DIMENSIONAMIENTO DE LOS ENLACES

In this section, we would like to examine pronunciation teaching texAooks teachers. The main points observed are as follows:

1) How the teaching items are presented in the textbooks.

2) How the books rate the importance of pronunciation/pitch accent teaching. 3) What they have to s ^ on the conduct of pronunciation teaching.

4) The treatment of problems in learning/teaching pronunciation. 5) What they have to say about the teacher's responsibilities. 6) Their accounts of students* attitudes.

The following are the pronunciation textbooks chosen for this anafysis: 1. (1998). Yoku wakaru onsei - nihoneo kvooshi bun-va betsu master series- 2. (1979), Japanese pronunciation guide for English speakers

3. (1987) Onsei to onsei-kvooiku - nihoneo kvooüai shidoo sankoosho I- 4. (1990) Hatsuon-shidoo no hoohoo

5. (1989) Nihongo no on-in to accent

6. (1992) Hatsuon - kvooshivoo nihongo kvooiku handbook" 7. (1993) Nihongo no onsei nvumnon - kaisetsu to enshuu-

1) How the teaching items are presented in the textbooks.

These textbooks are designed for the teachers to learn about Japanese phonetics and use the information and examjdes for their teaching. They normally introduce the segmental sounds (consonants and vowels) then mora-timed rhythm, and then prosody such as intonation, pitch accent, and prominence. Usually they focus on characteristics which are unique to Japanese sounds, and most of the basic characteristics are covered in all the textbooks. Some of the textbooks contain exercises or lists of minimal pairs, which can be used in the classroom. Nos 2 and 3 in particular have a very detailed explanation and considerable amounts of exercises or lists of minimal pairs for pitch accent practice.

2) How the books rate the importance of pronunciation/pitch accent teaching

• Book no. 1: "it is important for the Japanese teachers to learn a basic knowledge of phonetics. The reasons for that are firstly for the teachers to pass the qualification test for the teachers. Secondly, they need to be able to use the knowledge in the classroom teadiing. However, in reahty, it is rather rare to have a systematic pronunciation teaching combined in a course. In most cases, pronunciation is introduced together with Hiragana* syllabary, and after that, it is only in conversation, presentation, and reading aloud activities when the teachers will listen to the students' pronunciation and make corrections if necessary. It is the same when we (Japanese) learn Enghsh at high school. Pronunciation is taught while the alphabet is introduced, and then it tends to be largely ignored except when the learner makes a serious error. Even in examinations, pronunciation is tested by asking the accent placement, or to chose the word ^(riiich contains the different vowel among the list of words etc., which means only the learner's memorising ability or strategy for the exam is tested." This textbook also states that although pronunciatimi receives little emphasis in Japanese language teaching, a survey shows that learners think that {uonunciation is more important than teachers do. Many teachers tend to think that even if the pronunciation is a little odd, it is all right as long as the meaning is understood by the Ustener.

• Book no. 2 states specifically the importance of pitch accent teaching: "Perhaps the most difficult aspect of Japanese pronunciation for an English speaker to learn is pitch accent The rules for pitch in Japanese are rather intricate and their complexly might cause students and teachers alike to despair". • Book no. 3 also emphasises the importance of pitch accent teaching: "Pitch accent has a considerably important role in Japanese phonetics. The length of each syllable and its pronunciation has a strong

connection to the accent, and it is not possible to avoid the issue of pitch accent when you teach Japanese language.”

• Also, according to tiie textbook no.l, "it is said that the element of pronunciation where the LI interference will rem ain strongjy is in prosocfy, rather than segments. Also the element which makes the speech more 'Japanese-like' is prosody ratha than segments.”

3) What they have to say on the conduct of pronunciation teaching. pronunciation in general

• Book no. 1 : "Some people say that jxactice with m inim al pairs is monotonous, or students don't like it, so they do not want to do it But to think of the effective use of minimal pair and tiy to develop the good material is important There is nobody who says that they do not want to teach Kanji or grammar because memorising Kanji or learning grammar is monotonous.”

• Book no.2: T he instructs repeating many times is not satisfactory. If the instructor can briefly point out differences between the taiget language and the student's native language, then understanding might come more easily and make progress more quickly.” "Once they distinguish sound, the next stage is the production stage. Repeating words with the relevant sound is one helpful way d improving it.” This textbook also points out that using minimal pairs is also a common and effective method. • Book no. 4: "It is better to start prcmunciation teaching as early as possible. The younger the better, and also better in an early stage than a later stage”. "In the begirmet's course, where the learners start from the very beginning (zero stage), it is better to start pronunciation practice with the introduction to the Tiitagana' syllabary.” "For the teaching of pronunciation, use kana characters, not the alphabet Because if you use the alphabet for Japanese pronunciation, the learners can experience LI (English in this case) interference.” "For vocabulary practice, don't forget always to attach the pitch accent indication" "It is important to jxedict errors (bad habits in the learner's pronunciation) beforehand and try to avoid them, in the same way that it is better to prevent a disease than to try to cure i t ”

• Book no. 7 says "The ability to pick up the new sounds and pronounce them will gradually deteriorate, so it requires lots of effort to acquire a second language after a puberty. Thus, in order to acquire natural native-like pronunciation, the earlier the learners start practising the pronunciation, the better the result will be.”

