The internationaş conference titled Voices in Harmony: Pronunciation Pedagogy for the 21st Century, organized through the collaboration of our School of Foreign Languages and IATEFL PronSIG (International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language, Pronunciation Special Interest Group), was held on 16–17 May 2025 at the Millî İrade Campus.
The event featured world-renowned pronunciation specialists John M. Levis, Tracey M. Derwing, and Sinem Sonsaat-Hegelheimer as keynote speakers, alongside 20 oral presentations and 6 workshops. Bringing together numerous researchers and teachers from Türkiye and abroad, the conference provided a platform for academic research, exchanges of ideas, and professional sharing that shed light on the present and future of pronunciation teaching. The organizing committee consisted of our very own instructors Gökçe Arslan Aşan, Dr. Tarık Uzun, Özlem Kotbaş, and Zeba Chohan, while many of our students also took part as members of the student committee.
The conference began on 16 May with opening speeches by Dr. Daria Şen, Director of the School of Foreign Languages, Gemma Archer, Co-Coordinator of IATEFL PronSIG, and Vice Rector, Prof. Dr. Abdullah Yıldız. Following the opening remarks, Prof. Dr. Tracey M. Derwing delivered her keynote speech focusing on current trends in second language pronunciation research. The second keynote speaker of the day, Prof. Dr. John M. Levis, addressed theoretical and practical approaches to the teaching of suprasegmental features of speech, such as stress and intonation.
The keynote speaker on the second day, Asst. Prof. Dr. Sinem Sonsaat-Hegelheimer, gave a comprehensive presentation on pronunciation research in the Turkish context, current trends in the field, and AI-supported pronunciation teaching. The conference concluded with the closing program and a panel session moderated by Gemma Archer, in which the keynote speakers came together with participants once again. During this session, questions collected from the audience were answered by the keynote speakers.
As one of the few scientifically grounded events in Türkiye focusing on pronunciation teaching, Voices in Harmony 2025 concluded successfully and was met with very positive feedback from participants.
