Come along to my talk, titled “Developing a pleasant non-native accent“, on Saturday 11th April 2015, from 12:35 to 13:05, in the room labelled “Exchange 5”.

In this talk I aim to address the issue of pronunciation being arguably the most neglected area of English language teaching, by proposing how teachers can challenge and inspire their learners to develop a pleasant non-native accent. I will reflect on reasons for which pronunciation is given so little attention in language lessons, and suggest how the mindsets of teachers and learners can be changed in this regard. I will also characterise a pleasant non-native accent, and distinguish such its elements that deserve considerably more focus in English language teaching than they currently tend to receive. I will furthermore indicate some typical lesson procedures that could give way to pronunciation coaching, as that would contribute more valuably to the development of the learner’s natural English. I will share some of my tried and tested classroom activities whose purpose is to improve our learners’ spoken performance, and inspire them to work independently to develop a pleasant non-native accent. The ideas that I will present have evolved from incorporating coaching techniques into my teaching, and from adopting a lexical approach. I promise not only food for thought, but also some tips to try out in your next class. The talk is addressed to both inexperienced and experienced teachers.