishes and English as a lingua franca 131 11.1 Summary of typical activities for using songs to teach

pronunciation 153

12.3b Selected sound file now appears under Praat objects 171

12.4 Sound waves shown from the pre-recorded sound file entitled

12.5 Selected segment of the sound file shows up in the shaded part 172 12.6 Spectrogram display of the selected sound segment 172

12.9 VOT for aspirated /t/ vs the unaspirated version on the right

12.10 The measurement of the VOT for non-aspirated /t/ in the

12.11 British English (left) production of the word armchair and

Singapore English (right) production of the word armchair 180

12.12 British English (left) production of the word old chair and

Singapore English (right) production of the word old chair 18012.13 Spectrographic display for a Singaporean uttering the sentence

Tables

2.1 Place and manner of articulation of English consonants 27

4.2 Vowel inventory of standard Singapore English as informed by

4.3 Sample Bingo card designed to help students discriminate

between the long/short vowel pair in FLEECE and KIT 62

5.6 Table of consonants in Singapore English in final position

10.1 Listener-dominated norms governing the communicative

12.1 Compare diphthongs in different varieties of English 17712.2 Compare the different values obtained for the British English

and the Singaporean English realisation of armchair and old chair 179

12.3 The different values obtained for the British English and the

Singaporean English realisation of armchair and old chair 181

a lingua franca, there has been a surge of interest in pronunciation A significant new paradigm has emerged, with the questioning of native-speaker pronunciation

as a target for learners This book addresses issues that this new paradigm raises and offers a perspective that is very relevant to our understanding of the teaching and learning of pronunciation in English language teaching, so its publication is indeed timely

Pronunciation and the teaching of pronunciation are also core components of teacher-education programmes at both undergraduate and graduate levels so there

is always a demand for a comprehensive textbook to be used in courses of this kind Pronunciation is often considered a ‘difficult’ topic and for this reason there are fewer introductory textbooks on this topic than on other areas in applied lin-guistics Teacher-educators and students will therefore welcome a book which presents research in an accessible way and that also gives suggestions for practical application

The major strengths of the book are its crossover between typical phonetics courses (which have not usually been pronunciation-teaching oriented) and typi-cal pronunciation pedagogy courses (which typically give less attention to phonet-ics, especially acoustic phonetics) The book also provides a careful and thorough discussion of the many issues concerning pronunciation modelling and theorizing

in relation to World Englishes, English as an international language, English as a lingua franca and allows readers to have a better understanding of the competing paradigms and the synergies between them More importantly, the author also helps the practitioner to make sense of these paradigms and to help them explore the implications of current research for the teaching of pronunciation Chapters

1 and 10, in particular, play this critical role very well The book also provides careful and detailed coverage of recent research on different aspects of pronuncia-tion in relation to varieties of Englishes spoken worldwide New technological affordances that can help the EIL practitioner are also introduced and discussed in Chapter 11 Chapter 12 introduces basic techniques on how to use computerized and freely available speech analysis software like PRAAT for conducting detailed acoustic analysis of speech This extremely clear and readable chapter, demystify-ing the role of laboratory phonetics in a clear and accessible way, is to me an out-standing contribution of the book to the field Finally, the book dedicates an entire chapter to a comprehensive bibliography of books on pronunciation teaching and learning and is an extremely useful resource for any researcher, scholar, educator and practitioner in the field

Overall, this book is a very timely and much needed contribution to the field, reflecting a comprehensive basis in theory, research and practice and promises

to become a seminal reference on second language pronunciation teaching and learning

Professor Jack Richards Honorary Professor Faculty of Education University of Sydney

Australia Adjunct Professor SEAMEO Regional Language Centre,

Singapore March 2014

up, when I finally took it up, the external reviewers suggested that the title really should be broadened to include the concept of ‘English as an international lan-guage’ Given my own disciplinary training as a laboratory phonetician, I felt that

it was timely to publish a book that summarised key and latest findings on nunciation research that can help inform the practice of pronunciation teaching Thus, together with Professor Richards’ brilliant suggestion, the book was finally

pro-conceptualised as Pronunciation for English as an international language: From research to practice Jack, I will forever be grateful to you for starting me on this

meaningful but challenging journey of getting this book from conceptualisation

to print Thanks are also due to my steady and efficient commissioning editor Ms Christina Low from Routledge who ensured that the manuscript was progressing

as planned

The greatest challenge I faced writing this book was one of time As an demic who is also holding an administrative appointment at the Institute, there were many demands on my time For this reason, I am extremely grateful to the National Institute of Education, Singapore for the sabbatical granted to me from March to June 2013 that helped me to focus on my writing and to make the nec-essary switch from busy administrator to researcher-writer I am also indebted

aca-to my Institute for the research funding provided by the Research Support for Senior Academic Administrators (RS-SAA) grant initiated to help busy university administrators to continue to be research-active I am extremely grateful to Mr Ao Ran, my research associate who was hired from the RS-SAA grant RS 10/10 LEL

‘Pronunciation in Second Language Teaching’, and who assisted in the collation

of relevant research materials and for preparing the final manuscript for sion He, along with my other doctoral students and project research assistants, whom I have fondly christened ‘the writing campers’, was also responsible for

submis-prodding me along through their unwavering moral support as they were also embarking on their own painful journeys either preparing for their confirmation

or submission of their doctoral theses Thank you, Ao Ran, Chenri, Fiona, Gerry, Jane and Jocelyn, without you all running by my side, my journey would have been extremely lonely I also hope that I have demonstrated to you that it is possi-ble to balance between the heavy demands of work and writing and inspired you to complete your studies as soon as possible Heartfelt thanks to Jarrod who helped cast his eagle eye on close proofreading of the manuscript before submission.The screenshots provided in this book to demonstrate how to conduct speech

analysis have been made possible via Praat (Dutch for ‘speech’, now in its sion 5.3.57), a speech analysis software developed by Paul Boersma and David

ver-Weenink at the University of Amsterdam and I gratefully acknowledge their mission to use them I would also like to take the opportunity to thank them for their phenomenal contribution to the field of phonetics by allowing researchers

per-to freely download their software and per-to conduct our measurements in the venience of our homes, laptops or desktops Every effort has been made to fully acknowledge all sources I have used in this book Any errors or omissions remain, therefore, my sole responsibility

con-I need to pay tribute to the rigorous training con-I have received in phonetics at the University of Cambridge that laid a firm foundation in my academic journey I would also like to acknowledge the love and support of my parents and sisters through the years of my academic pursuits abroad Finally, I would like to thank

my husband, Associate Professor Lim Beng Soon, for his undying love, ing support and for ensuring that I got sufficient food and rest throughout this arduous intellectual journey My thanks would not be complete without acknowl-edging my dearest ‘god-dog’ Sasha, also known as Spider Pig, who lovingly slept

unwaver-by my side as I typed in each and every word of this manuscript even into the wee hours of the morning

I dedicate this book to all who love me and all who love phonetics and ciation teaching and learning

pronun-Ee-Ling LowNational Institute of EducationNanyang Technological University

SingaporeApril 2014

EFL English as a foreign language

EIL English as an international language

ELF English as a lingua franca

ESL English as a second language

F0 fundamental frequency

GSSEC Grammar of Spoken Singapore English Corpus

Hz hertz

IDM interactive digital media

IELTS International English Language Testing System

IM interval measures

IPA International Phonetic Alphabet

LFC lingua franca core

LPATE Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers of EnglishMCQ multiple choice questions

