イアン・ウィリアム・ウォーナー

125

吉備国際大学研究紀要（人文・社会科学系）
第29号，125−140，2019

大学における上級者向け英語発音授業
イアン・ウィリアム・ウォーナー
Advanced Under-Graduate Level English Language Pronunciation Lessons
Ian William WARNER
Abstract
This mediation on advanced under-graduate level pronunciation practice lessons firstly draws
attention to the fact that word comprehension, while wholly desirable, is in no way a perquisite
for effective and thus beneficial pronunciation tuition. It then argues against all self-defeating
use of phonetic symbols, before appraising the merits of utilizing Japanese and foreign English
language news report articles as primary pronunciation practice texts. After reflecting on thepros and cons of paper-based and paperless (electronic) practice text usage, it considers theutility of annotation, dictation, spelling focus and homework-setting and so on, prior to offeringa basic 90-minute duration model pronunciation lesson plan which the author contends islikely to be optimally rigorous and effective under generally prevailing‘real world’conditions.
Key words：English Language Pronunciation
キーワード：英語発音

The irrelevance of student word comprehension:

comprehension is irrelevant and unnecessary

Dedicated pronunciation lessons must - naturally -for students who must have and retain, as theirnever be allowed to evolve into Reading and /necessary central task and preoccupation, theor Listening comprehension lessons. Efforts

goal of evolving a reliable ability to generally

to ensure correct Reading and / or Listening

pronounce ‘acceptably’, words which they

comprehension have no validity in dedicatedthemselves choose to use and encounter. That a

Pronunciation lessons. The distinction between thelarge minority or even majority of words contained

goal of assuring correct pronunciation and correctin more advanced assigned pronunciation practiceReading and / or Listening comprehension is

texts may well be unknown to students isclear and must not be forgotten. Strictly speaking,immaterial. Pronunciation lesson students must be

吉備国際大学外国語学部〒700-0931 岡山県岡山市北区奥田西町５番５号
School of Foreign Language Studies, Kibi International University
5-5, Okuda Nishi-cho, Okayama-shi, Kita-ku, Okayama-ken, Japan (700-0931)

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大学における上級者向け英語発音授業

left in no doubt that their sole task and objective

undergraduate level pronouncing courses. Doingis to improve (and, in the process, honestly reveal

so is liable to be immediately confusing andat frequent intervals) the extent and accuracy ofdebilitating for all students so exposed and wholly

their phonetic-phonemic knowledge and resultant

irrational. Only tiny minorities (at best) of evencapacity to output‘standard’,‘received’Anglovery capable undergraduate students are likely

and / or American style pronunciation - oreven nominally aware of any such symbols (whichsomething deemed‘sufficiently‘close’and akinvary) at the outset of advanced pronouncing

to them, so as to be‘acceptable’to any properly

courses, let alone be functionally conversant.

objective yet reasonably discerning arbiter

And they will not be able to become so in any(Warner, 2017).

short enough time-frame. Courses and component
lessons dedicated to ensuring the‘accurate’- or

Rejection of phonetic symbols:at least‘better’- pronouncing of English (or any

As noted in Warner (2017), the development

other language’s) words cannot sensibly be given

and present day ubiquity of reliable, easy andover, in full or part, to phonetic symbol acquisition.

quick-to-operate mobile digital hardware andAny such initiative launched at the expense ofsoftware technologies has surely greatly reduced

conventional visual-aural pronunciation practiceor minimised the everyday salience of phonetic

will be time ill- or misspent and probably wasted.

symbols for non-phoneticians. The official

It is simply unrealistic to imagine otherwise.

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) soundThat different phonetic symbols are required

description symbol chart for the English language

to accurately represent different national and(and its accompanying set of‘extensions’andregional accents is a further reason to ignore themdiacritics) is intended for employment by expert

entirely. Phonetic symbols will invariably not bephoneticians et al, not non-native language

understood. It is far more effective to rely entirely

learners. It is difficult for most people - andon alphabet-based visual and aural conveyance of

certainly relatively casual users - even to partiallythat information: while“fon-net-tix”will definitely

comprehend, let alone master and use reliably. It is

be immediately replicable by all undergraduate

thus a‘wholly unrealistic, non-viable proposition’,students, the writing of“fənetɪks”will not.

for most undergraduate non-native language

The core activity for undergraduate students oflearners, (above all, perhaps, those who wish to

English language pronunciation is to constantly

receive all instruction in English). Any successful

look at - and listen to - ‘real’ alphabet-spelt

undergraduate student mastering of the official(printed and spoken) English words and to

