RIS ID

141399

Publication Details

Burri, M. & Baker, A. (2020). "A Big Influence on my Teaching Career and my Life": A Longitudinal Study of Learning to Teach English Pronunciation. TESL-EJ: The Electronic Journal for English as a Second Language, 23 (4), 1-24.

Abstract

Inquiry into learning to teach pronunciation is a growing area within the second language teacher education research paradigm. To what extent this learning process extends into instructors' early years of teaching pronunciation has yet to be explored. This article is a response to this need by exploring the 3.5-year trajectory of five teachers learning to teach English pronunciation. The study was conducted in two phases. In Phase 1, pre- and post-course questionnaires, weekly observations of the lectures, focus groups interviews, final post-course interviews, and the participants' final assessment task were triangulated to examine the development of participants' cognitions during a 13-week graduate course on pronunciation pedagogy, which featured an innovative haptic approach to pronunciation teaching. In Phase 2, carried out three years after the participants had completed the course and been teaching for approximately two years, narrative frames were used to elicit the teachers' current practices and cognitions about pronunciation. Findings showed notable development in participants' cognitions occurring at the end of the course. Due to the influence of various contextual factors, this upward progression then tapered off as the instructors began teaching; nonetheless, a gradual overall increase in participants' learning trajectory was clearly evident over the span of 3.5 years. The non-linear development of participants' cognitions and practices warrants future inquiry.

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