MLE Multicultural London English

NEST native English-speaking teacher

NNEST non-native English-speaking teacher

nPVI normalised Pairwise Variability Index

PVI Pairwise Variability Index

RAP regressive assimilation of place

RMS root mean square

ROC rate of change

RP received pronunciation

rPVI raw non-normalised Pairwise Variability Index

RS-SAA Research Support for Senior Academic Administrators

SCE Singapore Colloquial English

SEM stress exaggeration method

SGEM Speak Good English Movement

SII speech intelligibility index

SPL sound pressure level

SSBE standard southern British English

SSE Standard Singapore English

TESOL Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

TOEIC Test of English for International Communication

VOICE Vienna–Oxford International Corpus of English

VOT voice onset time

WSAfE West South Africa English

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1 Introduction and theoretical

paradigms

Scholarship on the teaching and learning of English as an international language (EIL) has been burgeoning in recent years (Alsagoff, McKay, Hu, & Willy, 2012; McKay, 2002; Sharifan, 2009) However, there has yet to be a book dedicated solely to focusing on pronunciation teaching and learning for EIL though Jenkins (2000) talks about the phonological features of EIL Dedicated pronunciation volumes focusing on pronunciation for English as a lingua franca (ELF) exist (Walker, 2010) Recent years have seen a growing recognition of the crucial role pronunciation plays in learning EIL, in effective communication and its close link

to other aspects of language learning such as listening, speaking and vocabulary EIL students also increasingly place a high priority on mastery of English pronun-ciation from which they can gain confidence, which can help them to learn other English skills such as listening, speaking and vocabulary In spite of its recognised importance, however, pronunciation is still a marginalised skill in many EIL pro-grammes due to EIL teachers’ lack of required phonetic and phonological knowl-edge and the paucity of comprehensive course texts targeted at this particular type

of learners Meanwhile, there has been a rapid increase over the last few decades

in the research on phonetics and phonology and on pronunciation features of eties of English that have emerged in recent years However, research findings have remained largely divorced from materials developed for the teaching of EIL

vari-pronunciation There is therefore a need for a comprehensive research-based book

on pronunciation for EIL, documenting what the latest research tells us and how this can be translated into practice It is envisaged that such a book can be used as

a core text for teachers and students in advanced undergraduate and postgraduate

programmes such as Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and courses on World Englishes (WE) and EIL worldwide

This book is designed to facilitate effective teaching and learning for EIL scholars and instructors Moreover, the book follows a format that arranges the presentation

of each chapter into the order of ‘basic concepts ĺ theoretical expansion ĺ what the research tells us ĺ implications for practice’ so that users will have a compre-hensive grasp of a particular topic after reading each chapter It also covers a wide range of current issues concerning EIL pronunciation modelling and theorising and provides a good coverage and understanding of current issues surrounding the glo-bal spread of English and its theoretical development The book will be devoted to

2 Introduction and theoretical paradigms

providing a clear understanding of the global spread of English and its multilingual and multicultural users through examining theoretical paradigms such as WE, EIL and ELF The role that modern technological affordances offers to pronunciation research and practice is also carefully considered Finally, the book dedicates a use-ful chapter that provides a comprehensive bibliography on pronunciation research and practice by focusing on a few main areas such as theoretical issues, phonetic features-based studies, pronunciation teaching and learning, pronunciation acqui-sition and the issue of native English-speaking teachers (NESTs) and non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) in pronunciation teaching

In this opening chapter, the question of what constitutes pronunciation in EIL and the goals and standards of EIL pronunciation teaching and learning will be focused on by providing an extensive state-of-the-art literature review of existing work on these issues This introductory chapter seeks to address these issues by first probing into concepts and paradigms such as EIL, WE, ELF and then examin-ing the implications of EIL on pronunciation teaching and learning Finally, this chapter provides an overview of the book’s coverage in subsequent chapters

Defining EIL

This section will focus on how previous scholars have defined EIL McKay (2002,

pp 5–15) provides the most extensive coverage on the topic One important rion that she uses is to define EIL from the perspective of the number of users and its official recognition in the different countries where English is spoken McKay asserts that an international language is not just one with a large number of native speakers, but one that has a large number of speakers who speak other native languages One important reason why she considers English to be an international language is because it serves as a ‘language of wider communication’ both inter- and intra-nationally

crite-English as a global/international language

Crystal (1997, 2003) wrote a seminal book entitled English as a global language

and uses the term ‘global’ rather than ‘international’ language with reference to the roles and users of English worldwide For the purpose of this book, EIL will be used interchangeably with English as a global language Crystal (2003, p 3) asserts that a language has achieved international standing ‘when it develops a special role that is recognised in every country’ He then goes on to consider what are the many different perspectives of the notion of ‘special role’ With reference to English, one can consider a special role assigned in countries where English is spoken as a native

or mother tongue and this includes not just the usual five, namely United dom, United States of America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, but also other countries such as South Africa, some countries in the Caribbean and also in Asia

King-if indeed English is the native or first language However, having native or mother tongue speakers alone is insufficient to make English an international language, and Crystal (1997, 2003) talks about at least two other ways that English can be assigned a special role The first is when English is assigned as the official language

and used in official domains such as education, the law and the media for example

A country such as Singapore exemplifies this phenomenon where English is nated as one of the four co-official languages and the language used for education, governance and the media The second way that the language can be given a special role is when it is made a priority in the country’s foreign language learning policy

desig-He further elaborates that this is the language that children are likely to be taught when they begin schooling and, very often, this language displaces the importance

of another language In many provinces in China, English is the main foreign guage introduced to students from as young as in upper primary (elementary) or when they enter into secondary schools

lan-If we define an international language according to the large number of users, especially users whose native language is not English, then English surely qualifies

as an international language without a doubt Today, according to an updated article

by Crystal (2008), there are approximately two billion speakers of English around the world with at least one in three or one in four who use it either as a second or a foreign language according to Graddol’s (1999) estimate India accounts for the largest popu-lation of second language speakers of English, which Crystal had estimated in 2003 to have about 200 million speakers of English as a second language (ESL) and another 350,000 using it as a first language China’s number of English speakers is estimated

to be about 400 million, brought about by the great desire to learn English in order to communicate effectively with foreigners when China hosted the Olympic Games in

2008 Another set of latest statistics cited by McKay (2012, pp 28–29) cites Beare’s (2010) figures about there being over a billion speakers of English who are not using English as a first language, broken down as follows: 750 million learners of English

as a foreign language (EFL) and another 375 million speakers of ESL

Using the second definition of having been assigned a special role in many countries in order to qualify as an international language, then English certainly qualifies as well Even back in the Crystal (1985) article, he has estimated that just taking into account the Indian sub-continent alone, we are looking at about 1400 million people who use English as an official language!