IPA chart for the English language constitutes

attempt to accurately appraise and determine

an exceptional feat, and would necessitate a long

how they should be ‘correctly’ uttered, andperiod of intense study. There is nowadays nothen to attempt to do precisely that. In real-life,

good reason for pronunciation instructors to utilise

everyday reading and speaking situations, we seephonetic symbols at any stage of non-specialist

and hear only words, not phonetic symbols. When

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students encounter words that they believe likely

ideal material for under-graduate level

ought not be pronounced‘as they are written’,pronunciation practice (Warner 2017). Advanced,

they must make educated guesses as to whatyet‘every day use’, vocabulary is exactly whatthe‘acceptable’pronunciation actually should

Japanese students of English ought to be ablebe, based on the knowledge that they have so far

pronounce‘acceptably’, immediately after they

managed to acquire, learn and retain in memory

encounter or opt to use it.

from prior instruction.
Moreover, topical English language news
The importance of practicing pronunciation inagency and newspaper reports are, at present,

context:

also immediately accessible - electronically - in

Familiar and unfamiliar words that students

inexhaustible abundance and variety, wheneverfind hard to pronounce‘acceptably’should be

instructors and students enjoy internet access.

pronounced as much as possible, in isolation, in

Furthermore, a large proportion of daily Japaneselist from, and within sentences. Advancement

and foreign English language news reports arein pronunciation and - thus reading speed andstill offered to the public free-of-charge. Unlike

fluidity - will conceivably be greater if such

conventional, commercially-published books andwords are pronounced as component elements

textbooks, news agency and newspaper reportsof sentences, not solely‘unanchored’specimens.

(and some current affairs journals) can therefore

While pronunciation of problematic or worse

be extremely time and cost efficient to locate,words in isolation and list from is advisable,

examine, evaluate, assess, select, distribute, copy,

students should likely ensure that they prioritise

print and store (to the extents that the last four

sentence-based pronunciation, since that is theactivities are legal).

authentic context in which all words are seen andheard.

Finally, English language news agency andnewspaper reports should also be attractive to

Advantages of news report utilisation:

all those eager to assist Japanese undergraduate

It is contended that it is highly beneficial -students in intensive practical, trial-and-error

at undergraduate level - to employ standard

efforts to improve their general English language

mainstream English language news agency,

pronouncing skills, because they are normally quite

newspaper and / or current affairs journals

short and thus less likely to be thought daunting,and magazine reports (in original or abridged

intimidating, dull, monotonous and off-putting by

and perhaps simplified form) and have students

students. Careful selection and employment ofultimately recite them aloud for pronunciation

fiction and / or non-fiction book extracts (or any

assessment and improvement purposes, since it isform of vocabulary-rich typed correspondence

exactly these products that contain the suitably

or memoranda) for advanced and extended

rich advanced-level vocabulary that approximate

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inferior to an exclusive reliance on news reports.

Advantages of English Language Japanese news

There is little doubt that even very poorly

report utilisation:

crafted works will provide students with ample

The use of leading English language Japanesecontent to attempt to pronounce‘correctly’andnews agency and newspaper reports for advanced‘acceptably’. However, instructor-designated or

pronunciation practice lessons is attractive

approved portions of novels and the like are better

primarily because it enables the instructor toutilised alongside a still very large number of

easily and quickly find and select - on-line -comparatively short news reports, that focus on -numerous suitably vocabulary-rich texts about

and potentially educate about - a myriad range ofJapan-centred and Japan-related topics, issues

oft important and highly relevant topics, in andand problems, etc that students in Japan (beoutside Japan, and globally, because doing so will

they natives or foreigners undertaking exchange

increase variety, reduce possible monotony and so

studies) will be more - and sometimes very -constitute a less risky proposition.

familiar with and interested in, compared tootherwise similar texts, sourced from lessPronunciation instructors with large or exclusively

familiar and completely unknown foreign entities.

Japanese student contingents do not have toStudents may well be apt to find the former more

source news reports from foreign (i.e. non-pertinent, alluring, accessible and motivating

Japanese) companies. It is quite feasible (though(to the extent that they are able to understandundesirable) to rely exclusively on the English

them in the limited time available or later on).

language news reports produced by Japan’s own

Student realisation that chosen pronunciation

leading internal / domestic news agencies andpractice material is actually of Japanese origin,newspapers, since they more than suffice in terms

generally authored and translated by Japaneseof target-suitable vocabulary, despite some minor

persons, and supplied by well-known, seemingly

and trivial deficiencies.

influential, nationally important Japanese news
agencies and / or national or regional newspapers

News report sources:(which, in Japan, may be considered somewhat

Most leading English language news agency

prestigious and authoritative) may help induceand newspapers currently permit free internet

some percentage of students to proceed withaccess to at least some reports. Moreover, though

greater interest, seriousness, energy, diligence

Japan-based and focussed, a large portion ofetc, in comparison to when they are told to use‘Japan Today’s’content is currently imported

unknown foreign materials that primarily focus(assuring excellent vocabulary range and error

on and reflect the internal and external affairs ofminimisation).

