Overview of the IPA
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) was created by the International Phonetic Association (also IPA) as a means for recording the sounds of all languages in the world within one comprehensive system. The alphabet operates on a strict one sound-one symbol relationship and contains enough symbols to cover every language that has been catalogued to date. Whenever a new language with a new sound is discovered, a new unique symbol is created for that one new sound and is added to the IPA.
The Latin alphabet provides the basis of the IPA, so many of the symbols are familiar to native speakers of English and many of those symbols are used for the same sounds as they are in English. The main difficulty a NSE will probably have is setting aside the practical orthography rules of English (i.e., the traditional spelling rules that are used in schools; orthography means spelling, and practical means in use) and moving to a truly phonetic spelling system. The practical orthography of English is not phonetic in nature, but is roughly phonemic with many historical artifacts. In addition, the approach to teaching spelling in elementary schools incorporates the historical perspective. Therefore, a second difficulty with using the IPA is setting aside the old ways of talking about the sounds of English. The traditional approach to talking about the sounds is to relate them to the orthography, but when that orthographic system is set aside, that way of talking must also be set aside. This is why each sound of the IPA has a technical name based on the place and manner of articulation of each sound.
In the field of ESL, those who work in college settings with well-educated international students may find that the students already know the IPA, and those students may ask for clarification on pronunciation by asking to have the IPA spelling of a word. Some dictionaries, especially those prepared for ESL students (cf. the Longman Dictionaries), use the IPA in providing the pronunciation section of word entries. Finally, the IPA provides all language professionals with a standardized means of discussing speech sounds and of looking at English from the ESL student’s point of view. Ultimately, then, knowing the IPA is considered foundational knowledge for all ESL teachers, even if a teacher doesn’t immediately turn around and teach it directly to students.
Because the knowledge is considered foundational, the IPA and the technical names of the sounds of English are included on the Praxis II exam. They will definitely be on the exam in Section I Analysis of Student Language Production, Part B Pronunciation. In addition, some of the questions in Section II Language Theory and Teaching may ask for your knowledge of the place and manner of production of speech sounds.
The Praxis II, however, uses a somewhat modified form of the IPA rather than the true IPA. The modifications serve to make the IPA a little more similar to the practical orthography of English. The IPA is easiest to learn by looking first at consonants and then at vowels. Always try to keep in mind whether you are reading or writing in the IPA that you are essentially reading and writing pronunciation. The IPA is not intended for teaching spelling, but for teaching pronunciation. Keep thinking of the pronunciation section of dictionaries and it might come easier.