Welcome to the IATEFL PronSIG Online Conference 2025!

Beyond Intelligibility:
Expanding Our Approach to Pronunciation Instruction

25 October 2025, 09.30 -17.00 UK time

We are now accepting speaker proposals for our 2025 October online conference being held on Saturday, 25th October 2025.

If you would like to propose a presentation, poster, workshop, panel, teachers tip or tools session, please read the event information and submission instructions below, and complete the submission form.

About the Conference theme:

Some real-life communication situations demand that the L2 pronunciation learned by our students go ‘beyond intelligibility’. While intelligibility remains a vital, primary and necessary goal which should continue to be a priority in our everyday teaching, in some circumstances, we have to do more than ensure that students can be understood by listeners and that they can understand others. In such cases, we may have to go ‘beyond intelligibility’ in order to find the most suitable means to provide support. But what do we mean by ‘beyond intelligibility’? And how might we identify effective ways to provide that support?

This one-day online event explores the additional factors which impact learners’ pronunciation and broader communicative competence, such as the role of fluency, prosody, pragmatics, speaker confidence, comprehensibility and the role of the listener. This theme also provides an opportunity to investigate finer points and dynamics such as interactional nuance and emotional expression in speech which can all be part of co-constructing effective communication.

This event is intended for educators and researchers who want to enrich their approach to pronunciation teaching, prioritise an evidence-based approach, and learn practical classroom-ready ideas enabling them to address pronunciation in a holistic, learner-centred way.

Instructions for submission:

We are particularly interested in receiving proposals for sessions that explore pronunciation teaching ‘beyond intelligibility’ that focus on the following themes:

  • Comprehensibility
  • Prosody
  • Fluency and discourse-level speech
  • Pragmatics and appropriateness
  • Learner confidence and identity
  • Managing anxiety and speaking inhibition
  • Listener training and perception skills
  • Real-life communicative tasks and contexts
  • Technology-enhanced pronunciation teaching
  • Accent, inclusion, and attitudes
  • Sociophonetic perspectives in the classroom
  • and/or any other related field.

Join PronSIG for this whole day conference! 

All of the following session formats will be considered:

  • presentations (20 +10 minutes for Q&A)
    • These sessions should explore a specific topic reflecting what is stated in the abstract,
    • Make use of slides (e.g. PowerPoint, Google Slides) with visuals and judicious use of text to support your ideas,
  • posters (5 +3 minutes for Q&A)
    • Create a visually engaging display (48″ x 36″ / 121 cm x 91 cm) using software such as Canva, PowerPoint and Google Slides, 
    • Ensure your presentation has clear and concise text and images for improved comprehension,
  • workshops (35+10 minutes Q&A)
    • These sessions are longer than presentations to make room for interaction with attendants in activities or discussions related to the chosen topic, 
    • Consider providing a handout or other support material to share with and guide your audience during such activities. Bear in mind that our events will run on Zoom,
  • panels (35 + 10 minutes Q&A)
    • These are group discussions with no more than three presenters on the topic included in the abstract,
    • Each panellist should speak for approximately five minutes on their perspective regarding the topic, followed by a 15-minute moderated discussion and a 10-minute audience Q&A,
  • teachers’ tips (7 minutes + 3 minutes Q&A)
    • Share one or two practical tips that teachers can use in their teaching,
    • Present concisely; you may use slides or other presentation tools, but the main aim should be on giving advice that is practical and applicable for teachers.

Please complete this Google form in accordance with the following limitations:

Session title: 12 words

Session abstract: 60 words

Speaker biodata: 30 words

Deadline for proposals: midnight (UK time) Sunday 10th August 2025

The PronSIG committee will be in touch regarding the outcome of your proposed session in late August/ early September 2025.