"This is Tom" = /zyzys'tom/. Pronunciation in beginners' EFL textbooks then and now

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"This is Tom" /zyzys'tom/. Pronunciation in
beginners' EFL textbooks then and now

• Wlodzimierz Sobkowiak, IFA UAM

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Abstract

• In this presentation I first take a sentimental
  journey back in time to my first EFL textbooks
  Nauka angielskiego, English for everyone, Present
  day English for foreign students and First things
  first. I then compare those old textbooks with a
  random sample of these which can currently be
  found on bookshop shelves Angielski dla
  samouków, Angielski nie gryzie! and Korepetycje
  domowe. I look at the contents of the respective
  "lesson/unit one" in each of these books, with
  particular attention paid to how pronunciation is
  presented and taught. Phonetic Difficulty Index
  (PDI) is used to analyze some phonolexical
  variables and demonstrate its potential as a tool
  for textbook writers.

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Presentation plan

• Some theory the importance of the textbook in
  FLT
• A tool Phonetic Difficulty Index (PDI)
• Data and analysis unit one of some EFL textbooks
  then and now
• - changing methods
• - pronunciation aspects
• - some PDI phonolexical statistics
• Application measuring and controlling PDI from
  unit one

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The importance of the textbook in FLT (1)

• Coursebooks have multiple roles in ELT and can
  serve as
• a resource for presentation material (spoken and
  written)
• a source of activities for learner practice and
  communicative interaction
• a reference source for learners on grammar,
  vocabulary, pronunciation, etc
• a syllabus ()
• a resource for self-directed learning or
  self-access work
• a support for less experienced teachers ()
• (Cunningsworth 19957)

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The importance of the textbook in FLT (2)

• The importance of the textbook cannot be
  overestimated. It will inevitably determine the
  major part of the classroom teaching and the
  students out-of-class learning (Rivers
  1981475)
• The heavy reliance on a coursebook in a foreign
  language classroom is a crucial issue. The fact
  that the teachers and learners use the coursebook
  and its supporting materials as their basic aid
  proves the importance of selecting and evaluating
  an appropriate coursebook (Inal 200622)

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Phonetic Difficulty Index (PDI) 1

• PDI is a global numerical measure of the
  phonetic difficulty of the given English lexical
  item for Polish learners. The measure combines
  (a) the most salient grapho-phonemic difficulties
  such learners are known to have reading English,
  i.e. mostly spelling pronunciation, (b) some
  commonest phonemic L1-interference problems known
  from the literature and my own teaching
  experience, finally (c) some of the notorious
  developmental L2-interference pronunciation
  errors observed in all learners of English
  regardless of their L1 background (Sobkowiak
  1999214).

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Phonetic Difficulty Index (PDI) 2
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Phonetic Difficulty Index (PDI) 3
A sample of PDI-indexed text from the
micro-corpus of EFL textbooks used in this study
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Sentimental journey begins...
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MacCallum Watson 1946
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MacCallum Watson 1946
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Smólska Rusiecki 1965
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Smólska Rusiecki 1965
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Candlin 1963
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Candlin 1963
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Alexander 1973
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Alexander 1973, teachers book
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Korepetycje domowe (2004 )
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Angielski dla samouków (2011)
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Angielski nie gryzie! (2011)
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Some PDI phonolexical statistics
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High sentence PDI global measure

• Spike has brown spots and long white ears
  (PDI14)
• I live in a big flat in a small neighbourhood
  (PDI15)
• I work with many other teachers men and women
  (PDI16)
• Peter and John are talking to their wives (PDI21)

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High sentence PDI word-weighted

• Coventry is in England (2.5)
• I have a girlfriend (2.5)
• Peter and John are talking to their wives (2.6)
• A young gentleman (2.7)
• These are chairs (2.7)
• Coventry has many concerts (2.8)
• Pardon? (3.0)

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Low sentence PDI word-weighted

