Pronunciation is an integral part of learning a foreign language because it affects learners' communication skills and their performance. Obtaining the correct pronunciation of a second language is an essential part of the language learning process. Pronunciation has a key role in increasing the communicative competence and performance of L2 learners. Learning to pronounce is one of the most sensitive and complex aspects of an English class. Limited pronunciation skills can lower learners’ confidence, limitsocial interactions, and negatively impact the ability of the speakers. The current focus oncommunicative approaches to learning pronunciation and attention to the development of communication skills emphasizes the fact that pronunciation plays a significant role in learners’ overall communicative competence. Theobjectives of this review article are to define pronunciation,express the importance of pronunciation, explain the factors affecting pronunciationlearning, elaborate pronunciation integration in the curriculum, and discuss strategies for teaching pronunciation that can help EFL learners meet their personal and professional needs. A review of literatureshows that with careful preparation and integration, pronunciation can play an important role in supporting learners’ communication skills.

Dr. Abbas Pourhosein Gilakjani is an Assistant Professor of TESOL (USM, Malaysia) at Islamic Azad University, Lahijan, Iran where he teaches courses in English Language Teaching. He has published more than 100 papers in national and international journals.He is the member of the editorial board of Cogent Education (ISSN: 2331-186X), Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education (ISSN: 2363-5169), Reading & Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties (ISSN: 1057-3569), and the Founder and Director-in-Charge of the International Journal of Research in English Education (IJREE, Online ISSN: 2538-3027; Print ISSN: 2538-4015).