Shokooh Kashefizadeh - Islamic Azad University, South Tehran Branch, Department of Foreign Languages

Students need to understand how sounds are produced to develop communicative efficiency in everyday interactions. In teaching English, especially in teaching pronunciation the learners need interesting techniques. Pronouncing English words correctly are very important for those who want to be able to speak English accurately and correctly (Cited in Richard, 1992, p.2). To validate their effectiveness, this paper studies the perception of Iranian EFL learners’ towards pronunciation instruction and picto-pronunciation instruction in developing their pronunciation ability. It reported on students’ expectations of their pronunciation lessons and also their attitudes towards both picto-pronunciation instruction and symbol-based instruction. After the selection of a random sample of 80 students of levels 1and 2 (Elementary and Pre-Intermediate levels) two questionnaires were developed and students’ responses were tabulated and analyzed. The study shows that students who learned pronunciation through pictures have a positive attitude towards learning pronunciation and it had a more positive effect on EFL learners’ pronunciation ability. The results showed that the students were more dissatisfied with their current curriculum of learning pronunciation due to misunderstanding of various accents of pronunciation made available to them. The findings suggest that students’ perceived needs should be better synchronized in EFL contexts.

Pronunciation, Picto-pronunciation, Perception