Each language has its own unique sound system. The ability to use this sound system effectively leads to proper communication and the inability leads to a breakdown in communication. It is just not what is being said that leads to understanding but are ability to distinguish how something is being said. As E.M Foster says in ‘A Passage to India’: “A pause in the wrong place, an intonation misunderstood…………………….and the whole conversation went awry.” Most often than not there is a gap in communication between what the native speaker is trying to say and what the non native speaker thinks he is trying to say.

Most language learners come to class with the desire to speak like a native speaker. English as a language has its own rhythm, intonation, tine and pitch and all these lead to understanding of what is being communicated. These are language cues that listeners must be aware of. Apart from this English is a stress timed language therefore being aware of the stress system is also important to be a good communicator in the language.

For students sometimes the teacher is the only source of the target language. Especially for jobs teaching English abroad your classroom and you would be the main source of the language. In such a scenario it is very important that the teacher is a model for the language. The students will hear and speak the language as they hear it from the teacher. Therefore the teacher’s near native language level is highly desirable.

Phonetics as a subject is hardly taught to teachers or in schools but it is imperative that teachers are aware of this area of study not only to improve their own language skill but also in order to help their students overcome speaking difficulties.

The Asian College of Teachers’ Teaching Phonetics Course gives both the in experienced and experienced teacher an over view of the subject area along with helps them to understand and know the correct pronunciation of consonants and vowels, which are the building blocks of English language and the science of speech sounds, the speech organs, their acoustic qualities, their combination into syllables and other sound groups, and finally syllables, stress and intonation. A Teaching Phonetics Course is important for all teachers of foreign languages whether they are teaching young learners or adults. The teachers will learn the technique to develop correct articulation of a foreign language this course is also useful for Soft skill trainers and anyone who uses English as a medium of communication.