Abstract Summary
This study aimed to develop an intelligibility-oriented approach to teaching L2 pronunciation. It investigated variations in features of Hong Kong English pronunciation and prioritised them with reference to studies on international intelligibility. The paper argues that a feature-based pedagogy offers teachers specific guidelines on determining the priority of teaching/assessing pronunciation.
Abstract :
The choice of an appropriate pronunciation target for L2 learners has been controversial in English language education. Traditionally, this target has been guided by a native-speaker ideology, but it has been criticised because it no longer serves the needs and functions of most international communication, where L2 speakers are the majority. It is argued that contemporary pronunciation teaching should focus on maintaining international intelligibility rather than achieving native-like pronunciation. One pioneering work following this intelligibility principle is Jenkins’s (2000) lingua franca core (LFC), which aims to offer a practical international pronunciation syllabus indicating which phonological features facilitate comprehension in international communication.
This study aimed to develop an intelligibility-oriented approach to teaching pronunciation in Hong Kong by (1) describing variations in features of Hong Kong English (HKE) pronunciation and (2) prioritising them with reference to LFC and other studies on international intelligibility. Specifically, 120 local Cantonese speakers of different English proficiency levels and educational backgrounds (secondary students of different academic abilities, undergraduate students, and professionals of different occupations) were invited to participate in an 8/10-minute group interaction task, which sought to elicit their phonological features. Their interactions were video-/audio-recorded and transcribed phonemically, followed by identifying typical HKE pronunciation features. These features were ranked according to previous intelligibility findings and their frequency of occurrences. Our findings suggest that some more frequently occurring HKE features (e.g., long/short vowel contrast, initial consonant clusters, /n/ vs /l/ sounds) that may hinder intelligibility should be the focus of teaching, whereas those that are less common and/or less likely to affect understanding (e.g., ‘th’ sound, ‘dark l’, final consonant clusters) can be taught with lower priority. The paper argues that this feature-based pedagogy can offer teachers more specific guidelines on determining the priority of teaching/assessing particular pronunciation features based on students’ diverse needs and English proficiency levels.