other nations and foreign readerships.
English language Japanese news agency andnewspaper reports are, on the whole, also

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substantially shorter than their Anglo-American

Finally, there seems to be a perceptible tendency

equivalents which is often a good thing, since

to over-use certain words and phrases, at thelarge minorities or majorities of pronunciation

expense of easy-to-recall alternatives. Yet thesestudents may well tend to prefer to study two

faults hardly pose serious problems, and it may

or more lucid and concise reports about entirely

well be that the frequency at which such errors

different topics rather than one single report ofand missteps are committed has, for various

perhaps excessive size, if only for interest’s sakereasons, been declining of late.

or psychological reasons.
Advantages of non-Japanese newspaper report
Disadvantages of English language Japaneseutilisation:news report utilisation:

Non-Japanese English language news agency

Leading, larger circulation English language

and newspaper reports constitute excellent

Japanese news agency and newspaper reports

pronunciation practice text materials because

are all comparatively high - or excellent - quality,

they are likely to be well written and structured

non-tabloid products. From the pronunciation

etc and contain optimally rich arrays of evenly

instructor and student’s perspective, they

distributed target-suitable words throughout.

are well-enough drafted, contain sufficiently

Currently more advanced and competenthigh percentages of appropriately challenging

Japanese students might well relish non-Japanese

vocabulary, and - as just mentioned - generallynews reports for various reasons related and /comprise of an easily digestible number of words.

or unrelated to pronunciation, especially if theirThat said, they do, appear likely, statistically, toEnglish Reading and or Listening comprehension

normally be written in somewhat less advanced

is of a standard that allows them to broadly

and less sophisticated manners vis-à-vis sentence

understand the paragraphs that comprise them. In

construction and phrasing, etc, when compared

general, students should assume that non-Japanesewith their foreign counterparts and - as one would

reports will tend to be at least slightly morepredict - probably feature less varied, less exotic

difficult - pronunciation-wise - and longer, than

vocabulary and lower percentages of appropriately

Japanese ones and, self-evidently, far less likely tochallenging vocabulary, than the latter. Also as

focus on, or mention, Japan-related topics unless

one would anticipate, it does appear that the

one narrows one’s search perimeters.

likelihood of encountering odd and patently
incorrect grammar and sentence constructions

Disadvantages of non-Japanese news report(if not typing errors) in leading English language

utilisation:

Japanese news agency and newspaper reports is

There appear to be no good reasons why Japan-

higher than for Anglo-American and other non-based English language pronunciation instructors

Japanese (e.g. Continental European) English

should refrain from giving their advanced

language news agency and newspaper reports.

students pronunciation practice ‘raw’ and /130

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or edited extracts sourced from non-Japanesea) neither excessively short or long; b) contains a

English language news agencies and newspapers,

high percentage (relative to its total word count)even though some tend to publish protracted andof target-suitable words difficult for students tointricate reports.

pronounce; c) features a relatively constant andeven distribution of difficult to pronounce words

The desirability of using Japanese and non-throughout its body;

Japanese English language news reports ininstances of difficult to pronounce words, placed

unison:in close proximity to one another; e) contains

Instructors should not hesitate to give theirnumerous instances of difficult to pronounce

advanced students pronunciation practice texts

words strung together, one after the other; f)sourced from both Japanese and non-Japanesecontains at least some instances of less common

English language news report providers. The

and relatively rare words that may or may notformer are certainly good enough to employ withbe difficult for students to pronounce; g) does

confidence and ought not be shunned any more

not contain any single difficult to pronounce word

than the latter. Instructors can choose which

an excessive number of times; h) is well written

percentage of reports they select from Japaneseand organised; i) is not overly repetitious; j)and non-Japanese sources. They can also decidecomprises of well-chosen vocabulary that, at least

whether to adhere rigidly to just one single ratio

to some minimal extent, will be spontaneously

for an entire course, or opt for an ever changing‘passively’comprehendible to many students, ormix from week to week (which would facilitatequickly‘decipherable’if they attempt (voluntarily)

and reflect the need to assure report quality andto ‘decode’ it (outside of lesson time);

appropriateness). The only practice that common

comprises of easily digestible paragraphs which

sense suggests should be avoided is the deliberate

are not too small or large and which thus don’tcomplete exclusion of Japanese or non-Japanese

need to be merged with others or sub-divided

sources. While the most advanced Japaneseby the instructor prior to use; l) has, as its main

students of English pronunciation might preferfocus, subject matter which the instructor believes

fewer Japanese and more non-Japanese reports,

will - or should - be of at least some passing

less advanced and confident students mightinterest to his or her students and thereby likely

plump for the opposite course, once familiar withto win and hold their attention, and stimulate

and trusting of English language Japanese news

for a sufficiently long period of time; m) has, asagency and newspaper content.

