Abstract:

Foreign language pronunciation is a part of linguistic competence that is difficult to evaluate, as the ability of non-native learners of English to imitate native sounds does not always reflect their proficiency across other aspects of linguistic competence. The literature review identified many reasons why the ability of foreign learners to imitate English sounds is challenging, e.g. the age of the learner or the influence of the learners’ mother tongue. Therefore, comprehensibility and intelligibility have been set as the current realistic goal of pronunciation training. However, many course books for various age groups of English foreign learners provide a sufficient number of pronunciation exercises that focus on different pronunciation aspects.

The presented paper aims to provide an analysis of three series of course books for lower secondary school learners, focusing on pronunciation goals presented in them. In addition, the pronunciation will be presented with correspondence to the level of proficiency according to the Common European Framework of Reference: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR). The study will then compare the data to the results of previous research, which matched pronunciation targets to the CEFR levels across course books series for adult and young adult learners. The comparison of the data will help establish the appropriate pronunciation goals for young learners of English.

The paper presents partial research outcomes of the project 7/TU/2021 Pronunciation mistakes of pre-service teachers of English.

Keywords:

Lower secondary school earners of English, pronunciation training, course book analysis, EFL, CEFR.