Models, standards, targets/goals and norms in pronunciation teaching

The four terms models, standards, targets/goals and norms are used widely in English language teaching, but without agreed definitions. This article investigates the usefulness of these terms for pronunciation teaching. Standard and norm do not seem very useful, and model and target/goal reflect a distinction which, it is argued, ought not to exist. That is, pronunciation models should not be unattainable ideals, but rather realistic targets for the particular group of learners. Proposed features of pronunciation models are examined critically. Four are considered of major importance—intelligibility, conveyance of identity, ease of learning, and facilitation of spelling. It is noted that currently used models such as Received Pronunciation fail to fulfil these criteria. A polymodel approach is recommended, where a different pronunciation model is appropriate for each ELT situation, since each situation differs in its linguistic background, the desires and needs of its speakers, etc.