its main focus, a topic and subject matter whichd) contains numerousk)the instructor regards as being in some way
News report selection:

profound, important and / or educational or, at

The‘ideal’news agency or newspaper report forleast, amusing; n) does not contain many non-advanced pronation will be that which meets the

English words or an inordinate number of hardfollowing criteria:

to pronounce given names, surnames or placeイアン・ウィリアム・ウォーナー

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names; o) contains at least single mentions ofalways have an observable positive or negativelarge numbers (i.e. hundreds, thousands and / orinfluence on how students respond to and engage

millions), years, decimal points, important common

with assigned pronunciation texts, should avoid

abbreviations such as “Ltd.” and important

selecting news reports etc that they believep) does notmight, for whatever reasons, discourage andcontain highly‘offensive’words, descriptions or

deflate, rather than encourage and animate,statements, etc.

some or all students. It appears wisest for thesymbols such currency signs;

instructor to always or usually attempt to provide
If all or most of the above criteria are met, one

an eclectic mix of Japanese and foreign-sourced

can be confident that students will be presented

news reports of varying lengths - both relatedwith a first-class and potentially informative andand unrelated to things Japanese - which he orthought-provoking pronunciation practice text

she believes they will, may or should find topical,

that will require them to produce the full gamut

relevant, important, and otherwise interestingof English phoneme sounds.

and stimulating (if only on the strength of theirheadlines). Certainly the enlightened humanist

Further reflections on news report selection:

charged ‘only’ with enhancing pronouncing

It is wise to experiment but important to remainskills will always prefer to assign students high-cognizant of the fact that while news reports andquality, potentially enlightening report texts

texts of all kinds will almost certainly be at worst

about profound topics, even if he / she knowsminimally fit for purpose, the quality of reportor suspects that few if any will have the ability,

writing does vary markedly. Some reports are

inclination and time to focus on comprehending

greatly more vocabulary-rich, finely-crafted andthem after firstly focussing on pronouncing thempolished than others, so instructors should always

accurately. Attractive, enticing content must notappraise and vet earmarked reports discerningly.

distract, but is nevertheless desirable as‘bait’.

Instructors concerned only with pronunciation

Editing of news reports:

skill enhancement always have a choice between

Caution should be exercised regarding texts that

disregarding subject-matter as irrelevant, or

take longer than 20-25 minutes for the native

placing some emphasis on it precisely because

speaker to read through slowly - and recordof the nature of their task. As emphasised

carefully - once. U.S. news agency and high-above, the determining measure for assessing

end newspaper reports (along with those foundhow suitable a given news report is regarding

in prestige journals) can be long by British

pronunciation practice, should be the suitability

standards. Judicious editing on the part of theand variedness of the vocabulary comprising

instructor of those reports that he or she deems

it. Yet instructors who suspect that subject-

to be of excessive length is wise, if the instructor

matter may, to varying extents, sometimes or

believes the inherent quality of the text justifies

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大学における上級者向け英語発音授業

such.

drive, progress and accomplishment and forestalllosses of momentum and flagging engagement.

Advantages of Graded Readers and / or books:
Graded Readers and / or novels and short stories

Use of the Oxford 3,000 most commonly used

are the obvious alternative complimentary

word list:

product to news reports. By definition they will

Available on-line, free of charge, and featuringrespectively contain controlled, level-specific andextremely useful British and American audio

un-controlled high or highest level (eg. CEFR C2)

playback examples for each entry, the Oxford 3,000

vocabulary of superior quality and range, ideal

list of most commonly used words can serve as anfor pronunciation practice utilisation. Essentially,

important supplementary resource for advanced

graded readers and / or novels should be

pronunciation students, as it is these words above

committed to only when one is very confident

all that they will need to‘identify’and replicate.

that they will be received favourably and not

Pronunciation instructors should regularly use thisconsidered over-priced.

handy resource or similar during lessons and / oras a focus for assigned homework activities.

