The Pronunciation Component in the Competence-Based EFL Curriculum in Cameroon Secondary Education (Published)
The shift from the objective-based approach to the competence-based approach in English at the secondary level in Cameroon places too much emphasis on real life situations and the vocabulary thereof, in its current field implementation. Apart from vocabulary, the other structural components are very shallowly dealt with, not only grammar, but, much more the teaching of pronunciation and speech sounds. Using the contents analysis theory, the paper brings up the shallow presence of English sounds, paramount element in pronunciation and ipso facto in oral communication in the curriculum. The paper justifies the need to stress the sounds of English in actual EFL pedagogy. It argues that the sounds of English must be significantly present in the classroom implementation of the curriculum and prescribes recordings, audio visual materials specially designed for the purpose of supporting and concretising the constitutional official bilingualism policy that is most current in the nation presently on the one hand, and worldwide intelligibility on the other hand.
Keywords: Curriculum, EFL, Pedagogy, Pronunciation, Sounds of English
Using Explicit Pronunciation Instructions to Develop Students’ English Speaking Competencies: A Quasi-Experimental Study (Published)
This article aims to find out the effect of explicit pronunciation instructions of English on developing students’ speaking skills and attitudes towards the offered pronunciation training. A quasi-experimental design was employed to conduct the current study with pre and post-tests. Sixty university students were involved in the study and those participants were subjected to a treatment for 14 weeks of instruction on English pronunciation. Data were collected using speaking tests, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The collected data were analysed and mean values, standard deviations and paired sample t-tests results were obtained to answer the pertinent questions of the research. The findings reveal that the method of explicit pronunciation instruction is an effective one in improving the students’ speaking skill as well as their attitudes towards the pronunciation training in particular and the learning of the target language as a whole. Finally, some pedagogical implications are presented to address a few crucial issues for teachers to be taken into their considerations for better teaching practices within the Yemeni EFL context
Keywords: Attitudes, Explicit Instruction, Pronunciation, Speaking Competence