Improving Spanish Pronunciation: Classroom Analysis and Remedial Strategies

Analysis of Pronunciation Teaching and Remedial Proposals

Pronunciation and spelling are fundamental to verbal communication. Sounds and letters form the surface of oral and written language. Often, pronunciation receives little attention. Few people notice the pronunciation mistakes of politicians, TV contestants, neighbors, or even ourselves, though these may be more serious than misspellings.

In schools, pronunciation is often treated as a minor issue, except in second language instruction. Students are assumed to have mastered sounds by the time they reach middle school, learning through natural language acquisition. Consequently, few pronunciation practices are linked to literacy. Pronunciation is typically addressed only in the early grades. It should be taught continuously and systematically from the beginning, using various exercises.

We present the phonetic differences between Castilian Spanish and other languages it contacts:

• Absent phonemes in Castilian Spanish that exist in the other three languages.
• Phonemes existing in Castilian Spanish and absent in the other three languages.
• Phonemes and sounds existing in all four languages with different distributions.
• Other aspects: syntactic-phonetic phenomena, syllable structures, and accent neutralization.

Principles for Teaching Pronunciation

Pronunciation teaching should be based on both auditory and production aspects. Auditory contact and discrimination must precede production. Pronunciation should be integrated into overall comprehension and oral expression. It is important for students to hear diverse, high-quality voices. These principles are fundamental to effective pronunciation instruction.

Resources and Activities

Every educational resource should be utilized to improve student pronunciation. Activities include:

• Auditory exercises
• Discrimination tasks
• Production practice

Technology such as cassettes, language labs, and computer programs can be used. Other resources include mirrors, tactile tools, objects, games, and songs.

Assessment of Pronunciation

Pronunciation can be assessed in two complementary ways. Firstly, we can observe and record a student's pronunciation successes and errors during spontaneous conversation. This assesses pronunciation within contextualized communication. Secondly, students can be asked to say lists of words and phrases with specific phonetic difficulties. This measures the student's ability to pronounce individual sounds in isolation. To gather assessment information and track individual student progress, a simple annotation sheet can be used to record incidences in each class.