“I’m come to have lessons, I am” - Pygmalion, Power and Pronunciation University

Abstract

The Swedish steering documents for English in upper secondary school put emphasis on the communicative approach, which focuses on function instead of form. Goals and criteria do not formulate a systematic awareness of language but knowledge of language as a tool for communication. The purpose of this essay is to highlight the importance of pronunciation practice in schools today. To be able to enunciate phonemes, and to use stress and intonation correctly, is vital in all verbal communication and thus something we need to address in teaching English as a foreign language. By using George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion, the essay shows how pronunciation has been, and still might be, the cause of prejudice and social determiner. We are perceived by the way we speak and use our language, and it does not only give assumptions as to where we are from but also who we are. The play Pygmalion, and thus this essay, is a vast source for discussions about social class and equality, linguistic prejudice and intrinsic worth, the ambiguous need for transformation and the power of education. Eliza Doolittle’s metamorphosis, from a simple flower girl to an admirable lady of such distinction that she can be taken for a princess, is due mainly by the phonetic skills of professor Higgins. Examples are therefore given on how to implement Higgins audio-lingual teaching methods in the pronunciation teaching of today. The communicative approach does not have to exclude focus on form to stay communicative. This essay claims that a focus on form may instead benefit intelligibility in communication.