Reflective Practice in Pronunciation Learning

tures gradually and piecemeal, rather than as the outcome of a rapid shift" (p. 95). The following example comes from a student, who had studied English for 14 years prior to coming to the States. It illustrates another essential link -- the one between phonetic knowledge and the ability to self-monitor:

Another big problem is that what I learned about the pronunciation of some words was wrong. And it has become a bad habit to pronounce those words in a wrong way and I even don't notice it. For example, I couldn't pronounce the word "hot" well because my pronunciation of the vowel sound was not correct. But it's kind of difficult to overcome this problem because I thought I was right and it's hard to find someone who is willing to point out all my mistakes during our conversation. "blood." In another time, when a patient needed a blinder to dark the room, I told the aid and he brought me a blender. These examples not only cause my job stress, but also embarrass.

A number of students also reflected on the importance of teaching suprasegmentals. An Asian participant, for instance, wrote:

Before I took this course, my speech tone was very flat. The most important thing is I didn't realize it, but now, I know a lot of how to divide thought groups, and where I should make an emphasis when I read sentences. I really think I make a big progress on it.

This example expresses the students' need to be trained in recognizing the patterns of English. At the same time, it leads us to another of the major themes in the reflections.

Value of Metacognitive Strategies Training

Writing about the role of perception in pronunciation learning, Yule, Hoffman, and Damico (1987) emphasize the need for self-monitoring skills. Self-monitoring is critical for creating independent and competent learners and is a necessary part of the consciousness raising process. A number of instances in the reflections speak of the value of empowering students with metacognitive strategies. A student commented:

And I think now is very important that I realize when I said something wrong and most of the time I correct myself. I still feel I have to work more in all three areas and my best way to improve my pronunciation is to listen more carefully people around me...

The last part refers to the strategies of active listening and mirroring, when a student listens to a native speaker and repeats after him/her. It also illuminates this learner's realization of the relation between listening skills and production of speech. Importantly, students also emphasized the value of strategies in a larger communicative context. In the following segment, a student expresses the ability to transfer these strategies to real-life situations:

I know I can't speak as perfect as a native speaker just after one quarter's study. This is impossible. I am quite clear it is a long way to improve my English speaking. What is important is that I have learned the ways to improve my pronunciation and realized my weakness, then I can practice and apply the rules to me in the future.

We believe that this ability to transfer strategies from the classroom environment to language use in natural settings is a main factor in developing independent learners, who will continue to improve beyond the pronunciation course they are taking. In her final reflection, a participant noted that she found motivation to continue to work on her pronunciation after the course exactly because she felt equipped with the knowledge to approach this task autonomously:

Now that I know what can make my speech more understandable, like opening my mouth, speak louder, lowering my voice pitch, and keep a key words list always with me to work on, I feel I'm constantly improving.

Importance of Balance Between Controlled and Communicative Activities

The majority of reflections revealed that students valued individual attention and targeting specific phonetic features in controlled practice. However, they also pinpointed the need of communicative activities. For example, a French student shared that, "Working with my tutor is very helpful because we work on one on one problem areas, like /rs/ and /ae/." Yet, immediately after that, she adds,

However, I believe that the best way to improve my pronunciation is to practice. I go to a coffee meeting every week where I can talk with some native speakers.

Another student wrote:

Although I have learnt many rules to tell me how to speak correctly, I think the most important is learn from life. For example, I always forget to put my tongue between my teeth when th is pronounced. Thankfully, one of the boys I know is Nathan, so when I call him each time, I can practice this sound. I believe it is time to surf the real life and mature myself from true conversation.

Our own observations indicated that the students who created opportunities to practice outside the classroom using their metalinguistic awareness were the ones to show the highest level of improvement in the end of the course.

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《Reflective Practice in Pronunciation Learning》