eslHQ - what is the importance of a basic knowledge of phonology

With phonology you're looking at the basic speech sounds of a language and it is important for a language teacher to have a good knowledge of these as they are the building blocks of language.

A good teacher will not only need to have a thorough knowledge of the phonology of their L1 language but also of their students mother tongue. This knowledge is invaluable as it will let you know what kinds of problems your students will have when attempting to produce new language. Predicting these problems before you present new language will influence how you present that language.

Furthermore, spending classroom time working on specific problems your students have with the English phonotic system will make their speech clearer, which in turn will make them more easily understood and therefore more effective communicators, which in turn will make them more confident and proud of their Language production - always a good thing!!

The English language is not written phonetically and this causes many pronounciation problems for students when they encounter new language in its written form - how to pronounce it?! Dictionaries are brilliant books and a good one will always give the pronounciation of the word in the phonetic script. Teaching the phonetic script to students thus gives them access to the pronounciation of a word without the need to hear a model example from a native speaker - great learner autonomy!

So a basic knowledge of phonology for both teachers and learners is an essential part of language teaching and learning.
This can be done as an intricated feature of general language imput and presentation or as stand alone lessons. With plenty of materials available for the teaching of phonics this is an aspect of language which is both fun and rewarding to teach and your learners will benefit greatly with improved language skills.