A Study on the Inclusion of Pronunciation Instruction in the Foreign Language Classroom

Research on instruction of pronunciation in a foreign language setting has seen an increase in recent decades but often this research focuses specifically on the acquisition of English pronunciation. This paper aims to investigate the direction that research based on the acquisition of pronunciation has taken up to this point. Further this paper aims to specifi cally explore whether the vast progress made in research for English pronunciation acquisition can be utilized in a non‑English foreign language classroom setting. 　The study first explores largely research on English pronunciation acquisition to date including research that has validated the necessity of pronunciation research. It then focuses specifi cally on the comparatively small amount of research that has been done in improving Japanese pronunciation for non‑native learners as a possible spring‑board for future research. The fourth section suggests future directions for research in pronunciation acquisition of foreign languages besides English using the previous Japanese language based research as a model. The fi nal section provides an example of a possible study in Japanese pronunciation utilizing the suggestions in the fourth section.