Abstract
The paper draws on the research carried out among Czech pupils of two seventh forms at a lower secondary school. Its aim is to reveal whether the subjects'' perceptual sensitivity towards the English mid-central vowel schwa can be enhanced through a specifically designed set of pronunciation activities which were integrated into regular English classes.
The level of perception of the target sound in various contexts was measured in the initial and final phase of a pedagogical experiment during which some pupils underwent schwa training while others did not take part in any extra pronunciation practice. The comparison of the data collected in both groups at the beginning of the experiment and three months later suggests substantial improvement in certain parts of the test while there was absence of refinement on other parts of the test.
Therefore, the paper further examines the nature of pronunciation exercises in relation to individual sections of the measuring instrument.