This is totally about how we teach pronunciation. If you have any problem please discuss with me in comment session. if you likes.my work is beneficial for you please give me likes.
2. CONTANTS
What is pronunciation?
What is pronunciation teaching?
Why to teach pronunciation?
What to know to teach?
Pronunciation issues
Problems that can students encounter
How to teach pronunciation?
Techniques of teaching pronunciation?
3. What is pronunciation?
Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. This may refer to generally
agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or language in a
specific dialect ("correct pronunciation").
Or
Simply the way a particular individual speaks a word or language.
What is pronunciation teaching?
Showing where they are made in the mouth, making students aware of where words should
be.
Why to teach pronunciation?
Teach pronunciation to build on…
Functional communicability: learner’s ability to function successfully within the specific
communicative situations.
Self-confidence: Dependent on the ones mentioned above.
Speech monitoring abilities: Good learners listen to the input and try to imitate it.
Functional intelligibility: Spoken English in which an accent is not distracting to the
listener.
Problems that students can encounter
1. It is overlooked in a lot of course books
2. Difficult to teach in multilingual classes
3. If it’s not tested, it’s not important
4. Some teachers think it is easy, but it actually needs a lot of work
5. It’s often left until later.
6. it is very overlooked by teachers,
What to teach? Individual sounds (perhaps using the IPA – see below)
1. Sound linking
2. Connected speech (perhaps through songs)
3. Weak forms (schwa)
4. Voice – get them to imitate English speakers
5. Syllable stress - highlight length, pitch, loudness, & vowel clarity
6. Intonation
4. 7. Minimal pairs
8. Chunking
9. Pausing
10. Rhythm
11. Awareness of varieties of English
12. Awareness and recognition – production will come later
Pronunciation issues:
Teachers give more importance to study grammar and vocabulary.
Teachers get students to study listening and reading
Teachers see that pronunciation teaching will only make things worse
Teachers ignore benefits of pronunciation teaching
How to teachpronunciation?
Integrate it into your lessons as much as possible
Start with little steps, and build from there
Model the shape of the mouth, and ask them to think about their tongues and lips!
Record your students’ voice and use it to focus on pronunciation issues.
Combine it with listening.
Use games
Mouth exercises
Use different colored pens, dots, connections, arrows…
Exaggerate pronunciation
Listen to the radio and imitate the accent
Exaggerate sounds – its fun, and SS can feel the difference between them
Cuisenaire rods fabulous for teaching word/sentence stress, intonation etc.
Techniques of teaching:
Working with sound:
Contrasting two sounds which are very similar and often confused to concentrate on
specific aspects of pronunciation.
E.g. Students listening to pairs of words and practicing the different between /∫/ and /t∫/
5. Similar Words
Washing Watching Mash Match
Sherry Cherry Sheep Cheap
Cash Catch Shoes Choose
Working with stress:
For stress in word, we can ask students to put words in correct columns depending upon
their patterns.
Example:
A B
information discovery
consultation recovery
aggravation acknowledgment
agoraphobic photographer
insulation catastrophe
Working with Intonation:
Change in pitch is used to convey meaning, to reflect the thematic structure of what people
saying and to convey mood.
Example: Students listens to some examples to identify falling and rising tones.
NOTICE HOW THE VOICE FALLAT THE END NOTICE HOW THE VOICE RISESAT THE END
It’s mine I think so
I met him at the disco Is this the Paris train?
She’s from Rome Probably
IS it yours? Are they here yet?
Sounds and spelling:
Students are asked to look for the rule of pronouncing letter c in two ways as /k/ and /s/.
Teacher might have to prompt them by suggesting to look at the letter which follow the.
A B
Centre Cap
Certain Come
Nice Cup
Bicycle Can
City Crack
6. Connected speech and fluency:
Stage 1: comparing: ask students what the differences between /a/ /æm//gəƱɪŋ/ /tu:/ /sɪ:/
/hɪm/ /təmɒrəƱ/ and /aɪmgɒnəsɪjɪmtəmrɒəƱ/.
Stage 2: identifying: ask students to write out a full grammatical equivalent of connected
speech
e.g. /dʒəwɒnəkɒfi/ is equivalent to do you want a coffee?
Stage 3: production: get students to say the phrases and sentences in connected version.
Tongue twisters:
Tongue twisters are useful for practicing specific target sounds, plus they’re fun make sure
the vocabulary is not too difficult.