It depends on the native language and the target language. If you are talking about English, there are now hundreds of "English" languages: E.g, Singapore English, Black American English, Received Pronunciation (Old BBC English), New York English, West Coast English, etc. As long as the pronunciation of the word is reasonably close to the expected pronunciation, comprehension can occur.

Dear Yaqoub, I don't know much about this, but we were taught pronunciations at language lab during our induction course. I think, it should be incorporated in curriculum to learn foreign language, if feasible, in childhood. Thanks.

Yes

Inverter not Inventer

It depends on the native language and the target language. If you are talking about English, there are now hundreds of "English" languages: E.g, Singapore English, Black American English, Received Pronunciation (Old BBC English), New York English, West Coast English, etc. As long as the pronunciation of the word is reasonably close to the expected pronunciation, comprehension can occur.

Of course yes especially in case of attending an international conferences, we will face different accent there!!

Pronunciation is necessary, but must not get the priority in language acquisition; With fairly good knowledge of foreign language, essential skills in speaking, reading and writing are more important than paying more attention to pronunciasion; it gets better with the passage of time.

Proper pronunciation is essential to being understood. While I do agree with Ian that in English there are many variations of the language.

In my adult English language classes I have no issue with the spoken English of my African and Middle Eastern Students whose pronunciation is very clear. Many of the sounds of Vietnamese on the other hand are very different from those of english and many students require a strong focus on pronunciation. My short answer. It depends on the mother language of students and their prior skills.

Pronunciation is an essential part of linguistic competency. I do believe pronunciation should be taught at courses for prospective teachers and those people who are expected to communicate and share professional knowledge.

The pronunciation must be taught from a very early age. However the word is not for 'teaching' but for

learning. We need to teach children in a spontaneous way so we shall be able to stimulate their spontaneous learning. The pronunciation is related to the sound representation on the brain. If we let the task only in the care of the ear, the child will often mishear the words and from here- a bad pronunciation. The negative effects can be seen on understanding, reading and writing. Many children have this problem. Either is about a native language or a second one, we must take care of the the pronunciation- but the methods must not be rigid and the errors correction must be done in a friendly way. We have also take in consideration the language. If one speak/learn Chinese, Korean, etc a mispronunciation could lead to a disaster.

It is important to demonstrate articulation. For instance, in English, 't' and 'd' are alveolar consonants - the tongue is placed on the alveolar ridge behind the teeth. In French, these two consonants are dental, i.e. the tongue is placed against the back of the teeth. The English sound is sharp, the French, softer.

It is difficult simply to pick this up from listening. Once it is demonstrated, it becomes easier for the learner to articulate. Comparative exercises also help, e.g. pronouncing 'dentist' (English) and 'dentiste' (French).

Yes, we should teach students the accuracy of phonetics of a target language and introduce films, songs and, if possible, people from different accents, so they can be familiar with other phonological possibilities.

Elements of language and language are specific to each nation, so states through their educational policies decide on communication education.Many of the elements of speech therapy (pronunciation, articulation of sounds), diction, topical are taught in school institutions.

In many languages a subtle difference in pronunciation can significantly change the meaning of a word. This can range from the difference between a noun and a verb form of the concept (for example English progress and progress) to quite different concepts (in Italy you could end up in a brothel rather than a gambling establishment for instance). Therefore some focus on pronunciation is important.

When it comes to the differences between accents things are perhaps a bit greyer. When learning a second language probably ideally you would learn to pronounce as closely as possible to an acceptable version from the target country (which with a language like English covers a vast range) but there is a bit of flexibility. I can communicate fairly well in Italian but have been told that I sound as if I'm a German (that is, I pronounce Italian in the way many Germans do) which can lead to interesting assumptions.

It should also be noted that native speakers often mispronounce words that are new or unfamiliar to them(these can often be proper names but other words can also be mispronounced), and it is a good idea to correct this. Though I did have one student who objected to me correcting his "pronounciation". I admit I couldn't resist interpolating "pronunciation".

Thank you for your detailed answer.

Benjamin Thorn makes a good point. Meaning can depend upon pronunciation. Now, Mandarin is a tone language with four tones. If you get the wrong tone, you get the wrong word, e.g. 'ma' can mean 'mother' or 'horse', depending on the tone used. It is thus essential to teach pronunciation, or you may land yourself in big trouble!