I think Stephen Krashen's question about student goals is important to our cultural responsiveness in the classroom. Our students learn additional languages so they can mingle farther than they could before; define new identities for themselves. In each of their planned futures, what is the percent of perfection they will need to be understood, or to have a particular group's accent, considering the fact that studies have shown that listeners' ability to comprehend a second language speaker can vary considerably depending on their attitude toward that person's personality, ethnicity, or whatever; i.e., on listeners' willingness to comprehend. How much of our class time can we justify spending on perfecting pronunciation?
Sometimes you have a further instructional goal in mind. In teaching poetry in anglophone West Africa I go through all sorts of antics trying to get students who speak a regional syllabic-stressed variety of English to appreciate metrical patterns in poems written by native (phrase-stressed) English speakers.
Sometimes the student's goal is just to get a job. I recently was treated in Michigan by a South Asian physical therapist who had been learning in English since childhood, who told me about the four attempts he had to make to pass an oral English exam to obtain his credentials to work, particularly in light of all the non-native speaking doctors he has met in the US he considers very difficult to understand. He had a good point but I couldn't help thinking resentment might make him sometimes less willing than he could be to understand them.
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Jacqueline Leigh
Sentinel English Language Institute
United States
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Original Message:
Sent: 29-07-2022 10:24 AM
From: Allison Widmann
Subject: Best online PRONUNCIATION software/program/license (American English focus but not limited to)
Why does it matter why a person wants to use a pronunciation apps (or tutors)?
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Allison Widmann, MSW, MPP, Certified TESOL
ESL Teacher
Language and Literacy, LLC
United States
Original Message:
Sent: 29-07-2022 01:30 AM
From: Stephen Krashen
Subject: Best online PRONUNCIATION software/program/license (American English focus but not limited to)
Question: What do you think people you use pronunciation problems want from the program>
(1) to make sure their speech is understood
(2) to sound like a member of a certain group = to have that group's accent.
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Stephen Krashen
Original Message:
Sent: 28-07-2022 01:18 PM
From: Jennifer Brondell
Subject: Best online PRONUNCIATION software/program/license (American English focus but not limited to)
Hi Diana-
I have been using the app ELSA and it seems to work really well for students. I was able to get a small grant to buy many 6 month subscriptions, so students contact me and I set them up with the version they would normally have to pay for. As a company they are also very responsive.
Are AI apps limited? Sometimes, but overall there has been good feedback from students. I should also mention that I don't use them as part of instruction in a class, normally. The one time I did, for a small group, they were just assigned a certain number of minutes per week and I was able to see that as a kind of manager of the class on ELSA.
I look forward to seeing what others say!
Jen
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Jennifer Brondell
Director
English Language Programs
Clemson University
jbronde@clemson.edu
[864-656-3209]
Original Message:
Sent: 26-07-2022 04:43 PM
From: Diana Popa
Subject: Best online PRONUNCIATION software/program/license (American English focus but not limited to)
Greeetings to my TESOL community,
I am emailing you with a question concerning your personal experience as a professional or as a student working with pronunciation online software/programs and what seemed to have worked best for you.
Looking forward to learning from your individual or collective experiences.
All the best,
Diana Popa
Feel free to email me at dpopa@uvm.edu
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Diana Popa
PhD
University of Vermont
United States
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