pitch accent teaching

• Book no.3: "It is not practical to teach the pitch accent just by introducing the accent pattern each time they learn a new word. It is not enough to teach by telling them, for example, *yokohama' is /yokohama/, not ^okoha'ma/ etc.” It points out that since words with certain munbers of moras tend to have a pattern in their pitch accent, it is useful to do practice which make ûns students acquire certain patterns. For example, for nouns with more than five moras, the most common accent pattern is the ^pe with a pitch M l on the 3rd mora finm the last So, the pactice like /aiu'eo/ /kakiku'keko/ etc., or /mamimumemu'memo/ /aiueu'eo/ are helpful to acquire certain pattern. This book also suggests, among all the useful instruments for pronunciation teaching, a cassette tape recording with m inim al pairs, for practice in phoneme discriminatiorL In addition, "even after they have learned to distinguish m inim al

pairs, it is normally still difficult for them to distinguish them in natural speech. It will help to inçrove the student's skill by making them aware of the accent and intonation etc., which are normally not indicated in a written text, by training them to draw the pitch accent or intonation." "There are also drills to make the students listen to sample minimal pairs read by the teacher and repeat"

4) The treatment of problems in learning/teaching pronunciation.

• Book no.l: "The main problems pointed out are, 1) there is little time for pronunciation teaching, since we have to teach grammar and Kanji, 2) the number of students is too great and it would take too much time for individual pronunciation instmction, 3) the learners feel shy attempting to pronounce in front of other students in the classroom, 4) our organisation is too poor and does not have enough facilities for pronunciation teaching etc." It says that the problem 1) above is the most common, but the teachers have to be prepared to teach jM-onunciation when it is required at any time. For example, in response to a request from a student, or if asked to be in charge of pronunciation within an institute. However, "it seems that most of teachers I) do not know the effective way of pronunciation teaching, 2) do not know what to teach and to what extent, 3) do not have (cannot find) appropriate teaching material. Concerning teaching material, even though facilities such as language labs, t ^ recorders etc., have been improving a lot recently, the content of the teaching material itself is not much improved."

5) What they have to say about the teacher's responsibilities.

• Book no.l: "One of the most important tasks of the teacher is to make the learners aware of their own pronunciation, and help them inq)rove their ability to imitate the model pronunciation". It is pointed out that it is not possible to eliminate every trace of 'foreigness' and speak exactly like a native speaker. So the teacher needs to set priorities on items to correct, i.e. from serious pronunciation enws (often phonemic ones) to less serious ones, which do not change the meanings of words. Also, it is pointed out that the teachers should have a positive attitude about pronunciation teaching, not deciding that because all the errors come from LI interference it is not possible to correct the pronunciation perfectly.

• Book no.4: "The most important conditions to become a good language teacher 1) to have the ability to understand objectively, the standard modem Japanese separately from the teacher's own language (dialect) background, and at the same time, use it fully, 2) to have the skill to teach (Japanese) language to the learners, and 3) to have the good contact with the learners.

• Book no.7: "For the teacher's side, first of all, the teacher's own pronunciation needs to be checked to see if it is ideal as a model. In the beginners (introductory) stage especially, the influence of the teacher's pronunciation is strong. The pronunciation liabit' which the learner acquires during the begiimer’s stage is hard to get rid of. In addition, learners who cannot pronounce correctly often carmot hear (discriminate the sounds) correctly. It is important for teachers to check and monitor their pronunciation strictly". "It is required that teachers have a basic knowledge of Japanese phonetics, and knowledge about the learner's native language, enabling prediction of likely problems."

"It is important for teachers to be aware of their own accent. They need to be able to read according to the pitch accent, often indicated in the beginner's textbook. Also it is not enou^ for a teacher that s/he can speak in the correct pitch accent They need to be able to notice the problems of learners and give them appropriate instruction. In order to do that they need to understand the system, rules, tendency etc., of the modem Tokyo accent".

• Bode no. 9 says that even during the introductory stage, if the teacher repeats the correct words over and over again to the students, the result of pronunciation correction is not necessarily satisfactory. They say that if the teacher can briefly and clearly point mit differences between die target language and the student's native language, the students will understand more easily and the speed of the progress will be 6ster.

6) Their accounts of students’ attitudes.

• Book no. 1 : "What are the main inroblems of learners’ pronunciation? In a stutty of English learning in US, what make learners good or bad at pronunciation are: 1) the learner's native language, 2) the learner's ability to imitate, 3) their length of the stay in US, and 4) how much the learner is interested in the pronunciation. How long the learners have been learning the language, or whether the learners have studied [dionetics or not, are irrelevant”

• Book no. 7: "In reality, various problems occur in the process of learning, when the learners need to acquire sounds which do not exist in their native language, or sounds which are similar to - but slightly different from - sounds in the native language. For adult learners, pronunciation practice can become difBcult boring, and make them feel conscious and slqr".

• Book no. 9: "The next poblem is how to deal with those stWents who, although they can distinguish sounds, are not good at reproducing them. One good way to help these students is to make them repeat words containing the relevant sounds various times both for listening and pronunciatioa"