DEVELOPING A TECHNOLOGY SUPPORTED IN-SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM ON ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION FOR TEACHERS

The purpose of this paper is to discuss necessary and effective pronunciation-related training for in-service teachers of the English language at various school levels in Japan. We examine how an Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-supported pronunciation training program can help teachers improve their pronunciation. In section 1, we first discuss the importance of teaching the sound system of English, as part of teaching English communication skills, by examining the official guidelines published by the Japanese government. We then discuss the fact that many Japanese teachers of English have not received sufficient training at their teacher training programs at universities to carry out pronunciation teaching. We then examine how ICT-supported pronunciation training programs can benefit teachers by improving their pronunciation abilities. Experimental training was conducted for in-service teachers at a license renewal training seminar using pronunciation software. A survey was conducted at the training, and results highlight the significant effects of ICT on pronunciation-related teacher training programs, and the necessity of developing such programs.