Rethink Your Old Teaching Methods: Designing a Pronunciation Course for Adolescent Polish Learners of English

Abstract

Numerous studies (e.g., Lipińska, 2014; Majer, 2002; Nowacka, 2003; Sobkowiak, 2002; Szpyra-Kozłowska et al., 2002; Szpyra-Kozłowska, 2008; Waniek-Klimczak, 2002; Wrembel, 2002) have shown that although teaching L2 pronunciation is included in university curricula, it is at the same time virtually absent at lower stages of education. Moreover, it has been noticed that teaching phonetics to younger learners is advisable and may be really effective (e.g., Lipińska, 2017c; Nixon & Tomlinson, 2005). Undoubtedly, there are a lot of books and courses written by and for Polish learners of English, but they are dedicated to adults (e.g., Porzuczek et al., 2013; Sawala et al., 2011) or dedicated to international users (e.g., Baker, 2006; Hancock, 2008; Hewings, 2010). But the materials and methods used while working with adult learners and university students are no longer applicable if one wants to teach phonetics in a different environment and create an attractive and efficient course for children or young teenagers, since, as for example Komorowska (2011) notices, each foreign language course has to be characterized by realistic goals and appropriate methods and components. The aim of this paper is to present various methods and materials which can be successfully applied while teaching English pronunciation to 11–13-year-olds. They have been implemented in three groups consisting of such L2 learners, and their usefulness and effectiveness have been proven by studies on both speech production and perception (e.g., Lipińska, 2017d).