Disadvantages of Graded Readers and / orbooks:

Advantages of printed pronunciation practiceReading just one or a few book extracts can bematerials:

wonderful from the point of view pronunciation,

Self-printed pronunciation practice materials

above all when the participating students(including the printing of on-line accessed news

understand a lion’s share of the content. But

reports) of course have the great advantage ofbooks, however prestigious, might be more

permitting full physical in-classroom portability.

likely than (comparatively brief and fleeting)Students so provisioned do not need to remain

wire service and press reports, sooner or later,tied to PC or internet-connected device screensto cause or contribute to student dissatisfaction

which can be uncomfortable to use for protracted

and boredom, or worse. It may well be lessperiods. Furthermore, students are able to freely

monotonous and tedious to pronounce the words ofcircle, underline, highlight and annotate paper-

a number of carefully selected news reports (frombased texts with ease, as instructed and / or as

different countries or cities and / or companies)

they see fit. While feasible, doing the equivalent

about entirely different topics, than an equivalent

with digital files tends to be more awkward evennumber of words contained in a single chapter

when using the most user-friendly software (such(chosen or authorised by the instructor) that allas the Apple OS Preview application) and students

relate to one single narrative. Studying whateverare enthusiastic and pretty much computer

number of news and / or current affairs reports

literate (which is not always the case).

may well be more likely than any single bookextract to give students a sense of dynamism,イアン・ウィリアム・ウォーナー

133

Disadvantages of printed pronunciation practicetexts can be projected and‘mirrored’as well as

materials:

distributed and collected via file transfer.

Self-printed pronunciation practice materials
obviously have various major disadvantages. Apart

Disadvantages of digital pronunciation practicefrom necessitating‘heavy’and costly use of paper,materials:

ink and electricity (especially when class sizes

As stated above, digitally recorded pronunciation

are large), they take time for instructors and /practice files obviously tie instructors andor students to print etc and likely tend to be

students alike very closely to whatever form

less convenient to keep, store, protect, preserve,of device platform they have at their disposal:

transport and find, and much easier to mislay andmachines that firstly may not be optimal in terms

damage.

of size, general specification or ease-of-use, andsecondly, can and often do eventually cause - or

Advantages of digital pronunciation practicecontribute to - student discomfort, fatigue andmaterials:

related mind-wandering, etc, if not frustration.

The creation of digital pronunciation practicePCs and even portable devices are not necessarily

materials - be they URL links, Adobe pdf. or

more, or even as comfortable, amenable andeditable Microsoft Word or Apple Pages formatted

ergonomically conducive as pieces of paper.

files, is, needless to say, quicker, easier, cheaper,

Digital device dependency may for these reasons,greener and generally more convenient than

if only to some limited extent, physically inhibit

printing. Such files are instantly displayable andoptimally beneficial and enjoyable student pairenlargeable on monitor and TV screens, can be

and group work activities. Perhaps the gravest

sent to any known recipient e-mail and social

drawback regarding reliance on digitally recorded

media address at any time, be duplicated, saved

pronunciation practice material files stems fromand stored easily, in seconds, as desired, locallythe fact that they are a far more awkward andand remotely (including on free internet cloud

inefficient to circle, underline, highlight andservice websites, if one chooses) and then searchedannotate, even for more competent PC users

for, found, opened and - if necessary - printed(and, as touched on above, not all undergraduate

with like ease and speed. Importantly, digital

students today deserve that epithet). Finally,

files can be audio read / narrated automatically

digitally recorded and stored files are, of course,

by computer applications and even computer

useless whenever one is unable to operate theoperating systems, notably the Apple OS’shardware needed to access them.

user-friendly, fairly realistic-sounding and quite
extensively customisable‘Text to Speech’feature.

A balance between printed and digital

In addition, digital file use permits comprehensive

distribution of practice materials:

utilization of college Computer Assisted Language

It is seemingly best practice to adhere to a

Learning (CALL) hardware. For example, file

pragmatic,‘middle of the road’approach wherein

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大学における上級者向け英語発音授業

printing, given its various cons, is minimised andtext(s), but on the amount of time the instructor

reserved for those occasions when it is thought

allocates to formal pronunciation investigation andlikely to facilitate optimally efficient learning.

checking, as well as student decisions about its

Instructors should distribute ALL pronunciation

utility.

materials in electronic, digital form but also print
SOME of them, namely those that they want

Regularly requiring students to i) read throughand / or expect students to scrutinise, annotate,practice texts in search of words that they knowcomplete and / or read comprehensively foror suspect they probably cannot pronounce

longer stints and / or more important reasons.

correctly;ii) check their actual correct

pronunciation and iii) then annotate accordingly
The utility of annotation:(prior or subsequent to any actual voiced reading)

Whenever students are confronted with ais doubtless an excellent use of pronunciation

word that they are unsure how to pronounce,

lesson time, providing that the time allocated isthey should, assuming that they have notneither too fleeting nor too lengthy, and this type

been forbidden and time allows, needless toof exercise is not demanded to an excessively

say endeavour to ascertain exactly how thatfrequent extent. That said, instructors need toword should be pronounced ‘acceptably’balance or subordinate annotation exercises withand consequently locate the word in a digitalstraight, preparation-free, immediate reading alouddictionary or via online website that featuresand subsequent real-time instructor correction,

