Inclusion of pronunciation in english textbooks for primary education: a mixed-methods study

Abstract

A careful look at the market for English textbooks for Primary Education in Spain reveals many gaps in the inclusion of pronunciation. Although the market is wide and varied, with books of different nature and pedagogical and methodological approaches, it can be observed that pronunciation teaching does not stand out for its treatment. In fact, it has been neglected in favour of other, more traditional skills. This study will be of a mixed nature, for which we will conduct a concurrent design using a ten-question questionnaire developed by the researcher and validated by several experts. The sample examines eight publishers, half Spanish and half international, with the presence of English textbooks in Primary Education. The main objective was to identify how different publishers treated pronunciation activities in their textbooks. Our research hypothesis was that there is a relationship between the publisher’s country of origin and the treatment of pronunciation in textbooks. The results show that the place of origin of the publisher, either national or international, influences the treatment of pronunciation in the textbooks we examined. The conclusion obtained was that international publishers tend to give greater diffusion and importance to pronunciation than national publishers, still reluctant to equate the role of pronunciation with that of other skills.