Revisiting the Intelligibility and Nativeness Principles
Levis (2005) named two conflicting approaches to pronunciation teaching, the Nativeness
Principle and the Intelligibility Principle. This paper revisits those two principles to argue for the superiority of the
Intelligibility Principle in regard to where pronunciation fits within the wider field of language teaching, in how it effectively
addresses teaching goals, in how it best addresses all contexts of L2 pronunciation learning, and in how it recognizes the reality
of social consequences of pronunciation differences. In contrast, the Nativeness Principle, despite its long pedigree and
many defenders, falls short by advocating native pronunciation for L2 learners, which is both unlikely to be achieved and
unnecessary for effective communication in the L2.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Terminology in Levis (2005) and Munro and Derwing (1995)
- 3.Nativeness, Intelligibility and Pronunciation Teaching
- 4.Nativeness, Intelligibility and their Implications for Pronunciation Teaching
- 5.How are the Nativeness and Intelligibility principles related?
- 6.Research and the nativeness principle
- 7.Nativeness, Intelligibility and Contexts for Pronunciation Learning
- 8.Intelligibility, Nativeness and Social Ramifications of Accent
- 9.Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
-
References
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