British and American English audio playbackfor it is far more the latter exercise that enables

pronunciation functionality. Having established -advanced students to expose themselves toaurally - exactly how the word should beappropriately large numbers of practice-worthy

pronounced, they ought then make appropriately

words during each lesson.

brief annotation on their practice text page and /or elsewhere, for near and long-term future

The danger of excessive annotation:reference. Annotation is surely a vitally beneficial

In practice, it is unrealistic to expect evenactivity for all pronunciation students: one that

advanced level pronunciation students toshould be constantly encouraged to make andconstantly annotate even printed, large-fontkeep it habitual. On the other hand, students

pronunciation practice documents. Instructors

should be urged to annotate as sparingly, clearlyand students must do more than annotate andand concisely as possible, and instructors shouldnecessarily heavy, extensive, rigorous annotating

always ensure that neither too little nor too muchof more difficult and demanding texts is a time

time is devoted to doing so. The exact amountconsuming and laborious, if normally worthwhileof annotation that students carry out during any

endeavour. Instructors should be careful not togiven lesson will depend not only on the difficultly,

require students to do excessive amounts of note-

length and number of the assigned practice

making, and to allocate realistic time frames:イアン・ウィリアム・ウォーナー

135

heavy annotating sessions conceivably ought not

towards pronunciation accuracy per se and / or

take-up more than 45 minutes of each lesson.

the specific pronunciation texts assigned.

How should students annotate?

Students known to have currently less advanced

Given that they cannot competently use phonetic

or intermediate pronunciation skills who generally

symbols, students must annotate as they think

do not produce much in the way of extensive

best in English / and or their native language,or high quality annotation should be urged toboth when they are being directly instructed bytry to annotate more because it might engendertheir teacher and especially when researching

performance improvements, whereas students

correct pronunciations by and for themselves.

known to possess currently already more

What matters is that students write quickly,

advanced or excellent pronunciation skills should

legibly and informatively and then properly heed

never be penalised for failing to heavily annotate,

their notes at key junctures.

since they may rightly think it unnecessary.
Instead, they should be permitted to decide for

Evaluating and assessing student annotation:

themselves when to annotate. Generally speaking,

There is no compelling need for instructors to

up to a certain point, the more aware, capable

examine, evaluate and assess the extent and /and confident a student becomes regardingor quality of student annotation. Doing so is‘correct’pronouncing, the more they will likely

largely pointless because it does not permit

recognise the need for extensive annotation

sound assessment of current pronunciation

whenever told to study and subsequently readability, expended effort and / or motivation level.

aloud difficult pronunciation practice texts

Annotation is only a means to an end: namely

as well as they can. Accurate, appropriately

the achievement of permanently‘acceptable’

extensive and generally excellent ‘research’pronunciation. Estimated current pronouncing

annotation vis-à-vis challenging and perhaps

ability is what needs to be determined andlengthy pronunciation practice texts should bemonitored, not the annotations of pronouncers.

taken to indicate that the annotator may wellStudents can only legitimately be graded on

currently have at least intermediate - and possibly

what they are seen to do. But the amount andadvanced - pronunciation skills, and certainly

quality of annotation that each student outputs

possess a good or excellent motivation and / orwill probably vary and fluctuate considerably‘endurance’level. In contrast, sheets that containfrom lesson to lesson, and over time, for numerous

very little annotation reveal little or nothing

reasons, including changes in current ability

about the pronunciation ability or motivationlevel, often related changes in how necessarylevels. No legitimate inferences can be drawn -and beneficial students think annotation will be,in isolation - from them. Students who annotate

and often associated fluctuations in overall level

hardly at all may be suffering from a chronic lackof interest, enthusiasm and resultant motivation

pronunciation skill and motivation, or overflowing

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大学における上級者向け英語発音授業

with both.

one-off and occasionally deployed pronunciationcentric activities, including, ideally, animating and

Dictation:

enlightening games judged adequately relevantLong dictation is a useful secondary activity for

and unlikely to overly stress or embarrass.

advanced pronunciation students at least if the
instructor prepares user-friendly paper dictation

The advisability of assigning homework:

work-sheets. Students can either be limited in how

Pronunciation homework is better assigned

many times they are permitted to listen to thethan not, given the fundamental objective ofrecorded (or live-spoken) text content, or allowed

maximising student pronunciation capacity. Sound

to listen to it as much as they like on their own

regular practice moves one closer to perfection. If

PC or device. Correct spelling can either bethought likely to be adequately beneficial and therequired, and left to each student to ensure, or -recipients do not loathe it as a seriously onerous

more realistically - made clear to class-members

or intolerable burden, such additional work should

via separate, random-order digital or printed

be given, assessed and returned weekly.