McKay (2002, p 12) in re-framing Smith’s (1976) listing of the features of an international language states the following four revised criteria for EIL:

1 That it is used for international as well as for intra-national communication in multilingual communities

2 That it may not necessarily be tied to the cultural norms of the Kachruvian Inner Circle varieties (Kachru’s model will be further elucidated later on in this chapter)

3 Instead, it is embedded within the culture of the local country, or what I would term as ‘acculturation’

4 Its primary function is to communicate and share information, ideas and ture with others

cul-Using the four redefined criteria offered by McKay (2002) above, it is clear that English fits into all of the above categories and well qualifies as an international

4 Introduction and theoretical paradigms

language; it is easy to pull out examples that exemplify the above four criteria For example, English in many countries such as Singapore and India functions as both

a language of inter- and intra-national communication and these communities are definitely multilingual To take the second and third feature together, there are many linguistic innovations in the area of lexis, syntax and phonology that show that the English language has undergone acculturation in the sense of being used

to express the local culture of the community and this has led to a whole body of research known as ‘features-based’ studies of different varieties of WE, for exam-ple Finally, in today’s digitally connected world, it is evident that the number

of websites using English alone is enough to convince anyone of the power of English to communicate and share ideas, knowledge and information on a global scale A study made by Web Technology Surveys (2013) showed that 55.9 per cent of websites globally have their content in English

Brutt-Griffler (2002) outlines three further features for the development of an international language To paraphrase, first that it has to be developed alongside that of a growing global economy and society, and second, that it has to develop alongside other local languages spoken in multilingual societies and that it is not

an elite language but learnt by all rungs of society and not just the ruling class Finally, that the spread of the language is via what Brutt-Griffler calls ‘macro-acquisition’ rather than through migration of the people speaking it Using Brutt-Griffler’s definition, English easily qualifies as one that has not only accompanied the growth in the global economy as the language that facilitates global business transactions but also through which knowledge and scholarship are exchanged That English had developed alongside other languages in multilingual settings has already been exemplified in the preceding paragraph Where English is spread via macro-acquisition is not difficult to prove either as there are many countries where English first started out as a second language but where English is now acquired

as a first language especially in Kachru’s (1992) Outer Circle varieties In many English-speaking communities, English is pervasively used across all stratas of society and not limited to the educated or the economically elite classes only.The purpose of this section is not to justify whether English qualifies as an inter-national language That it is used as an international language is widely accepted even if the criteria for its inclusion may differ according to different scholars However, what is important for the purpose of this book is that given that English

is an international language, what are some of its implications for pronunciation teaching and learning and what does research tell us about pronunciation for EIL? Before delving into some of these issues, there is a need to clarify the differences

in the theoretical paradigms of EIL and other related theoretical paradigms rounding the global spread of English

sur-Issues and theoretical paradigms surrounding the global spread

of English

Many models have been put forward to attempt to provide an adequate tion for the global spread of English from several different perspectives, be it from

explana-its historical chronological sequence, to how it was spread through acquisition or educational purposes It is not the purpose of this chapter to present or evaluate each of these frameworks Instead, the more pertinent paradigms often mentioned

in relation to the EIL paradigm will be discussed, namely the WE and Kachruvian paradigm and the ELF paradigm

The Kachruvian three circles of English and the WE paradigm

Arguably one of the most influential models detailing the spread of English wide is Kachru’s three circles of English (see Kachru, 1985, 1992) Bolton (2006) describes this model as originally meant to describe the sociolinguistics of English

world-in its world-international context and with special reference to the use of English world-in tries that were previously colonised According to Kachru (1992), the three circles

coun-‘represent the types of spread, patterns of acquisition and the functional tion of English in diverse cultural contexts’ (p 356) The three circles comprise the Inner, Outer and Expanding Circles of English The Inner Circle comprises countries that are considered, as Crystal (1997) describes, to be ‘the traditional bases of English’ (p 53) This refers to countries where English is largely used as the main predominant language and where English is a native language The five countries within this Inner Circle are the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand The Outer Circle, as Low and Brown (2005, p 6) describe, refers to

alloca-those countries in the earlier phases of the spread of English in non-native tings and where English has become institutionalised or has become part of the country’s chief institutions and where English plays an important role as a second language (ESL) amid other languages which are spoken in the country.Within this circle lie African and Asian countries such as Zambia, Nigeria, India, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, for example Within this circle, English

set-is used in multilingual contexts, as speakers of Englset-ish typically have a range

of other languages in their repertoire as well The institutionalisation of English refers to what Bolton describes as English receiving status as either an official, co-official, legal, educational or language of administration English therefore typically not only has a wide functional range but also has acquired great depth in the sense of being used across many different levels of society Linguistic varia-tion is therefore a typical feature of such varieties that reside in the Outer Circle

In the outermost circle lie countries that are classified as being in the Expanding Circle where English is mainly learnt as a foreign language (EFL) In this circle lie huge countries such as China, the USSR, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea

to name a few (Kachru, 1992, p 356) Apart from the patterns of acquisition that define which circle each country belongs to, Kachru (1998) also talks about the three circles in terms of norms The Inner Circle is described as norm-providing, the Expanding Circle as norm-dependent (on the Inner Circle for norms) while the Outer Circle is described as being norm-developing

6 Introduction and theoretical paradigms

However, the three circles paradigm, while being the most influential in the description of the field of WE has not been without its critics Bolton (2006, 2012) has provided a good summary of these criticisms and others will be raised here-with Kandiah (1998, pp 6–10) highlights some weaknesses in the three circles paradigm, namely that the terminology involved in ‘inner, outer and expanding circles’ and the distinction between English being used as a native versus a non-native language connotes a certain ‘in-group’ versus ‘out-group’ status, the impli-cation being that the Inner, native-speaking varieties form the insider group while the Outer and Expanding non-native varieties form the outsider group This res-ervation is also expressed by Jenkins (2003, pp 17–18) who feels that the model tends to favour the standard, national varieties and to simplify the consideration

of linguistic diversity Modiano (1999) proposes the idea of centripetal circles where his model places speakers according to their proficiency levels rather than

on their geographical origins as they are defined by the Kachruvian circles Bolton (2006) states that the critics of the Three Circles Model forget that Kachru had originally intended for the model to describe the origins of WE according to two diaspora: the first that talks about English moving to Australia, North America and New Zealand and the second describing the spread of English mainly by British

or American colonisation Thus, it was not Kachru’s intention to assign differing status to the varieties of English residing within each circle

The next consideration we must make is whether the Kachruvian circles model

is synonymous with the WE paradigm The answer may be found in Bolton (2012,

pp 14–15) where he talks about a narrow and a broad conception of the term Using

a narrow definition, the WE paradigm refers to the study of English worldwide conceptualised by Kachru and a close group of scholars However, if we widen the consideration, then the WE paradigm considers many different approaches to the study of English worldwide spanning at least a dozen distinct approaches such

as ‘English studies, corpus linguistics, the sociology of language, features-based and dialectological studies, pidgin and creole research, Kachruvian linguistics, lexicographical approaches, popular accounts, critical linguistics, futurological approaches’ (Bolton, 2012, p 15) and an emerging approach known as ELF In this book, the paradigm of WE is defined in the wider sense to talk about the development of studies in the field of English worldwide

Recent debates on the WE paradigm continue Phillipson (2010) criticises the

WE paradigm for being only descriptive in nature and not being able to capture the complexity of the sociolinguistics of the use of English in multicultural contexts Pennycook (2008) feels that the WE paradigm is somewhat politically naive in its application Others, such as Bruthiaux (2003) and Saraceni (2010) cited in Bolton (2012), have tended to criticise the paradigm in terms of its Kachruvian concep-tion of the Three Circles Model Bruthiaux feels that the Kachruvian circles adopt

a monolithic approach while he questions whether the Expanding Circle refers

to countries, varieties spoken within the countries, its speakers or learners of the language residing in those countries Saraceni (2010) criticised the WE paradigm for being Eurocentric in approach and for being flawed theoretically He argues that scholars should not think of assigning any ancestry to English but rather, treat

