Teaching English Pronunciation to Young Learners - Focus on Accuracy

Abstract

This thesis deals with the issue of teaching English pronunciation to young learners with the focus on accuracy. The stress is put on the pupils at the age from eight to eleven attending the third, fourth and fifth grades of a primary school. In the theoretical part, basic characteristics of English pronunciation are introduced. Then, the author of this thesis defines the term young learners and states basic specifics of the target age group. In the following chapters of the theoretical part the author mentions suitable techniques and activities used for improving English pronunciation and then she gives a summary of common pronunciation errors of Czech learners. The practical part of this thesis is aimed at young learners´ pronunciation errors and the ways how these errors can be corrected. The stress is put also on the use of various activities and the time spent by working on them. On the basis of classroom observations the author proposes other activities which can be used for improving learners´ pronunciation.