keyword list, distributed initially or later on.
A model pronunciation lesson outline:
Spelling:

Shown below is an‘ideal’rump outline plan for a

Activities explicitly designed to enhance spelling

typical 90-minute dedicated pronunciation lesson.

accuracy can be incorporated into advanced

Some component steps described can sometimes

pronunciation lessons but should be accorded low

be skipped by the instructor or students, as ispriority given the applicability of digital spell-thought best or time dictates. While the proposed

checking technologies and inherent difficulty

step ordering appears optimal, it too can beentailed.

altered. The steps outlined form a core framework:
other brief secondary activities can and should

The need for lesson plan variation:

be undertaken before and / or after, whenever

While arguably not so important for advanced

feasible.

learners, it is nevertheless important to ensurethat pronunciation lessons not take on a single,

Step 01 - Commencement and familiarisation:

uniform, unchanging format, since - as with

Students are presented with size 11 font printed

any subject - such ‘rutting’ may cause or(or pdf. digital) copies of one carefully selected,

contribute to the student dissatisfaction andpossibly abridged news agency or newspaperboredom, or worse. Regular main elements ofsourced news report (or a book or essay extract).

each pronunciation lesson should - to the extent

Each student is told to read all (or an optimally-

possible - therefore be varied and passed throughsized first portion) of the chosen text silently, atin different orders and perhaps speeds, fromleast once, and to initially‘by-pass’(rather thanweek to week, and interspersed with a variety ofdwell on or check) every familiar or unfamiliarイアン・ウィリアム・ウォーナー

137

word that they come across which they know

have just heard (and can simultaneously see, reador suspect themselves unable to pronounce

and follow in their - now annotated - corresponding‘acceptably’.

practice text document), on a sentence-by-sentence
and / or main and subordinate clause basis,

Step 02 - Close scrutinising:

immediately after they hear it.

Students are required to repeat Step 1 but
underline, circle or otherwise highlight each andStep 06 - Simultaneous shadow reading:every aforementioned (familiar or unfamiliar)

Students are required to listen to the audio-only orword that they know or suspect is problematic

audio-visual files (for a second or third time) andpronunciation-wise;

simultaneously shadow recite aloud and verbatim
from start to finish exactly what they can see,

Step 03 - Consideration and reflection:

read and follow in their practice text document, asStudents are required to ponder for a whilein step 5, but as they hear it.

how they ought to‘correctly’pronounce thechallenging words that they have just self-

Step 07 - Comparing and appraising:identified.

Students are required to recite aloud and verbatim
from start to finish exactly what they can see

Step 04 - Investigation, clarification andand read in their practice text document, and to

confirmation:

immediately thereafter listen to the audio-only orWith head or earphones connected to whatever,audio-visual files (for a third or fourth time) for

each student is required to ascertain the‘correct’/

confirmation and enforcement.

‘acceptable’pronunciations of the words thatthey have previously isolated. They do thisStep 08 - Reading (full or partial):

by way of recourse to i) electronic or online

Students are required to read aloud and verbatim

dictionaries offering automated model audio

from start to finish the assigned pronunciation

pronunciation and / or ii) one or more instructor-

practice text once again, either, by and forrecorded (or sourced) model audio-only or audio-

themselves, or with 1-3 partners. In the latter

visual reference files (each covering no more thanscenario, each student in turn proceeds to readone paragraph of assigned practice text, to ensure

one paragraph (max.) before giving way to theeasy file navigation‘scrubbing’).

next, while the other group members (and, fromto-time, the instructor) listen and visually follow

Step 05 - Repeating:and assess progress and monitor for‘serious’Students are required to listen to theerrors (which they should draw the reader’saforementioned audio-only or audio-visual files (forattention to, if detected).

the first or second time) and echo recite aloud andverbatim from start to finish exactly what they

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Step 09 - Demonstrating:

The usefulness of the Apple OS:

Students are required to read aloud and verbatim

The Apple OS boasts an easy-to-operate,

at least one single whole paragraph of therealistic-sounding Text-To-Speech utility. Highly

assigned pronunciation practice text, one-by-customisable, it offers multiple voices, including

one, while their instructor and fellow class-mates

an impressive British ‘RP’ accent. Apple’sagain - collectively - listen and visually follow and‘QuickTime’ utility is a similarly functional

assess their progress and monitor for‘serious’audio and video recording app., (unlike Apple’serrors (which the instructor should draw theinferior iOS-only‘Voice Memos’). These and thereader’s attention to, offer appropriate corrective

semi-professional‘Audacity’program (https://

advice, and then request him / her to makewww.audacityteam.org/) make things simpler

repeat attempts to pronounce‘correctly’andfor instructors and students vis-à-vis recording,‘acceptably’or‘less incorrectly’).

editing and perhaps splicing of captured readings.

