The Importance of Pronunciation

After reading The Ethics of Pronunciation Teaching by Brinton and Butner, I was able to recognize the importance of pronunciation teaching, but also the ways in which it may be a sensitive topic. At the University of the Fraser Valley in British Colombia, a complaint was filed with the Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Office that the term "accent" was discriminatory, and also protested against the use of the terms "L1 (first language)" and "L2 (second language)" as well as "native speaker" and "non-native speaker". The article explains the definitions of different terms, such as accent and intelligibility and comprehensibility. What interested me most was the responses from the "Etcetera Listserv" participants, as well as the research base, all of which supported pronunciation teaching and said that it was beneficial to non-native speakers. For example, one response said that "students are choosing to take this elective course due to a perceived need" which I think is very valid. If students find it beneficial and are seeking it out themselves, I think it should be available to them. Additionally, there was a comment that "the goal of pronunciation is accent addition, not accent eradication". I don't think anyone's intent is to try and eliminate their knowledge of their primary language, or to affect their identity in any way. I think it is beneficial to receive help with pronunciation when learning a new language, and will be helpful when communicating with native speakers. Another response I found interesting was when someone wrote, "I would argue back, if pronunciation ought to be cut, shouldn't also grammar courses, or any other language courses that might promote 'correctness' or regularity of use, because such a course would be promoting the elevation of one language variety over others?" I think this is very interesting because it points out that there are many things that could be considered "incorrect". However, where do you draw the line on this delicate situation? If it is beneficial to students and they are seeking it out, is it really "incorrect"? Is it even "unethical" in the first place? Who gets to decide? In the conclusion, the authors say, "Ultimately pronunciation classes such as Butner's provide a great service to second language learners and are a potential source of empowerment rather than a source of discrimination, as alleged in the complaint directed to the UFV Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Office," and I would agree with this statement. I believe that they are much more empowering than discriminating, and that they should be available to students.

In terms of my own conversation circle, I feel like we don't focus on pronunciation much. We are often just chatting about various topics, and I find myself correcting students occasionally, but not very often. I think it's helpful just to practice in an informal setting, but I could think about ways to incorporate pronunciation practice if that is something they are interested in. I would also be interested to see if they have taken pronunciation classes before or think that they would be beneficial. From my experience living in Spanish speaking countries, I have never taken classes, but appreciate when I get to practice with native speakers and am corrected on my pronunciation. Recently I was having a conversation with a native Spanish speaker in Spanish and he told me my grammar was perfect but I had an "accent". I was somewhat disappointed. After learning and practicing it so long, it is still so obvious that I am it is a "foreign" language to me. In my opinion, I think pronunciation practice would be beneficial and as the authors said, empowering.