English as a language that has the capacity to share in the ‘plurality of ences, worldviews and inner thoughts with different groups and individuals using it’ (Saraceni, 2010, p 143, as cited in Bolton 2012, p 18) Bolton goes on to argue that both Bruthiaux’s and Saraceni’s views are, in fact, captured within the broader definition of the WE paradigm that studies English worldwide and that

experi-it is the ‘pluralexperi-ity and inclusivexperi-ity’ of the WE paradigm that draws scholars to the field I adopt Bolton’s view that the WE paradigm should move beyond equating with the Three Circles Model or features-based studies Bolton and Davies (2006)

surveyed the types of articles published in the World Englishes journal from the

time it was established in 1985 to 2005 and found only about 20 per cent of cles focus on features-based and ‘areal’ studies and the rest are concerned with discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, contact linguistics, critical linguistics, bilingual creativity, etc Based on this survey, Bolton (2012) argues that the WE paradigm is ‘dynamic, and is willing to change and develop in pace with the changing sociolinguistic realities of the field, and to accommodate and benefit from new perspectives in scholarship’ (p 18)

arti-In this book, I will adopt the wider definition of the WE paradigm as being beyond the Kachruvian circles to consider the scholarship of English worldwide and along with it, respect for the multilingual contexts of English used worldwide and the plurality of contexts, cultures and identities that come along with using English as a world language In the next section, I will consider the important question of how the EIL and the WE paradigm differ, if at all

EIL and the WE paradigm

As mentioned earlier, understanding the use of the term EIL is not about justifying why English fits or does not fit into a definition as an international language The more important issue is that when we embrace the EIL paradigm, there are many implications even for a paradigm shift labelled by Sharifan (2009) as guiding our

‘thinking, research and practice’ (p 2) He further emphasises that to engage in practice via an EIL perspective is to be engaged ‘in critical thinking and research’ (p 2) One of his more important contributions is really the fact that EIL has many varieties and that it is a language that is used for both international and intercul-tural communication The EIL paradigm also rejects the notion that any one vari-ety be selected as the lingua franca for international communication

Interestingly, according to Sharifan (2009), the EIL paradigm, in fact, embraces the WE paradigm and all its varieties regardless of which Kachruvian circle they belong to (Inner, Outer or Expanding Circle) as described earlier The EIL para-digm, according to Sharifan, also recognises the relevance of the WE paradigm

in English language instruction Specifically, he refers to the recognition that EIL instructors must be cognizant of the fact that speakers and learners of English come from different cultures and backgrounds The next important point he makes is the fact that the WE paradigm has made a significant contribution to the EIL para-digm especially with regard to communication across WE and this is essential as EIL recognises that English is used for inter- and intra-national and intercultural

8 Introduction and theoretical paradigms

communication Seen in this light, the EIL and WE paradigms are not cally opposed but they can be seen to be complementing each other in the sense that developments in one paradigm help further the development of the other.Perhaps why many feel that the EIL and WE paradigms do not see eye-to-eye,

diametri-as it were, hdiametri-as everything to do with how native versus non-native speaker petence and norms appear to dominate the outlining of varieties in the Kachruvian circles of English This misconception that the WE paradigm equals the Kachru-vian paradigm needs serious re-thinking Sharifan (2009) points out that the EIL paradigm does not see a clear demarcation between the native and non-native speaker of English defined according to nationality or ethnicity but truly in terms

com-of communicative competence However, one can argue, as Canagarajah (2006) does, that the three circles metaphor requires re-thinking especially if we all need

to negotiate and understand different varieties of English in order to communicate effectively with each other and that many Outer and Expanding Circle variety

‘dwellers’ may move for the purpose of study and work into the Inner Circle, and

he calls for so-called native speakers of English to understand the English spoken

by both ‘native’ and ‘non-native’ speakers of English

In referring to the EIL versus the WE paradigm, Kirkpatrick (2007) cites Kachru’s (1992) mention of the monomodel of the EIL paradigm versus the poly-model approach of the WE paradigm However, if we accept Sharifan’s (2009) stance on the matter, then it is not the case that the EIL paradigm promotes a monomodel approach Instead, it does consider that in using English as an inter-national language, we need to take cognizance of the polymodel, multi-varietal approach where there is a need to acknowledge and recognise the existence of different varieties of English around the world Kachru (1992, p 66, as cited in Kirkpatrick, 2007) states that the paradigm of WE is characterised by variety and variation and the variability relates to acquisition, functional use and contextual situations of use The polymodel, multi-varietal stance in discussing EIL is the approach taken in this book as well

ELF

Jenkins (2007) provides the most extensive and authoritative definition of ELF and clarifies some misconceptions about what it is not and what it actually stands for Some of the main arguments will be summarised here and ultimately its rela-tion to the EIL paradigm will be elucidated

Jenkins (2007, p 1) defines a lingua franca as a contact language used for munication between two peoples/communities who do not share a common lan-guage, which is commonly understood to be the second language of its speakers Applying this strict definition, ELF technically then excludes speakers who use English as a native language Some scholars (e.g House, 1999) adopt this view that ELF interactions exclude native speakers However, some scholars use ELF

com-to exclude interactions that involve native speakers and com-to only talk about tions between non-native speakers Yet others, such as McKay (2002, as cited in Jenkins, 2007), use EIL to talk about interactions between non-native speakers

interac-while Llurda (2004, as cited by Jenkins, 2007) uses EIL to refer to both native speaker/non-native speaker and non-native speaker/non-native speaker only com-munications Jenkins’ own position resonates with Seidlhofer’s (2004) where ELF should not exclude interactions that non-native speakers may have with the Inner Circle variety speakers However, she feels that as far as is possible, research into ELF should try to exclude communication with native speakers so as to be able

to investigate emerging norms and trends in ELF without the influence of native speaker data If native speaker interaction is unavoidable, then the data should never be used as a reference point for native speaker norms This is the principle that is being used for the collection of the Vienna–Oxford International Corpus

of English (VOICE) data, helmed by Seidlhofer, and the Asian Corpus of English (ACE) data, helmed by Kirkpatrick with collaborators from Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Japan, to name a few

Jenkins’ original position in 2000 was to adopt the use of the more established term EIL rather than ELF but in recent years, Jenkins (2007) notes its wide adop-tion by prominent scholars worldwide (e.g Knapp & Meierkord, 2002; Mauranen, 2003; Seidlhofer, 2004) and, more recently, Bolton (2012) as mentioned above argues for the inclusion of ELF research under the WE paradigm It is undeniable that the ELF paradigm is gaining traction in the field Jenkins recapitulates her original position in (2000, p 11) where she feels that ELF has certain advantages over EIL because it emphasises that English is the common language that speakers from different first languages use to communicate with each other and the premise that it is fine to retain features of one’s first language such as accent and even to mix linguistic codes, and it also has the advantage of removing the issue of owner-ship of the English language from being just Anglo-American or limited to those

in the Inner Circle Jenkins also cites Seidlhofer’s (2004) assertion that the use of the term ELF also emphasises the role of non-native speakers to be predominant in determining the innovations and changes in the use of English as a global language