Step 10 - Final reading and audio recording for

Principal Conclusions:later instructor and student analysis:01) Pronunciation students must refrain from

Each student is required to audio-record their own

attempting to comprehend texts which they findpersonal voiced verbatim reading of the assigned

hard to understand in full or part, even whenpractice text, as best they can, then electronicallysorely tempted;

deliver the resulting audio file to themselves and02) Word and sentence comprehension efforts

their instructor for definite or possible analysis /should be initiated only after all required

feedback. Recording can be done in stages rather

pronunciation work is completed to the best of

in one take. Students should repeat specific words

one’s ability;and parts of sentences, whenever dissatisfied03) Students must strive not to becomewith the overall accuracy and thus quality ofdemoralised due to frequent pronunciation error

initial attempts. If sufficient time is lacking, audio-

and / or word non-comprehension;

recording should be made homework.

04) Students able to immediately or quickly
comprehend practice texts in full or large part

Step 11 - Analysis and Reflection:

may well tend to enjoy pronunciation practiceFinally, for homework, or at the start of the next

lessons more than those who don’t, but might alsoscheduled lesson, students should listen carefully

tend to be those with less acute need to enhance

to, and compare their own audio recording withand thus practice pronunciation;

the instructor’s already distributed reference05) Phonetic symbols are dysfunctional, so should

audio file(s), ideally, in an instructor-sentence >be dispensed with entirely;

student-sentence pattern or vice-versa. Freely06) In the interests of skill optimisation, a large

available at: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.

proportion of pronunciation practice should behtml VLC VideoLAN makes this easy.

voiced and full-sentence based, where target-イアン・ウィリアム・ウォーナー

139

suitable words are seen and / or heard in proper

body of each selected report;

context, not only in isolated list form;

12) Selected news reports should not suffer from07) for advanced pronunciation lessons, it isexcessive repetition of single target-suitable

optimal to employ standard English language news

words, excessive occurrences of numbers, or non-agency, newspaper and current affairs journal

English language words or names;

and magazine reports (in original or abridged

13) Print and electronic file distribution should be

and perhaps simplified form) for pronunciationembraced: the former when necessary, the latterassessment and improvement purposes, sinceby default;

they: i) contain suitably rich vocabulary; ii) are14) instructors should, whenever possible, makemost likely to interest, stimulate and enliven

and distribute self- audio-recorded model readings,

students; iii) are least likely to bore, depress andthat can be referred to multiple times by students;

deflate students; iv) potentially offer the greatest

15) students should be afforded ample timevariety and most educationally-rich readingin which to ponder, research, practice andcomprehension experiences (for those students

demonstrate correct pronunciations;able to immediately comprehend some or all of16) extensive annotation should be expected,

their content); v) best lend themselves to digital

encouraged and sometimes examined, but neverlearning environments; iv) ensure high all-around.

graded as quantity of annotation, in the abstract,cost-effectiveness and general administrative

provides no sound, bona fide indication of aefficiency;

student’s likely current pronouncing ability or08) English language pronunciation practice texts

motivation level;

should be carefully selected from both Japanese

17) audio - if not video - recording should be

and foreign news agency and newspaper sources;used extensively by students in every lesson, in09) A preponderance of foreign news agency

order to capture their pronunciation efforts forand newspaper reports should be used forcomparative-analysis, etc;

more advanced students but a preponderance18) pronunciation lesson plans should not beof Japanese reports should be used for lessunchanging in structure or monotonous inadvanced students as they will be slightly easier

practice;to pronounce and / or their headlines and content

19) the setting of weekly pronunciation homework

may be considered somewhat more interesting toassignments probably has favorable effects, so isreaders;

advisable;

10) Selected news reports should contain very20) For five plus reasons, Apple’s OS (Mojave)

high percentages (relative to overall word count)platform presently appears more useful toof target-suitable words;

pronunciation instructors and students than11) Target-suitable words should be densely

Microsoft’s Windows 10.

clustered but evenly distributed throughout the140

大学における上級者向け英語発音授業

References
Warner, I. W. (2017) Under-Graduate Level English Language Pronunciation Lessons Journal of Kibi International
University (Humanities and social sciences), Extra Edition, 115-122.
International Phonetic Association (2018) IPA Chart http://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/content/ipachart available under a Creative Commons Attribution - Sharealike 3.0. Unported License.
The Oxford 3000™ Word List
Accessible online at: https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/wordlist/english/oxford3000/