Ibaraki: December
English Pronunciation Instruction: Considering Phonological Differences between English and Japanese
By Yuko Koike, Ibaraki University
Koike explained pronunciation problems that Japanese learners of English tend to face, and pointed out that one of the main causes was phonological differences between English and Japanese. She also shared with us some teaching materials for practical exercise that may handle the issues. The materials were unique in that they contained comparisons between English and Japanese, which would let learners clearly notice the suprasegmental differences of the two languages. The audience seemed to understand the importance of letting learners first be aware of the phonological differences explicitly, as the audience enjoyed experimenting with some sample words that
Koike provided.
Reported by Rika Otsu