Manchester hosts international conference on English pronunciation for first time
The 9th annual International Conference on English Pronunciation: Issues & Practices (EPIP) was hosted in Manchester for the first time this month. The event was co-organised by colleagues within the Manchester Institute of Education and the University Centre for Academic English in the University of Manchester.
The event brought together over 60 language teachers, professors, linguists, students and language researchers from across the UK, Europe, Asia and North America.
The conference considered topics such as phonetics (the production of sounds), phonology (how sounds are arranged to create meaning in speech) and prosody (the patterns of intonation and stress in a language) within spoken English; methods for teaching English pronunciation to speakers of different languages and language families; and tools for addressing the types of pronunciation errors commonly made by learners of English as a foreign language.
鈥淲e were excited to host this important event in Manchester. EPIP brought together experts from across our discipline, allowing us to learn together and to showcase how we are focusing on applied linguistics within the Manchester Institute of Education.鈥�
Topical issues of discussion included the use of AI to support the teaching of English pronunciation, and the ways in which women, transgender and gender non-conforming people can face prejudice and discrimination due to their speech tone and patterns.
The event was planned with regard for the aim of greater linguistic equality. Themes running through the two days included accent bias, linguistic imperialism and whether global English speakers should be encouraged to cultivate a native accent.
Alex Baratta, Reader in Language and Education, said: 鈥淲e were excited to host this important event in Manchester. EPIP brought together experts from across our discipline, allowing us to learn together and to showcase how we are focusing on applied linguistics within the Manchester Institute of Education.鈥�
Dr Wayne Rimmer, Academic English Tutor in the University Centre for Academic English, added: "Feedback from participants has been very positive, commending both the event and the university as a host."