Teaching English as a foreign language is a challenge for many teachers, whether they are experienced or new to the profession. There are many different concepts that the teacher must address with the students if they are going to be successful at learning the English language. One of the many, if not the first, is introducing the phonetics and phonology of the English language.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, phonetics is the system of speech sounds of a language or group of languages; and phonology is the science of speech sounds including the history and theory of sound changes in a language or in two or more related languages.1 Both terms come from the Greek word meaning sound and each relies on each other in the sense that phonological awareness and analyses have to be based on phonetic facts.2 One cannot exist without the other and the teacher must know and remember that when they are teaching students a foreign language, especially English.

The English language is not an easy language to learn because the English spelling of words is not a direct indication of how they should be pronounced. This has led to the formation, publications, and teaching of the phonetic alphabet3, which breaks down each phoneme into its phonological component. This phonetic alphabet is hard to grasp for many foreign students who are learning English. They have to learn to respond to a whole new sound system that is very unlike their native sound system. This is difficult because it is a challenge for the foreign student to hear the many different phonological sounds correctly, not only because of the new sound structure but also of their lack of knowledge of the whole English language in general (i.e. grammar, vocabulary, structure).4 Studies have even shown that students who learn a second language find it much easier to perceive sounds in their native language as opposed to those of the second language they are learning.5 In order for the student to become successful, the teacher should set pronunciation teaching in a context of everyday English language use, not concentrate on the drilling of the pronunciation of individual sounds.4

There are many different ways that teachers can teach pronunciation using phonological approaches to English language learners. Regardless of the method used, the teacher must have an understanding of: joining sounds (i.e. blending, contractions), word stress and intonation, sentence stress and intonation, rhythm and pitch, speech volume and speed, and non-verbal gestures (i.e. eye contact, facial expressions, body language, pauses).6 Once the teacher knows that they have an understanding of these English language concepts, they can begin teaching the English sound system to their students, which can be broken into 2 parts. These parts are: 1) segmentals and 2) suprasegmentals. Segmentals uses the phonetic alphabet and includes the teaching of consonants, vowels, diphthongs, digraphs, and clusters. Suprasegmentals addresses the teaching of anything that has to do with putting words together that forms and pronounces a sentence (i.e. stress, rhythm, syllables).6

Phonetics and Phonology are the basis of the English language. The complexity of the English language makes it a fundamental first in the teaching of it to any student who wishes to learn English and/or improve their English skills. If this basis is not taught and understood by the student, the chances of their success in learning the language will decrease.

Resources Cited

• The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Available at Accessed May 10, 2007.
• Spencer A. Phonology: Theory and Description. Oxford, England: Blackwell Publishing; 1996.
• Yallop C, Fletcher F, Clark J. An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology. Oxford, England: Blackwell Publishing; 2006.
• Broughton G. Teaching English as a Foreign Language. New York, NY: Routledge; 1993.
• Hume EV, Johnson K. The Role of Speech Perception in Phonology. Burlington, MA: Elsevier; 2001.
• Ruiter R, Dang PY, and Dang T. Highway to E.S.L.: A User-Friendly Guide to Teaching English As A Second Language. New York, NY: iUniverse, Inc.; 2005.

Andrea D. Horton