Table 2 Guidelines for pronunciation teaching and learning from 1978 to 1990
Syllabus/Curriculum Standards | Guidelines for Pronunciation Teaching and Learning |
|---|---|
1978 English Syllabus for Full-Time 10-Year Primary and Secondary Schools (Trial Draft) | Role of pronunciation: Similar to the 1963 syllabus, emphasizing “mastery of pronunciation plays the key role to successful beginning of English learning” Requirements for pronunciation abilities: 1) correct pronunciation; 2) correct and fluent intonation; 3) correct pausing and rhythm in reading aloud, reciting, and speaking; 4) “correct pronunciation habits from the very beginning” Teaching contents: Same as the 1963 syllabus, but leaving out weak forms; emphasizing “IPA should be taught as soon as possible” (from the second year, to fourth graders) and that “basic knowledge about pronunciation with the aim to foster learners’ practical ability to use the language for communication” Suggested teaching/learning activities: Same as the 1963 syllabus, plus reciting, story-telling, singing, dialogue performance Named pedagogy: No specifications (similar to the 1963 syllabus) Pronunciation goal: Same as the 1963 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”, as “a tool for international cultural and technological exchanges and friendly communication” |
1980 English Syllabus for Full-Time 10-Year Primary and Secondary Schools (Trial Draft) | Teaching contents: Same as the 1978 syllabus; emphasizing that learners should be proficient in recognizing IPA symbols and pronouncing the phonetic transcriptions of words 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, like other foreign languages, as an “important tool to learn cultural and scientific knowledge and conduct international communication” All the other aspects remained the same as the 1978 syllabus |
1986 English Syllabus for Full-Time Secondary Schools | Requirements for pronunciation abilities: 1) “accurate pronunciation of individual words”; 2) “basically correct intonation, sentence stress and pausing in reading aloud”; 3) “correct pronunciation habits from the very beginning” Suggested teaching/learning activities: Same as the 1980 syllabus, emphasizing “listening to records and reading aloud are important ways for students to master correct pronunciation and intonation”, that “reading aloud helps to improve speaking” and that “pronunciation and intonation should be learned in the flow of speech” Named pedagogy: No specifications, but obviously embracing the structural approach, audiolingualism, with hints of communicative language teaching 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” foreign language, as an important “tool to learn cultural and scientific knowledge, to acquire information from all other countries in the world and to conduct international communication” All the other aspects remained same as the 1978 syllabus |
1988 English Syllabus for Full-Time Junior High Schools in Nine-Year Compulsory Education (Initially Approved Edition) | Role of pronunciation: No specifications (for the first time, no longer referring to the fundamental or key role that pronunciation plays to successful (beginning of) English learning) Requirements for pronunciation abilities: 1) “ability to produce correct pronunciation of individual words according to the IPA; 2) “basically correct pronunciation, intonation, sentence stress and pausing in reading aloud”; 3) “basically correct pronunciation and intonation in speaking practice” (first mentioning). (NOT mentioning the development of correct pronunciation habits any more.) Teaching contents: A list of phonetic items was offered, covering all the relevant items of the 1978 syllabus (in turn, same as the 1956 syllabus), plus “syllabic consonants”; emphasizing that “basic knowledge about pronunciation” should be taught “with the aim to foster learners’ practical ability to use English for communication” Suggested teaching/learning activities: imitating, reading aloud, story-retelling, singing, drama performance; (for the first time) emphasizing that “records can provide standard pronunciation and intonation for students to imitate correctly”, and that pronunciation teaching should be incorporated in comprehensive training of listening, speaking and spelling Named pedagogy: No specifications, but obviously following the CLT approach, still influenced by the structural method and the audiolingual method Pronunciation goal: No specification, but assuming a “standard” pronunciation model Target interlocutors: Same to the 1986 syllabus |
1990 English Syllabus for Full-Time Secondary Schools (Revised Edition) | Same as the 1986 syllabus |