To summarise, ELF proponents recognise that the primary goal of communication

is between non-native speakers and the norms are definitely not dictated by native speakers Additionally, Kirkpatrick (2007) also notes that the main communicative strategies of ELF speakers are to ensure cooperation and to preserve the notion of face in cases where communication breaks down Jenkins’ (2000) study was based

on observing communication between non-native speakers and instances where unintelligibility occurred and on that basis she makes a list of lingua franca core (LFC) features that are necessary to ensure international intelligibility and this then becomes the minimum threshold beyond which unintelligibility will occur

My own position is that while I like the emphasis on communication between non-native speakers in the ELF paradigm, I feel that EIL can be taken as an all-embracing concept to encompass both native speaker/non-native speaker com-munication and non-native speaker/non-native speaker communication In other words, while the ELF paradigm has the advantage of foregrounding that the pri-mary purpose of communication is between non-native speakers, such a purpose

of communication is not being denied by the EIL paradigm It is also clear from the definition of EIL provided by one of the foremost scholars on EIL, McKay

10 Introduction and theoretical paradigms

(2002, 2012) who outlines three important assumptions of EIL, that it is not in conflict with the ELF paradigm, which will be elaborated upon later on The three assumptions that English will be learnt and taught in multilingual settings and cross-cultural communication should be focused upon Second, she cautions against the desire or need to look at native speaker norms Finally, McKay argues for the recognition of different varieties of English in their own right and the teaching and learning of relevant varieties of English should be encouraged, thus further embracing the pluricentrism of EIL I will also not make value judgements about the legitimacy of ELF because as a scholar practising mainly in the wider conception of the WE paradigm and one who embraces the multicultural approach

of McKay’s notion of EIL, I celebrate the diversity found in each variety and acknowledge that its use and functions are unique to the particular contexts where English is being used

Jenkins (2007) goes on to acknowledge that ELF sits comfortably within the

WE paradigm, especially in terms of its pluri-linguistic nature, and that the WE paradigm serves as an important reminder that the ELF researcher should note the importance of different languages and varieties of English as it is not the intention

of ELF to introduce neo-standardisation for second language or EFL speakers of English, a view that Rubdy and Saraceni (2006) caution against as well Phillipson (2007) outlines the main tenets of the WE paradigm, namely that it celebrates and supports diversity; is multilingual and multi-dialectal; is international; embraces ELF; considers local, regional and national linguistic norms; talks about endonor-mative Englishes; has as its target, a good ESL user (rather than a native speaker norm); and advocates the use of bilingual and bicultural teachers Note that ELF rests within the WE paradigm and, I would like to argue, is not at all in contradic-tion with the main tenets of EIL as well

EIL, WE and the ELF paradigms

This section will consolidate the different theoretical paradigms related to the bal spread of English worldwide The definition of EIL follows that defined by McKay (2002) where it is English used for both international and intra-national purposes of communication and that the speakers tend to come from multilingual backgrounds and communities, that the cultural norms need not be tied to the Inner Circle native speaker norms, that English is embedded within the culture

glo-of the local country glo-of its usage leading to linguistic innovations as a result glo-of the process of acculturation, and that English serves as a means to communicate and

to share information with others

Next, the WE paradigm embraced in this book takes a broader definition beyond the Kachruvian circle to talk about the study of English worldwide and includes wider approaches such as ‘English studies, corpus linguistics, the sociology of language, features-based and dialectological studies, pidgin and creole research, Kachruvian linguistics, lexicographical approaches, popular accounts, critical lin-guistics, futurological approaches’ and an emerging approach known as ELF, as documented in Bolton (2012, p 15)

In terms of EIL and the WE paradigm, this book takes the stance that EIL takes cognizance of the polymodel, multi-varietal approach where there is a need to acknowledge and recognise the existence of different varieties of English around the world, a view upheld very much within the WE paradigm Seen in this light, then, the WE paradigm has added to the study of EIL.

Finally, in terms of ELF and the WE paradigm, this book adopts the view of Jenkins that ELF fits comfortably in the WE paradigm and that many scholars (such as Phillipson and Bolton) do consider that ELF rests as an approach within the WE paradigm By extension, if we accept that the WE paradigm contributes

to the EIL paradigm, then this book does not see EIL, ELF and WE as conflicting paradigms but as concepts that resonate quite strongly with each other in terms of thinking about and researching the spread of English worldwide

This section has provided a definition of what it means when we refer to English

as an international language and has also elucidated the differences in the EIL, ELF and WE paradigms The next section will focus on the implications when we embrace the concept of EIL on pronunciation instruction (teaching and learning) though the current issues that dominate the discussion on EIL pronunciation teach-ing and possible future directions will be given detailed coverage in Chapter 10

Implications for EIL pronunciation teaching and learning

An issue that dominates the discussion on pronunciation goals for EIL still harks back to the age-old issue of accent By accent, I refer to the segmental (vowels and consonants) and suprasegmental (e.g stress, rhythm and intonation) features

of a person’s pronunciation that give rise to a particular pronunciation ing It is common for many students of EIL to want to achieve near-native-like pronunciation patterns However, as Morley (1991, pp 498–501) tells us, this is virtually unattainable for most speakers who pick up English after puberty and a host of factors including ‘neurological, psychological, psychomotor, cognitive, etc.’ are to blame It is therefore unrealistic and even what Morley terms as ‘dev-astating’ for EIL learners to try to attain this goal The issue of accent is also tied

pattern-to identity and in-group marking By this, I refer pattern-to the fact that an EIL learner who sounds perfectly like a native speaker might suffer from rejection especially

if he or she did not grow up in that country Second, the way we speak is a marker

of our national identity and some EIL learners might deliberately not want to give up features of their pronunciation precisely because it marks their identity

as a speaker of a particular variety of English In Low (2010a), I provided a table

of the pronunciation features that Singaporeans will need to preserve in order to maintain a strong local identity The concept of ‘native-speaker accent’ also calls into question the earlier dilemma raised by Canagarajah (2006) where the divide between native and non-native speaker is unclear and, by extension, if we talk about trying to approximate a native speaker accent, then which native speaker accent are we exactly referring to?

