Teaching Pronunciation for International Intelligibility: Lessons from Hong Kong English

Equips readers to develop an intelligibility-oriented approach to pronunciation teaching suitable for any second/foreign language or Global Englishes setting. 

This book offers principled guidance for practitioners and researchers on developing a feature-based approach to teaching English pronunciation, with a focus on intelligibility within communicative contexts. Using Hong Kong English as a case study, it facilitates teachers and students in critically exploring English intelligibility within their own sociolinguistic and educational contexts and questioning the perceived importance of native speaker pronunciation.

The book examines curricula, assessments, teaching materials, teacher perceptions, pronunciation teaching strategies and corrective feedback practices, and develops a contextualised approach to pronunciation teaching that prioritises key features affecting understanding, particularly in World Englishes and English as a Lingua Franca settings.

Discussion and inquiry tasks in each chapter make this ideal for trainee teachers and teacher educators, while researchers will find valuable tools to explore intelligibility-oriented approaches in diverse contexts.

Jim Y. H. Chan is a Lecturer in the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at Newcastle University, UK. His research explores World Englishes, English as a Lingua Franca, Teaching English as an International Language, multilingual education, language attitudes and collaborative online international learning.

Margaret M. Lo is an independent scholar, working on English language education, critical pedagogy, critical literacy, teacher education, social justice and inclusive education.