Introduction
Language is a major element in the development of every human being as it enables one to enhance communication effectively without any problem. The way a child will speak and pronounce certain words mostly depends on the environment he or she is exposed to, as he/she will learn how to communicate fluently from the background he is brought up in. Speaking is a skill that brings out the element of pronunciation; it is production of sound to convey a message. Learning a second language calls for personal commitment and practice to be able to be perfect in it. Most students and pupils tend to rely mostly on the teacher who is taking them through the process of acquiring a particular language. It takes more of personal practice unlike the two Chinese students, Ling and Feng who depended mostly on their teacher to learn English (Bowen & Marks 1992).
Main body
Considering their learning habits we find that attitude is a vital thing when learning something new, Ling had a positive attitude towards English language therefore he learned it easily. Contrary, Feng had a negative one and so it was a difficult learning process for her. Wen in his book insists that a number of avenues should be established in effecting this; apart from the teacher –student relationship, we should also have peer-peer and peer-school relationships. This, and also learning from colleagues, will help a student develop his/her pronunciation and speaking skills. Despite Ling and Feng studying at the same school, but they never thought of establishing an alliance to help one another.
Perfect pronunciation is a key thing in learning to speak a given language because it helps one to speak English with more confidence, notice other people’s mistakes and learn to avoid doing the same, learn the answers to many questions, learn phonetic transcription and lastly speak more clearly and be understood by others. Every learner of English as a second language must bear in mind that the sounds which his or her vocal organs are capable of producing are the material through which language systems are actualized. Another important thing is the use of phonetic symbols in an ESL classroom.
The learner must be able to learn how to produce and discriminate given sound symbols by having increased awareness of second language features, visualization of intangible entities such as sounds and increased autonomy when trying to check for pronunciation in the dictionary. The teacher taking the learners through the process of acquiring use of phonetics must have motivation as this will increase a learner’s interest in learning more of the language. One preliminary aspect in trying to make appropriate use of phonetic notation in the classroom is deciding when to use phonetic symbols. However, an important question to ask is what can be done to use phonetic notation without neglecting any essential language skill and/or component of the language syllabus.
The best strategy is to integrate work on pronunciation features into lessons that focus on other language learning activities what is normally called “Integrated Pronunciation Teaching.” The merit of using this is that: First, it does not treat pronunciation as a separate entity from the process of communication since it does not restrict it to particular lessons; secondly, it can be carried out on a daily basis; and lastly, pronunciation can be practiced by aiming at developing three of the four basic skills of learning, which are, reading, listening and speaking.
Conclusion
Furthermore, the teacher should exploit phonetic notation in a classroom and to give introductory and post-introductory lessons (Liu, 2007). The introductory lessons is the first introduction of students to a set of phonetic symbols while the post-introductory lessons deal with the consolidation of the student’s knowledge and later used it as the basis for different activities. To stress on more acquisition of good speaking and fluent pronunciation, the learners must have thorough practice, which can be well cultured into them by using the language daily. Another approach is through co-curriculum activities such as short dramas and debates in the classroom. This highlights the notable mistakes, which are put down and then discussed by the whole class. The teacher on the other hand has to be act as a role model to develop a positive attitude towards the learning of a second language.
Reference List
Bowen, T. & Marks, J. (1992). The Pronunciation Book: Student-Centered Activities for Pronunciation Work. Burnt Mill: Longman.
Liu, J. (2007). English language teaching in China: new approaches, perspectives and standards. New York, NY: Contnuum.