Another issue that emerges when we talk about goals for EIL is the question

of intelligibility The intelligibility issue cuts both ways, it is not just about

non-12 Introduction and theoretical paradigms

native speakers being intelligible to native speakers but also about native speakers being understood by non-native speakers In an early and large-scale study on cross-cultural intelligibility by Smith and Rafiqzad (1979) involving over 1000 speakers from 11 countries, they found that the native speaker was the least intel-ligible compared to the other speakers This is a real issue if we consider that today’s speakers of English are more likely to be non-native rather than native speakers Another early study by Nakayama (1982) mentions that in the language training business sector in Japan, there is a deliberate effort to employ both native and non-native speakers to expose students to both native and non-native speak-ing accents A more recent study conducted in 2005 by Gupta played samples of Singapore English and British English to two sets of listeners: British and Singa-porean undergraduate students For both sets of listeners, Singapore English was more intelligible than British English Gupta (2005) suggested that the extreme vowel reduction of the British English sample may have contributed to it being relatively more unintelligible

Morley (1991), in a seminal article on teaching pronunciation to speakers of other languages, outlines four goals of pronunciation teaching, namely functional intelligi-bility, functional communicability, increased self-confidence, and speech monitor-ing and modification strategies for use beyond the classroom Each of these will be elaborated upon briefly In terms of functional intelligibility, learners should be able

to speak a variety that is easy to understand She defines ‘intelligibility’ according to the speech intelligibility index (SII) and its level of interference on communication The second goal is linked to the ability of the speaker to accomplish competence for whatever communicative goals he or she desires The third goal is about the non-native speaker feeling confident in a native English-speaking world, and the final goal has to do with developing awareness, monitoring and accommodation strategies

in order to help develop intelligibility, communicability and confidence (all three goals combined) both within and outside the confines of the classroom Morley’s article is seminal, thorough and insightful but it still ultimately approaches learning goals from the native speakers’ perspective It is still ultimately her proposition that pronunciation teaching involves the non-native speaker becoming more intelligible

to the native speaker and not the other way round For example, the highest score

of her index (see Morley, 1991, p 502) describes speech as being ‘near-native’ where only ‘minimal divergence from Native Speakers can be detected’ This still continues the native speaker fallacy first propositioned by Phillipson (1992) where

he stated as tenet two, that the ideal teacher of English is a native speaker Morley (1991) also mentions the work of Chastain (1980) who explored the notion of com-prehensibility of the speech of a non-native English from the perspective of a native speaker of English He noted that the speech of non-native speakers along the cline

of acceptability and comprehensibility depended heavily on the native speaker’s guistic tolerance level, insights, interest and patience, to name a few factors Again, this study perpetuates the native speaker fallacy, which views non-native speech from the perspective of a native speaker

lin-Rogerson-Revell (2011) distinguishes between a learning goal and the model used for pronunciation teaching and learning According to her, goals may be

defined at the level needed in order to achieve effective communication The goals may be defined according to why the speaker is using English McKay (2012, p 33) cites Warschauer (2000) who notes that the types of communication required

in one’s job these days against the backdrop of English as a language of global and international communication entails ‘being able to write persuasively, criti-cally interpret and analyse information, and carry out complex negotiations and collaboration in English’ (p 518) Whatever the reasons for the use of English, the goal of intelligibility is deemed to be both appropriate as well as achievable She further elaborates on other concepts raised in relation to intelligibility For exam-ple, Kenworthy (1987) introduces the concept of comfortable intelligibility where both listener and speaker do not experience too much effort or stress communicat-ing with each other Rogerson-Revell (2011) further supports the view of Jenkins (2000) who raises the questions of who one should aim to be intelligible to This

is extremely important in the consideration of EIL where mutual intelligibility is important between native speakers to non-native speakers and vice-versa

Moving away from looking at intelligibility to focus on the issue of competence, Rogerson-Revell surfaces research (e.g Brown, 1991; Gimson, 1977; Jenkins, 2000; Kenworthy, 1987) that provides a consensus that the teacher must provide a clear and consistent model and should possess competence in one or more stand-ard native speaker varieties and that this should depend on the learner’s needs Again, the perspective provided here still places a premium on a native speaker model of pronunciation Rogerson-Revell (2011) is quick to point out that with the large numbers of English speakers who are using English as a second or foreign language, it is important to reconsider the learner’s goal, which is more likely to

be using English to communicate with fellow second or foreign language users (non-native speakers) rather than with native speakers

Cruttenden (2008, p 329) introduces the concept of pronunciation goals that vary depending on whether English is being used by non-native speakers to com-municate with each other and who may have little need to communicate with native speakers, known as ‘Amalgum English’ and where English is used as a common lingua franca often between two people who have no other language to use to communicate with each other The goal in the case of Amalgum English is that of ‘easy intelligibility to native speakers’ (Cruttenden, 2008, p 329) while for the case of International English, the goal is ‘minimal intelligibility’ in contexts where English is used as a lingua franca in international situations (Cruttenden,

2008, p 333) Cruttenden provides a listing of the features, which I will review and discuss in Chapter 10

The most comprehensive coverage of the principles and practice of teaching and learning EIL is offered by McKay (2002, 2012) This section will attempt to apply the main tenets of her work to pronunciation teaching and learning for EIL McKay (2002, pp 125–128) talks about three main assumptions that should guide the teaching and learning of EIL The first assumption is the fact that EIL teaching and learning must take cognizance of the fact that English is used within multilin-gual communities and by typically bilingual users of English for both global and local purposes and that cross-cultural communication must be considered in the

14 Introduction and theoretical paradigms

use of EIL The second assumption is that, departing from the native speaker elling advocated above, the idea of acquiring native-like competence may neither

mod-be desired nor necessary She further cites three reasons why this need not mod-be the case Her first reason cited is that many bilingual users may use English in formal domains only and may not need access to the full range of registers required by monolingual speakers of English Second, there may be strong attitudinal reasons why they may not want to sound like native speakers, and third, the issue of who should provide the norms for others is a moot point The third assumption that McKay advocates is the recognition of different varieties of English, which, in their own right, are adequately able to fulfil their users’ communicative needs, and that the learning of relevant and appropriate varieties of English is important and should be encouraged

Accordingly, she outlines some teaching goals for EIL that I will apply to EIL pronunciation teaching and learning First of all, she upholds that intelligibility among different speakers of English is important but that it is important to dis-tinguish between linguistic differences that may genuinely compromise on intel-ligibility compared to those that might elicit negative attitudes towards its users A good example is the long/short vowel conflation found in many varieties of Eng-lish in Southeast Asia A genuine linguistic difference that may lead to unintel-ligibility is when minimal pairs that are distinguished by a long/short vowel exist

such as pull versus pool, for example Such long/short vowel contrasts should

therefore be encouraged in order to promote intelligibility as a goal An example

of a feature that may not affect intelligibility but that elicits a negative attitude

of a lack of competence is the replacement of the initial dental fricative with the

alveolar plosive in the words three and tree This pronunciation feature is known

as a ‘linguistic shibboleth’, where its use is socially stigmatising and triggers the impression of an incompetent speaker rather than resulting in unintelligibility.Further, McKay (2002) advocates that it is important to establish cross-cultural pragmatic competence and to emphasise that pragmatic rules differ according to the different cultures An example in pronunciation is the differing use of into-national tones in different varieties of English For example, the rise–fall tone in British English connotes a suggestive overtone but in Singapore English it is used

to mark added emphasis Pronunciation teaching for EIL should therefore sise these cross-cultural differences

empha-Additional goals and principles for teaching and learning EIL raised by McKay (2012, pp 36–43) that can be applied for pronunciation teaching and learning for EIL will be discussed herewith One principle advocated is the recognition that EIL users are bi- and multilingual In practical terms, for pronunciation instruc-tion for EIL, it is important to tap on the rich linguistic repertoire that EIL learn-ers possess and constantly allow students to reflect on the phonological features that differ between their variety of English spoken and the other languages that they speak and, for completeness, with a native variety of English as well Such

an exercise also helps learners to develop strong analytical skills in the study of phonetics and phonology and may encourage them to take up further research in the discipline in the future

McKay (2012) also advocates a pedagogy that is in tandem with the local guistic landscape She cites the case of English in Singapore where two varieties

lin-of English are existent, the standard variety known as ‘Standard Singapore lish’ (SSE) that is used for formal purposes of education, the media and the law for example, and the ‘Singapore Colloquial English’ (SCE) that helps Singaporeans

