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Table 1 Guidelines for pronunciation teaching and learning from 1949 to 1977

From: Nativeness versus intelligibility as goal of English pronunciation teaching in China: Changing attitudes in national syllabi and curriculum standards

Syllabus/Curriculum Standards

Guidelines for Pronunciation Teaching and Learning

1951

English Curriculum Standards for Secondary Schools (Draft)

Role of pronunciation: Pronunciation tops the list of what to teach in the English course, followed by vocabulary, grammar, and writing

Requirements for pronunciation abilities: 1) “correct pronunciation of single sounds and words”; 2) “fluent and natural intonation” in reading aloud

Teaching contents: 1) “a phonetic transcription system (e.g., International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) or Webster Phonetic Symbols)”; 2) consonants and vowels; 3) suprasegmental elements (intonation)

Suggested teaching/learning activities: Reading aloud

Named pedagogy: “Apply direct method as much as possible for the first 2 years, then use translation mothed properly from the third year.” Also influenced by the structural method

Pronunciation goal: No specification

Target interlocutors: No specifications

1956

English Syllabus for Senior High Schools (Draft)

Role of pronunciation: “Pronunciation teaching and learning should be the focus of the first year, which helps students improve spelling and vocabulary, which in turn promote grammar and reading.” “In the first year, vocabulary and grammar teaching must be done according to the need of pronunciation teaching.”

Requirements for pronunciation abilities: (1) correct pronunciation; 2) correct and fluent intonation in reading aloud; (3) “correct and firm pronunciation habits”

Teaching contents: (1) IPA; (2) vowels and consonants; (3) suprasegmental elements (pronunciation rules of (combinations of) vowel letters in different syllabic structures, consonant clusters, stress, liaison, intonation, ellipsis, incomplete explosives and weak forms)

Suggested teaching/learning activities: (1) “imitating the teacher’s pronunciation” by following the teacher’s instruction of how each sound is produced; (2) reading aloud

Named pedagogy: Same as the 1951 syllabus

Pronunciation goal: Same as the 1951 syllabus

Target interlocutors: No specification, but with not just NESs intended, as shown by part of the descriptions about the purpose of learning English, to “meet the requirements of increasing international communication” and to “learn latest scientific and technological achievements from other countries”

1957

English Syllabus for Junior High Schools (Draft)

Basically, the same as the requirements for the first two years of the 1956 syllabus

1963

English Syllabus for Full-Time Secondary Schools (Draft)

Role of pronunciation: Same as the 1956 syllabus, emphasizing “mastery of pronunciation is fundamental to learning English”

Requirements for pronunciation abilities: Same as the 1956 syllabus, plus “natural intonation” in reading aloud

Teaching contents: Same as the 1956 syllabus, emphasizing “IPA is a powerful tool for pronunciation training and vocabulary learning, and students should learn to use it”

Suggested teaching/learning activities: Same as the 1956 syllabus, emphasizing “imitating is the main way to learn pronunciation”, suggesting using gramophone records, cassette records and radio broadcast

Named pedagogy: No specifications, but obviously embracing the structural approach and the audiolingual method and still influenced by the direct method

Pronunciation goal: Same as the 1951 syllabus

Target interlocutors: No specification, but with not just NESs intended, as shown by part of the descriptions about the purpose of learning English, to use English, “a very widely used language in the world”, to “meet the requirements of increasing international communication”, to “learn latest scientific and technological achievements from other countries”, and “to introduce China to other countries which are friendly”