The Phonology of English as an International Language (Oxford Applied Linguistics) [Paperback]

Jennifer Jenkins (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0194421643 | ISBN-13: 978-0194421645 | Publication Date: September 25, 2000 | Edition: 1st

This book advocates an approach to pronunciation in which the goal is mutual intelligibility among non-native speakers, rather than imitating native speakers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'The book challenges major aspects of current practice with honesty, rigour, and depth, and the author is to be congratulated firstly for having the courage to take on an area of ELT which is both linguistically and culturally a minefield, and secondly for offering such a fresh vision of the teaching of the pronunciation of English. Without doubt, the book is essential reading for teachers, teacher educators, publishers, and examining boards alike.' - Applied Linguistics Journal

'... thoroughly thought-provoking and well worth studying.' - IATEFL Newsletter

'Challenging to the end... a wholly thought-provoking text.' - Wayne Trotman, EL Gazette, June 2001

About the Author

Jennifer Jenkins spent the earliest years of her career teaching ESL and EFL, and then as a teacher trainer, examiner, and teacher of EAP and study skills in adult education institutions, private language schools, and various colleges of London University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 258 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1st edition (September 25, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0194421643
• ISBN-13: 978-0194421645
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #188,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable and insightful, April 22, 2002

By 

John Levis (Ames, IA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Phonology of English as an International Language (Oxford Applied Linguistics) (Paperback)

This is an indispensable and insightful book that uses groundbreaking research to address how the changing roles of English in the world affect language teachers' decisions to teach pronunciation. The book argues that, for most users of English in the world, neither achieving a native speaker accent nor having an accent that is understandable to a native speaker is an appropriate goal. Because most users of English do not speak with native speakers, Jenkins argues that decisions about English pronunciation teaching should be based on what nonnative speakers need to be understood when they use English as a lingua franca with other nonnative speakers. The book has many strengths. First among them is its well-reasoned attempt to address the role of intelligibility from the view of the actual users. Second, and more important, is the fact that it uses cutting edge research to support its recommendations. Pronunciation teaching is notoriously short on research data and long on mythology, and Jenkins goes a long way toward changing this with data demonstrating the importance of pronunciation errors in miscommunication.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a revolution in pronunciation teaching, March 25, 2001

By 

"daniel_sp" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Phonology of English as an International Language (Oxford Applied Linguistics) (Paperback)

This is a book that may revolutionize English pronuncation teaching. Jenkins argues convincingly that in an age where English is THE global language it is no longer valid to teach students to conform to the British accent RP. Rather, the model for pronuncation training should be based on international intellibility. Analysing the conversations of non-native speakers Jenkins develops a Lingua Franca Core (LFC) that is, those phonological features which are necessary for international communication.

Jenkins starts out by explaining the concept EIL. After that she shortly sums up the arguments against RP. The middle part is a rather technical account of the various features of the LFC. At the end she outlines classroom activities and implications for teacher training courses.

This book can be strongly recommended to anyone involved in ELT.