The Current State of Pronunciation in Spanish Textbooks

It was found that pronunciation instruction in 10 widely used textbooks for elementary-level Spanish was minimal or non-existent 24 years ago (Arteaga, 2000). Additionally, textbooks that did contain pronunciation-related materials included erroneous information. Since the seminal study, numerous studies have tested a wide range of pronunciation methodology (Miller, 2012; Yoshida & Fukada, 2014), some specifically focusing on Spanish (Lord, 2005; Olson, 2014). Therefore, it is crucial to (1) determine whether current curriculum incorporates pronunciation materials into textbooks and (2) assess if tested materials have been implemented. An analysis of 10 beginner-level, Spanish textbooks was conducted, calculating the total percentage of pronunciation materials per textbook and determining the accuracy of materials and recycling (Arteaga, 2000). Results reveal that five of the 10 textbooks include no pronunciation materials, while five textbooks contain less than 4.5%. Results show that multiple explanations in textbooks are inaccurate, in addition to a lack of tested methods.