What pronunciation specialists believe CELTA tutors need to know to prepare student teachers to teach pronunciation

Abstract

Abstract This study investigated tutors’ pronunciation teaching delivery in the Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA) through two sequential qualitative case studies. The study was conducted in three phases: (1) case 1 – teacher interviews, (2) case 2 – a Delphi with pronunciation specialists, (3) Comparative Case Study analysis. Phase one involved four semi-structured interviews with five English teachers from Australia via virtual group meetings. Phase two involved responses to three rounds of online Delphi questionnaires with an international panel of 13 pronunciation specialists. Information about pronunciation teaching practice emerged from the teacher interviews that informed the Delphi question frame. The pronunciation specialists’ consensus in the Delphi was that CELTA tutors need to develop an eclectic knowledge base of pronunciation instruction that reflects contemporary approaches in pronunciation research and teaching. Phase three combined the phase one and two results in a Comparative Case Study analysis that attended simultaneously to dimensions of time, policy, and culture to identify a model of pronunciation instruction amenable to the CELTA. Recommendations for tutors’ professional development based on a comparison of the teachers’ extant practical knowledge and the pronunciation specialists’ research-informed knowledge include a community of practice and a mini curriculum.