Eng-to express their local identity and that is important for building solidarity ciation instruction for EIL should actively point out the differences in pronuncia-tion features between the different varieties of English existent in the learner’s country and discuss when it is appropriate to use which pronunciation feature and why This, in turn, contributes to the overall communicative competence (linguis-tic/phonological and pragmatic) of EIL pronunciation learners

Pronun-This section has discussed re-thinking the goals of pronunciation teaching and learning for EIL The issue of standards and norms for EIL pronunciation will be covered in Chapter 10

Terminological clarifications

In a book about EIL, it is particularly important to clarify the terminology used in this volume To begin, unless otherwise specified, the use of the word ‘English’ per se will tend to refer to British English unless otherwise specified For example, Chapter 2 talks about the articulation of English speech sounds This will refer

to the sounds produced in British English, which is used as a convenient ence point as it is important to base one’s description of variation in the features

refer-of pronunciation on one variety refer-of English It is equally important to emphasise that my choice of British English does not imply, under any circumstances, my ideological bias towards which model or standard of English to uphold To uphold any one variety as the model or standard runs counter to the main tenet of this volume, which is to recognise English as an international language, spoken by more people in the Outer and Expanding Circles than within the Inner Circle, and that the multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural sensitivities of the speakers of EIL must always be at the forefront The variety of British English referred to will

be standard British English as spoken by those born and educated in the south of England but excluding the Multicultural London English (MLE) varieties that are emerging

The structure and overview of chapters

This book comprises 13 chapters and starts off by confronting the different retical paradigms that are related to the discussion of EIL so as to clarify the stance adopted in this book when referring to EIL (Chapter 1) Following this,

theo-a thorough covertheo-age of btheo-asic concepts such theo-as the theo-articultheo-ation theo-and theo-acoustics of English speech sounds follows (Chapters 2 and 3) The next chapters delve into the basic principles involved in the study of vowels, consonants, connected speech processes, stress, rhythm and intonation but they also review relevant literature that documents research into specific aspects of these pronunciation features in

16 Introduction and theoretical paradigms

different varieties of English (Chapters 4–9) Following this, a discussion of the main issues surrounding EIL pronunciation teaching and learning will be offered (Chapter 10) The next chapters then provide a description of current freely avail-able software for pronunciation teaching and learning before going into the issue

of using software to measure specific speech components for those wanting to conduct acoustic research in these areas (Chapters 11 and 12) The book then ends with a final chapter that provides a comprehensive bibliography of works on the phonetics and phonology of different varieties of EIL as well as all the relevant lit-erature on EIL pronunciation research, teaching and practice (Chapter 13) What follows is a provision of the chapter titles and a short abstract for easy reference

Chapter 1 Introduction and theoretical paradigms

The field of EIL, its theoretical development and the principles and practice of teaching EIL have been well established and well researched However, a dedi-cated volume on pronunciation in EIL has so far not received enough attention Before we can delve into a volume that focuses on pronunciation for EIL, there is

a need to grapple with the theoretical paradigms related to EIL, namely WE and ELF, and discuss the differences and similarities adopted within each approach and to clarify which stance and approach will be adopted throughout the volume

A preview of the considerations for pronunciation teaching and learning for EIL is given before a description of the contents of each chapter of the book

Chapter 2 Articulation of English speech sounds and basic transcription

Learning to pronounce English speech sounds can be a daunting task for EIL learners It will make the task easier if they know what speech organs are involved

in the articulation process EIL teachers can in turn help diagnose learners’ ficulties articulating certain sounds if they are equipped with knowledge about the mechanisms of articulation Chapter 2 meets this end by introducing some fundamental concepts that are essential for EIL teachers and students to better understand the mechanisms for English speech sounds Specifically, this chap-ter explores the key concepts concerning mechanisms of speech production from three main aspects: (1) organs of speech, i.e the lungs, the larynx, the pharynx and the month; (2) vowels, including tongue height, frontness and backness, tenseness and laxness, lip roundness, and schwa; and (3) consonants, including voicing, place of articulation and manner of articulation

dif-Chapter 3 Acoustics of English speech sounds

The acoustic aspects of English speech sounds provide us with an additional way

to understand and describe pronunciation from the perceptual point of view For undergraduate or graduate EIL students, getting to know the acoustics of speech sounds prepares them for their future acoustic study of and research on English pronunciation Unlike the preceding chapter, which focuses on how speech sounds

are produced, this chapter deals with the acoustic aspects of speech sounds based

on what we hear (perception) Specifically, the acoustic dimensions of speech, i.e sound waves, pitch and frequency, loudness and intensity, will be given coverage

Chapter 5 Consonants

Unlike vowels, consonants are relatively more straightforward in the sense that it

is easier for learners to observe or perceive the production process of consonant sounds This chapter covers classification, description, articulation and acoustics

of consonants as well as consonant clusters The chapter then reviews current research on consonants in EIL contexts Implications for EIL pronunciation teach-ing are discussed and some guidelines for teaching consonants are provided

Chapter 6 Connected speech processes

Moving beyond the segmentals of English speech sounds, i.e vowels and nants, this and the ensuing three chapters deal with pronunciation of English sounds

conso-in connected speech This chapter focuses on some commonly seen features of connected speech such as strong and weak forms, vowel reduction, sound linking, assimilation and deletion of consonants Based on the review of current research, the chapter also highlights the presence and absence of these features in some EIL contexts Implications for EIL pronunciation teaching are then discussed

Chapter 7 Stress

Stress is important not only because word stress can differentiate part of speech

of a word but also because sentence stress contributes considerably to the timing of English It may also pose difficulties for EIL learners, especially those whose native language does not possess this feature for prominence distinctions This chapter first provides the accessible definitions of stress, word stress and sentence stress It then presents a review of some research findings of stress in the EIL contexts, for example, lexical stress placement and features of sentence stress

stress-18 Introduction and theoretical paradigms

Implications for EIL pronunciation teaching are examined in depth with some guidelines for EIL pronunciation teaching recommended

Chapter 8 Rhythm

Rhythm is considered to be one of the most pervasive attributes of speech as it helps at least native speakers to process speech based on rhythmic patterning Therefore, if EIL speakers or learners, especially those whose mother tongues are syllable-timed, communicate with native speakers using a syllable-based rhythm, intelligibility may be affected Pedagogically, learners in an EIL listening course may encounter great difficulties understanding speech of native speakers or speak-ers of other non-native varieties This chapter deals in depth with the concept of rhythm as well as the factors affecting syllable length, an element that contributes

to speech rhythm The chapter also reviews the current research on English speech rhythm in terms of early studies of rhythm, recent studies of rhythm, rhythm indi-ces and the measurement of rhythm Implications for the teaching of EIL pronun-ciation are discussed

Chapter 9 Intonation

Many scholars believe that intonation contributes most to the intelligibility of speech Pedagogically, intonation may pose problems for EIL learners whose native language is a tone language, e.g Mandarin Chinese This chapter takes these factors into consideration and deals with the definition, types and func-tions of intonation in great detail A review of current research on intonation in EIL contexts is presented and its implications for EIL pronunciation teaching are discussed

Chapter 10 Current issues in EIL pronunciation teaching

This chapter presents some discussions of pronunciation related issues such as (1) EIL research and implications for pronunciation practice; (2) NESTs vs NNESTs

in EIL pronunciation teaching; (3) intelligibility and norms in EIL pronunciation practice; and (4) assessment in EIL pronunciation teaching Each section includes

a review of current research and implications for EIL pronunciation practice

Chapter 11 Multimedia in EIL pronunciation practice

The advancement of information and communication technology has brought with

it abundant resources that EIL teachers and learners alike can tap into for ciation teaching and learning Using multimedia in EIL pronunciation teaching and learning, unfortunately, has not received due attention This chapter therefore deals with research on and practice in using the multimedia for EIL pronuncia-tion teaching and learning It covers sections focusing on three areas, namely (1) using songs in EIL pronunciation teaching and learning; (2) computer technology

pronun-and EIL pronunciation; pronun-and (3) mobile technologies pronun-and EIL pronunciation Each section briefly reviews previous and current research on relevant area and then provides some implications for EIL pronunciation practice.

