Pronunciation Norms in Elementary School English Textbooks: EIL vs. EFL

In Korea, English has been increasingly used between nonnative and nonnative speakers as an international language as well as between native and nonnative speakers as a foreign language. Given this, the criteria by which accuracy in pronunciation is judged should be determined to increase intelligibility between nonnative and nonnative speakers, or EIL intelligibility, as well as intelligibility between native and nonnative speakers, or EFL intelligibility. This study attempts to examine the extent to which the five 3rd-to-6th grade textbooks, which were developed according to the latest amended 2015 national curriculum for English, address English pronunciation features and how they vary. Also, it strives to analyze which pronunciation norms, EFL vs. EIL norms, the five textbook series adopt and how consistently they conform to the criteria. The five textbook series were found to vary to a great extent in the number and type of English pronunciation features and the grade in which particular pronunciation features were introduced. Moreover, they all fail to provide the exhaustive and balanced coverage of segmental and suprasegmental aspects in English. The five textbook series also do not address the pronunciation features neither in consistent conformity with EFL nor with EIL criteria. Based on these findings, implications for the national curriculum for elementary school English and teacher education are suggested along with directions for future research.