Relatore Chiar mo Prof. Graziano Serragiotto Correlatore

1.4. Choosing a model for teaching pronunciation 
Generally, in English language teaching the most common pronunciation models are: 
Received Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GA). Concerning British pronunciation models, 
RP is undoubtedly the most frequently used; however, it is spoken only by a small minority in 
England. In this regard, Cook 
states, “a more realistic British standard nowadays might be Estuary 
English, popular among TV presenters and pop stars; the chief 
characteristics are the glottal stop [ʔ] 
for /t/, inserted /r/ in words like ‘sawing’, and the vowel-like /w/ for /l/ as in /bjuːʔifuw/ ‘beautiful’. 
So the phonemes and intonation of a particular language that are taught to students should vary 
according 
to the choice of regional or status form” (Cook, 2008: 78-79). According to Martin 
Hewings, deciding on what model of English pronunciation to teach English learners is something 
complex (Hewings, 2004). This is not only because of the numerous varieties of the English language 
already existing but also because 
“the growing use of English as an international language, as a means 
of communication between non-native speakers with different first languages, is likely to lead to the 
development of further varieties” (Hewings, 2004: 11-12). In this respect, Cook claims, “a global 
language such as English faces the problem not just of which local variety within a country to teach, 
but of which country to take as a model 
– if any. The choice of which national model to use can 
seldom be made without taking into account the political nature of language, particularly in ex-
colonial countries” (Cook, 2008: 79). 
Recently, the importance of using a native pronunciation model is being questioned (Cook, 
2008)
. In terms of pronunciation, as Cook says, “apart from those living in English-speaking 
countries, what is the point of making learners of English understand and use a native standard accent 
like RP when virtually everybody they will meet is a fellow non-native speaker? The goal should be 
an accent that is maximally comprehensible by non-native speakers, leaving the native speaker out of 
the equation except for those who have to deal with them” (Cook, 2008: 79). ɛenny ɛenkins (2000, 
2002) proposed a syllabus based on the needs of non-native speakers of English as a lingua franca 
(ELF). According to her, in ELF communication between speakers of different L1s, the most 
important considerations to take into account for mutual intelligibility are: 

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a)
“consonants do not cause intelligibility problems, except for the dental fricatives / ð - θ/; 
b)
aspiration after word-initial voiceless plosives /p/, /t/ and /k/ needs to be maintained; 
c)
omission of sounds in word-initial clusters should be avoided; 
d)
the contrast between long and short vowels should be maintained (e.g. the vowels in words 
like ship and sheep); 
e)
the production and placement of nuclear (tonic) stress is vital, especially when used 
contrastively (e.g. 
‘ɛohn is here’/ ‘ɛohn is here’/ ‘John is here’).” 
(Jenkins, 2000: 159). 
In order to make the decision on which pronunciation model to teach, Hewings suggests a 
number of questions to consider: 
a)
“In what contexts will your students mainly be using English after the course?; 
b)
Are there varieties that have a particularly high or low status in your teaching context?; 
c)
Is there a variety that your students have particular exposure to outside the classroom?; 
d)
Do your students show an inclination to speak English with a particular pronunciation?; 
e)
Does one variety of pronunciation predominate in the teaching materials available to you?; 
f)
What accent of English do you have?
” 
(Hewings, 2004: 12-13). 
Furthermore, Hewings points out the difference between a model as a target and as a point of 
reference and underlines 
that whether you use the one or the other “can have a significant impact on 
how you teach pronunciation” (Hewings, 2004: 13). He defines a target as “some standard of 
pronunciation to which the students aspire or which the teacher selects as a goal for students
”, on the 
other hand, he defines a point of reference 
as “a guide to English pronunciation with understanding 
that variation from this model is acceptable provided it does not get in the way of effective 
communication” (Hewings, 2004: 13). 

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