Chapter 12 Using speech analysis software to investigate pronunciation features

In order to facilitate EIL pronunciation teaching, there is at times a need for ers of EIL pronunciation to be able to use speech recording and analysis tools The ability to use speech recording, editing and analysis tools may in the future stand students in good stead if they plan to pursue a higher degree in phonetics This chapter presents some hands-on techniques for EIL teachers to use sound recording applications and how to use speech analysis applications (e.g the freely

teach-available Praat) Each section provides some techniques and activities that EIL

teachers and learners will find useful for their teaching and learning purposes

Chapter 13 Bibliography on phonetic features and EIL pronunciation teaching

This chapter presents a comprehensive bibliography of works on English nunciation teaching and learning that is classified into six sections, namely (1) General/theoretical issues; (2) Phonetic features of varieties of English; (3) Pro-nunciation teaching; (4) Pronunciation acquisition and learning; (5) NESTs vs NNESTs in pronunciation teaching; and (6) Issues of intelligibility Just after the comprehensive bibliography a short afterword is provided to summarise the key features of this book

pro-2 Articulation of English speech

sounds and basic transcription

Pronunciation teaching and learning necessitates knowledge about the production

of speech sounds and the field of study that focuses on describing how speech sounds are produced is known as phonetics There are many reasons one can think

of for the link between the knowledge of phonetics and pronunciation teaching and learning (practice) and I shall attempt to elucidate a few practical reasons herewith For a start, understanding how sounds are produced will help us to pro-duce the targeted sounds we want to achieve with accuracy Second, a good under-standing of the articulatory principles of sounds also allows us to correct learners who have not produced the right targets and help instructors to facilitate their learners’ in achieving the articulation target desired Third, if there are particular difficulties related to specific articulatory places or manner of articulation in the case of consonants or linked to particular vowel qualities, be it mouth, tongue or lip position for example, it will be easy for instructors to classify and deal with these difficulties for future instructional practice Finally, as this is a book about pronunciation for EIL, understanding how sounds are produced in one variety

of English and comparing its realisation in different varieties of English spoken around the world is important as it helps to create the awareness of not just one particular reference variety of English but allows one to understand the pronuncia-tion of sounds in different varieties of English in the multilingual context of EIL and where speakers are likely to speak more than one language More importantly, one can shift our investigation to understanding the articulation of sounds not just

in English or varieties of English but of the different languages spoken by ers of EIL For all of the reasons listed above, this chapter is devoted to a thorough description of the articulation of the speech sounds of English

speak-The articulatory system

Airstream mechanisms

The first and important consideration in the production of speech sounds is to determine at least two things: the organ where the air used to the produce the sounds originates, also known as the initiator, and the direction of the airflow In terms of the types of airstream mechanisms used to produce sounds in the world’s

languages, there are three main initiators: the lungs (pulmonic), the larynx talic) and the tongue (velaric) Air emerging from the lungs is straightforward but

(glot-it is important to point out that the air emerging from the glottalic mechanism is from the glottis (the space between the vocal folds) and that the initiator here is the larynx It is equally important to note that in the case of the velaric airstream mechanism, air is released through the velum (or soft palate) but the initiator of the air is the tongue

In terms of the direction of the airflow, the sounds can either be produced while breathing out, in which case the airflow direction is egressive, or produced while breathing in, in which case the direction of the airflow is known as ingressive It

is important to note that for all English speech sounds, the airstream mechanism

is from the lungs (pulmonic) and the direction of the airflow to produce English sounds is egressive Thus, it is fair to note that all English sounds are produced with

a pulmonic–egressive airstream mechanism One may question why the adjective for air that emerges from the lungs is called pulmonic, and the answer lies in the reference to the lungs by its physiological term as the pulmonary chamber Hence, air that emerges from the pulmonary chamber is then known as ‘pulmonic’

The vocal tract and speech organs

To produce an English speech sound, air from lungs moves up the windpipe chea) and goes into the larynx where it must pass through the vocal cords (or folds) If the vocal folds are apart, the sounds that emerge are voiceless, while

(tra-if the vocal folds come together and vibrate, they produce a voiced sound To demonstrate this fact, one should place one’s fingers directly above what the lay-man calls the ‘Adam’s apple’ or the larynx and produce the voiceless sound [s] and alternate this with the voiced sound [z] and produce a sequence of this nature [sssszzzzsssszzzz] It will become immediately apparent that when one is produc-ing the voiced sound [z] vibration can be felt from the fingertips being placed on top of the larynx The alternating sequence also allows one to realise that in the production of a voiceless sound, no vibration is created because internally, the vocal folds are apart A schematic representation showing the vocal folds coming together and then apart is shown in Figure 2.1

Figure 2.1 Vocal folds coming together (left) and apart (right)

22 Articulation of English speech sounds

The air passages above the larynx form the vocal tract It is important to point out that sounds can be produced through the mouth, in which case the sounds are produced through the oral tract and known as oral sounds, while if sounds are producing through releasing air from the nasal tract, then the sounds are known as nasal sounds Figure 2.2(a) shows a schematic diagram of the oral tract and and Figure 2.2(b) shows a schematic diagram of the nasal tract

Figure 2.2(a) Schematic representation of the oral tract

Note: The dotted lines point to the direction of the airflow through the oral tract.

Figure 2.2(b) Schematic representation of the nasal tract

Note: The dotted lines point to the direction of the airflow through the nasal tract and that the velum

is lowered to prevent air from escaping through the mouth.

In terms of the articulators within the vocal tract, they can be divided into the active and passive articulators The passive articulators are all located on the upper mandible (or lower jaw) and the active articulators are located on the lower mandi-ble (or lower jaw) Their names came about because the passive articulators can-not really move, they are all located on the upper mandible and speech sounds are produced when the lower articulators are activated to make contact with specific parts of the upper articulators Each of the parts of the upper articulators will now

be described in greater detail and Figure 2.3 shows the different organs located in the upper and lower articulators

Upper/passive articulators

The lips: Moving from the front of the mouth onwards, there is the presence of the

upper lip on the upper jaw and the lower lip on the lower jaw

Upper teeth: The upper front teeth (incisors) are responsible for the accurate

production of dental sounds and their presence is important for this reason This

is also the reason why when little children lose their two front milk teeth their production of the dental sounds is temporarily affected

Figure 2.3 The organs of speech located on the upper and lower articulators