Pronunciation for Iconoclasts

Pronunciation teaching is sometimes held back by an unhelpful insistence on the phonetic detail of target models. Some features, such as the schwa for example, seem to almost acquire the status of icons. What happens if we knock these icons off their pedestals? This presentation will start a day of talks brought together by IATEFL's Pronunciation SIG and Global Issues SIG. Later in the day, we will see Jennifer Jenkins talking about English as a Lingua Franca, past present and future, and Laura Patsko with practical advice for increasing our learners' exposure to a more diverse range of global accents. There's a PDF of the most important slides below.