Enhancing the comprehension of spoken language

Communicative competence hinges largely upon pronunciation, which can be taught explicitly through awareness-raising experiences and be fully integrated into other areas of the teaching repertoire. So far, however, the teaching of pronunciation with receptive purposes has received too little attention. This study therefore seeks to evaluate the usefulness of songs in the teaching of connected speech within EFL contexts for enhancing upper-intermediate learners' listening skills in real-life settings. A group of teachers in charge of courses in different language schools were surveyed, while a group of students belonging to a portion of those courses were asked to complete a proficiency test. The main findings of this research suggest the definite need to reflect on how pronunciation is and should be approached in the domain of communication-based language teaching.