The Effect of Using Dictionary in Teaching Pronunciation

Abstract

Conventionally, pronunciation is taught by teachers who explain the articulation, read sounds aloud while students listen carefully to the teacher, repeat after him, and then may, though not always, listen to some recordings. This implies that the whole process is based on listening and speaking; writing and reading is just accidental for the sake of exams.Teaching students how to use dictionary for pronunciation is believed to be an extension in developing skills to include reading and writing in both ordinary spelling and transcription. Accordingly, it is hypothesized that the use of dictionary helps students master a better English pronunciation.To prove this hypothesis, the present study has developed a theoretical and a practical part. In the practical one, an experiment has been designed and implemented on first year students/ Department of English Language/ College of Arts/ University of Kufa during the academic year 2006-2007.The study then has reached at several conclusions that validate the hypothesis and then suggested some recommendation