Challenges European EFL teachers face in pronunciation teaching

Lehrer, Martin

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/120086 Copy

Description

Title

Challenges European EFL teachers face in pronunciation teaching

Author(s)

Lehrer, Martin

Issue Date

2023-05-02

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Franks, Suzanne Carla

Committee Member(s)

Sadler, Randall William

Department of Study

Linguistics

Discipline

Teaching of English Sec Lang

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.A.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• European EFL teachers
• pronunciation teaching
• challenges
• multicultural/multilingual classrooms

Abstract

Teaching pronunciation is one of the most vital aspects of teaching a foreign language; however, it is either neglected or completely ignored for several reasons. Although there are many studies to help EFL teachers not ignore or neglect pronunciation instruction in their classes, former research has shown it is still found challenging by European EFL teachers. The reason is that there is not much research conducted in the European setting. This study investigates what challenges European EFL teachers face while teaching pronunciation and how they put this into practice based on their teacher training. It also aims to find how the techniques they use, their first language, and their multicultural/multilingual classrooms affect their pronunciation instruction. This study was conducted using an online survey distributed to 43 European EFL teachers. Subsequently, eight European EFL teachers who wanted to elaborate on their answers were interviewed online. Respondents were asked several questions about their pronunciation teaching practices in different parts of the survey and interview. Analysis of the research demonstrated that European EFL teachers face many challenges in teaching pronunciation, mostly due to a lack of teacher training. Moreover, the results indicated that they use numerous techniques to teach pronunciation. Lastly, they reported that their L1 has a great amount of effect on their pronunciation instruction, but they have conflicting opinions about the effect of multicultural/multilingual classrooms on their pronunciation instruction. More effective teacher training that has a significant amount of emphasis on pronunciation teaching should be provided for European EFL teachers. Further research is needed to identify the other needs of European EFL teachers in a larger setting with more participants.

Graduation Semester

2023-05

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

© 2023 Martin Lehrer

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