Ewa Waniek-Klimczak - Böcker

Developing the ability to speak in a foreign language is an arduous task. This is because it involves the mastery of different language subsystems, simultaneous focus on comprehension and production, and the impact of a range of social factors. This challenge is further compounded in situations in which learners have limited access to the target language. Thus, there is a need to explore issues related to teaching, learning and testing speaking with a view to translating the guidelines based on theoretical positions and research findings into feasible and context-specific pedagogical recommendations. This is the rationale behind this book, which considers speaking from leading theoretical perspectives, investigates individual variables which affect its development, and reports the results of studies focusing on different aspects of its instructed acquisition.

The book contains contributions from practitioners and theoreticians who explore the pronunciation of English from various perspectives: phonetic, phonological, psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic. In accordance with the unifying theme of the volume, individual contributions investigate the characteristics of a foreign accent, its production and perception, study the development of methods and techniques in pronunciation teaching, evaluate their use in classroom materials and in the classroom itself, and investigate the conditions for second language learning and teaching from the perspective of learners and teachers. The book offers a unique combination of a scholarly research with practical applications, inspired over the years by the work of Professor Włodzimierz Sobkowiak, who has researched pronunciation teaching and pioneered technology-oriented, corpus-based approaches to the study of English pronunciation in Poland.

The book contains contributions from practitioners and theoreticians who explore the pronunciation of English from various perspectives: phonetic, phonological, psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic. In accordance with the unifying theme of the volume, individual contributions investigate the characteristics of a foreign accent, its production and perception, study the development of methods and techniques in pronunciation teaching, evaluate their use in classroom materials and in the classroom itself, and investigate the conditions for second language learning and teaching from the perspective of learners and teachers. The book offers a unique combination of a scholarly research with practical applications, inspired over the years by the work of Professor Włodzimierz Sobkowiak, who has researched pronunciation teaching and pioneered technology-oriented, corpus-based approaches to the study of English pronunciation in Poland.

Second language phonology is approached in this book from the perspective of data-based studies into the English sound system as used by native and non-native speakers of the language. The book offers a unique combination of psycholinguistic, sociolinguistic and pedagogical approaches, with individual contributions investigating the effect of selected conditioning factors on the pronunciation of English. With all the richness of approaches, it is a strong phonetic background that unifies individual contributions to the volume. Thus, the book contains a large body of original, primary research which will be of interest to experienced scientist, practitioners and lecturers as well as graduate students planning to embark on empirical methods of investigating the nature of the sound system

The volume constitutes a state-of-the-art account of issues related to teaching, learning and testing speaking in a second language.

Second language phonology is approached in this book from the perspective of data-based studies into the English sound system as used by native and non-native speakers of the language. The book offers a unique combination of psycholinguistic, sociolinguistic and pedagogical approaches, with individual contributions investigating the effect of selected conditioning factors on the pronunciation of English. With all the richness of approaches, it is a strong phonetic background that unifies individual contributions to the volume. Thus, the book contains a large body of original, primary research which will be of interest to experienced scientist, practitioners and lecturers as well as graduate students planning to embark on empirical methods of investigating the nature of the sound system