• I like music (0)
• My name is Max (0.5)
• It is a big school (0.8)
• His name is Spike (0.8)
• Nice to meet you (1.0)
• We must buy some tomatoes (1.0)
• The book is open (1.0)
• This is a window (1.0)
• I play the piano sometimes (1.0)
• She is very pretty and clever too (1.0)

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PDI(Z)3 sentences high word-final devoicing

• No the lady is not old she is young
• This is his dog
• I teach many students girls and boys
• I work with many other teachers men and women
• I live in a big flat in a small neighbourhood
• She works in a bank and she lives with me
• Spike has brown spots and long white ears

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PDI(Z)0 sentences no word-final devoicing

• A young gentleman
• Yes
• Pardon?
• Thank you very much
• Hello
• I am a teacher

I teach in a school in Coventry They are all very
intelligent I like music Hi I'm Jane What's your
name Nice to meet you
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Conclusions

• The changing methodological trends in FL pedagogy
  over the decades affect EFL textbook
  pronunciation treatment in a variety of ways,
  which means, among others, that...
• Phonetic achievement of learners may vary
  depending on the treatment of pronunciation in
  the textbook used, especially considering the
  importance of the textbook in a formal FLT
  setting
• The lexico-grammatical and pedagogical
  limitations on the content of the first
  lessons/units in EFL textbooks leave authors
  little space for phonetic control, but...
• Such control of the beginning (and subsequent)
  textual material is feasible if attention is paid
  to such variables as pronunciation difficulty and
  L1 transfer
• The Phonetic Difficulty Index (PDI) can be used
  to measure and control some of these variables
  and give the textbook authors a tool of phonetic
  control over the text

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Bibliography primary sources
Alexander, Louis George. 1973. First things
first an integrated course for beginners.
Warszawa PWN. Reprint of the first English
edition, 1967, Harlow Longman Birkenmajer,
Maria Elzbieta Manko. 2004. Korepetycje domowe.
Jezyk angielski (nowa edycja). Warszawa
Langenscheidt Polska. Candlin, Edwin Frank. 1963.
Present day English for foreign students.
Warszawa Panstwowe Wydawnictwo Wiedza
Powszechna. Reprint of the first English
edition, 1963, London Hodder and
Stoughton Dostalova, Iva, Sarka Zelenkova
James Branam. 2011. Angielski dla samouków.
Ozarów Mazowiecki Firma Ksiegarska Olesiejuk.
Reprint of the Czech edition, 2003, Praha
Fragment MacCallum Thomas Watson. 1946. Nauka
angielskiego szybko, latwo i przyjemnie.
Celle-Unterlüss Wydawnictwo Antoniego
Markiewicza. Reprint of the English edition,
1937, Nauka angielskiego. English for Poles. An
easy and quick method London Orbis Nowak,
Agata. 2011. Angielski nie gryzie! Warszawa
Wydawnictwo Edgard. Smólska, Janina Jan
Rusiecki. 1965. 1st ed. 1963. English for
everyone. Warszawa Panstwowe Zaklady Wydawnictw
Szkolnych. Back to plan
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Bibliography secondary sources
Cunningsworth, Alan. 1995. Choosing your
coursebook. Oxford. Heinemann. Inal, Bülent.
2006. "Coursebook selection process and some of
the most important criteria to be taken into
consideration in foreign language teaching".
Journal of Arts and Sciences 5. 19-29. Rivers,
Wilga M. 1981. Teaching Foreign-Language Skills.
Chicago University Press Chicago. Sobkowiak,
Wlodzimierz. 1999. Pronunciation in EFL
Machine-Readable Dictionaries. Poznan
Motivex. Sobkowiak, Wlodzimierz. 2004. "Phonetic
Difficulty Index". In W.Sobkowiak
E.Waniek-Klimczak (eds). 2004. Dydaktyka fonetyki
jezyka obcego. Zeszyt Naukowy Instytutu
Neofilologii Panstwowej Wyzszej Szkoly Zawodowej
w Koninie nr 3. Konin Wydawnictwo PWSZ w
Koninie. 102-107.
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This presentation is available athttp//ifa.amu.
edu.pl/swlodek/This is Tom.pps
Thank you!