EFL LEARNING

Helping learners perceive sounds: pointing out misperceptions and differences

Helping learners produce sounds: by the imitation of new sounds

Providing feedback and pointing out what is going on: The teacher provides the learners with information or helps with their mispronunciation; so they are aware of their difficulties, pay attention and improve.

Word stress is really important to bear in mind because it can change the "message"

Establishing priorities: by a plan of action: to focus on a certain skill, to improve their pronunciation and to realize the importance of speak and pronounce accurately

Assessing progress: if students receive information about their progress, they will maintain their motivation

Activity selection: it must be helpful and useful considering what type of exercise the learner needs to do and how (bearing in mind the learner's learning style), or what skill he/she needs to improve

Responsability: effort; monitor their mispronunciation

Pronunciation goals: native-like speaking is consider innapropriate for most learners

But depending on the future occupation that learner will need a navite accent: English teacher, telephone operator,etc.

Comfortably intelligible

The native language: learner's native language is reflected on some features of his/her spoken English.

Combination of sounds: rhythm and intonation

There are "more favoured" and "less favoured" languages

Age factor: The common belief is that children acquire easily native-speaking accent, rather than adults.

Susan Oyama: by a research of 60 male Italian learners she demostrated that the younger a person was when he started to learn English, the more native-like his accent is.

Catherine E. Snow and Marian Hoefnagel-Hohle: by a research of Dutch students: the older students (17, 21 ans 31 years old) got the highest scores; the youngest (5 and 6 years old) got the lowest scores.

In the sort term, older learners were better than younger learners.

In the long term (after a year) children begun to excel.

Ability, motivation, attitude and opportunity

Amount of exposure: if the learner is surrounded by the language (if he lives in an English speaking country) it is a huge advantage

Bilingual and multilingual situations (at work, studies) can be an advantage for those learners who do not live in an English-speaking environment.

Phonetic ability: each learner has "the basic equipment" but some "better ear"

The teacher has to offer a variety of tasks in order to fulfill the learner's needs

Attitude and Identity: "sense of identity" and "group affiliation"

People tend to imitate and adopt ways of speaking to show positive and friendly feelings.

Personal commitement to a community and the sense of belonging to the "new" one.

"Integrative motivation" the learner's willing to be integrated into the new speech community

Learners with strong sense of identity linked to the place of birth, may work againt any change in their ways of speaking

Motivation: "achievement motivation" is the desire to, for example, pronounce as better as possible. So learners need to be aware of their mistakes and take care of them.

Concern for good pronunciation: how "bad" a learner's pronunciation is and it can result in difficulty, irritation and misunderstunding for the listener.