Pronunciation

Discussion
1. How important is a native-like accent to using a second language?
Which native accent?
2. How much of the difficulty of acquiring L2 phonology is due to the
learner’s first language?
3. Do you accept that English is now different from other languages
because it functions like a lingua franca?
4. What uses can you find in coursebooks for phonetic script? What
other uses can you think of?
What features of pronunciation are likely to help or hinder speakers of ELF (English as a lingua franca) to
understand each other?

RP: Received Pronunciation

GA: General American
• linguists commonly make distinctions between rhotic and non-rhotic
dialects or accents. Simply put, rhotic speakers pronounce the /r/ in
words like large and park, while non-rhotic speakers generally don't
pronounce the /r/ in these words. Non-rhotic is also known as "r"-
dropping.
Lingua Franca Core
• Most consonant sounds + one vowel (/ɜː/)
• Preservation of most consonant clusters
• Vowel length (especially before voiced/unvoiced consonants)
• Appropriate word grouping and placement of nuclear stress
1. Consonant sounds

• All English consonant sounds are necessary EXCEPT /θ/ and /ð/ (for which most
substitutions are possible, such as /f/ and /v/, but probably not /ʃ/, /ʤ/ or /z/).
• ‘Dark /l/’ (also written as [ɫ]) is not necessary. Speakers can substitute ‘clear /l/’
(possibly preceded by a schwa if the /l/ is syllabic, like at the end of
‘bottle’). Substituting /ʊ/ for /l/ at the ends of words might also be acceptable, but more
research is needed to confirm this.
• /r/ should be pronounced as in General American pronunciation (technically called a
“rhotic retroflex approximant” and written as [ɻ]. It should also be pronounced
everywhere it occurs in spelling, as in American English.
• /t/ needs to be carefully pronounced between vowels (e.g. ‘Italy’) and in clusters in the
middle of words (e.g. ‘winter’). It should not be ‘flapped’ (as in General American
pronunciation, ‘Italy’ might sound like ‘Idaly’ or ‘latter’ might sound like ‘ladder’); and it
should not be replaced with a glottal stop (like in Cockney ‘better’).
• The consonants /p/, /t/ and /k/ must be aspirated when occurring in initial position in a
stressed syllable (e.g. the first /p/ in ‘paper’).
2. Consonant clusters

• Clusters of consonants at the beginning of words must not be simplified (e.g. learners mustn’t drop the /r/ at
the start of ‘product’).

• Clusters of consonants in the middle or at the end of words are a bit more complicated. They can be
simplified if it makes articulation easier, but only according to rules of elision (i.e. dropping sounds) that also
apply to native English varieties (especially in clusters containing /t/ and /d/, like ‘postman’).

• If learners have trouble producing consonant clusters, it’s usually OK to insert a very short schwa vowel
between consonants, providing they don’t then stress this syllable (e.g. ‘product’ could be pronounced more
like [pә’rɒdʌkәtә] by Japanese speakers without damaging intelligibility).

• Similarly, learners can add a short schwa at the end of a word ending with a consonant, provided this does
not create another word which it might be confused with (e.g. ‘hard’ sounding like ‘harder’).
3. Vowels

• Length contrasts must be preserved, e.g. ‘pill’ versus ‘peel. However, the actual quality of vowels
is less important, providing it’s consistent (e.g. don’t keep switching between different
pronunciations of the vowel in ‘hat’ so sometimes it sounds like RP [hæt] and sometimes it sounds
like New Zealand [het]).

• The length of diphthongs must be preserved but, again, the actual quality of the vowels is less
important, providing it’s consistent.

• When a vowel occurs before an unvoiced consonant, it should sound slightly shorter than when it
occurs before a voiced consonant. For example, the vowel in ‘right’ is slightly shorter than the
vowel in ‘ride’, and the vowel in ‘kit’ is slightly shorter than the vowel in ‘kid’.

• The /ɜː/ vowel, as in ‘girl’ or ‘first’, must be pronounced accurately.

4. Word groups and nuclear stress

• The stream of speech should be divided into meaningful tone units

(also known as ‘tone groups’, ‘word groups’ or ‘thought groups’).

• Nuclear stress (i.e. which word is stressed within a ‘tone group’) must
placed appropriately, especially for contrast/emphasis. This means
the difference in meaning should be clear between, for example,
‘Let’s meet NEXT Saturday’ and ‘Let’s meet next SATURDAY’.
• Jenkins, J. (2000). The phonology of English as an
International Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Jenkins, J. (2007). English as a Lingua Franca: Attitude and
Identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Seidlhofer, B. (2011). Understanding English as a Lingua
Franca. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Walker, R. (2010). Teaching the pronunciation of English as a
Lingua Franca. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Source: https://elfpron.wordpress.com/2013/11/21/what-is-the-lfc/