This document provides pronunciation tips and tricks for use in the classroom. It discusses how young children can distinguish sounds in their native language, the importance of pronunciation for comprehension, and strategies for teaching concepts like numbers, verb endings, stress, plurals, and sentence stress through games and activities. Examples and classroom tips are provided throughout to demonstrate effective ways to teach pronunciation. The document concludes by thanking the readers and providing contact information for the authors.

1. Pronunciation
Tips and Tricks
for your
classroom
Rae Roberts
Sara Meza
1

2. 2
Pronunciation
What words come to your
mind?

3. How young can children begin to distinguish the sounds in
their native language? 1 day, 1 month, 1 year?

4. 4
How important is pronunciation
comprehension?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh5xu35bAxA

5. 5
Numbers are scary!

6. 6
Numbers
Teens smile/smile
ty-Smile/pause/drop
 Thirteen thirty
 Fourteen forty
 Fifteen fifty
 sixteen sixty
 Seventeen seventy
 Eighteen eighty
 Nineteen ninety

7. Classroom tip
1.Have the students work in pairs.
2. Have one person in the pair SILENTLY say
13 or 30, keeping their hands on their
cheeks.
3. Have the partner guess the number by
watching the facial movements

8. 8
Are you a person with a past?
The sound of “ed”

9. 9
Simple past– “ed”sounds
not spelling or letters
ed=sounds
T ( walked)
D (filled)
/əd/ wanted (tid) extra syllable
/əd/ ended (did) extra syllable

10. 10
Ed ending in Simple past
Do you feel vibration on the last sound of
these verbs? Yes or no?
Sail Cook
Play Wash
Voiced=D Voiceless=T
/ə d/(Schwa)
Wait
End

11. 11
Voiced?
1) Stay–- voiced, ends in a vowel sound
2) beg--- V?
3) Cough-V?

12. 12
Voiced? Voiceless?
1) Stay–--- voiced- ends in a vowel sound
2) beg----- voiced
3) Cough--voiceless

13. 13
T/D/or /ə d/?
1) beg-----
2) Cough--
3) Want----

14. 14
T/D/or /ə d/?
1) beg----- D
2) Cough-- T
3) Want---- /ə d/

15. Classroom tip
1. Write 10 verbs on the board
2. Have the students work in pairs or small groups.
3. Have the students make 3 columns on a sheet of
paper.
Put T at the top of column 1
Put D at the top of column 2
Put /ə d/at the top of column 3
4. Have the students write the verbs in the correct
columns by pronouncing the last sound of the verb.

16. 16

So, can you or
can’t you sing??

17. 17
can vs. can’t
I can sing (Ikan sing) “wekan,hekan,shekan” sing
Can is unstressed
I can’t sing ( I CAN—t----sing.)
CAN’t– is stressed
Can

18. Classroom Tip
1. Have the students write 2 things they can do and 2
things they can’t do. DON’T LET ANYONE SEE!
2. Have the students number their paper from 1-4.
3. Have the students work in pairs to write can or
can’t on their numbered paper as their partner says
the sentences to them.
4. Have them check their answers.

19. 19
PLURALS AND 3ED PERSON VERBS
S or Z SOUNDS
Nouns Verbs
Chair run, go
(Voiced) +Z Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Nouns Verbs
Cat cook
(Unvoiced)+S
SSSSSSSSSSS

20. 20
Voiced or voiceless?
1.Wait–
2.Boy–-

21. 21
Voiced or voiceless?
1. Wait– voiceless wait (s)
2. Boy–- voiced boy (z)

22. 22
/ə z/ extra syllable
(/ə / schwa)
/s/,/ss/or /z/, class, size
/sh/or /ch/, wash, watch
/ge/or/dge/ change, judge

23. 23
Final Exam! S/Z or /əz/?
1) match-
2) clean-
3) book-

24. 24
Final Exam! S/Z or /əz/?
1) match-/əz/ matches
2) clean—z cleans
3) book—s books

25. Classroom tip
 Divide the class into groups of 4-6.
 Give each group 3 cards with the pictures below.
 Say a noun or verb. The first group to hold up the
correct picture gets a point.
ZZZZZZZZZZZ SSSSSSSSSSSS
/ə z/

26. 26
sentence stress are key ideas
1.-HE says he loves my sister.
2.-He SAYS he loves my sister.
3.-He says HE loves my sister.
4.-He says he LOVES my sister.
5.-He says he loves MY sister.
6.-He says he loves my SISTER.

27. 27
Do you have rhythm?

28. Jazz Chants- Carolyn Graham
Hi! How ARE you?
Fine. How are YOU?
Hi! How ARE you?
Fine. How are YOU?
Hi! How ARE you?
Hi! How ARE you?
Hi! How ARE you?
Fine. How are YOU?

29. 29
I have a terrible sense of I have a wonderful sense of
direction. direction.
I never I always know which way to
know which way to go. go.
Turn left. Turn right.
This way or that way?
I
always know which way to go.
This way or
that way? I
know that it’s that way.
I
never know which way to I

30. 30
Thanks for listening!
 Rae Roberts, Senior English Language Fellow,
Lima, Peru
 Sara Meza, “Antonio Raymondi” School,
San Martin de Porres, Peru
E-mail: roberts_rae@yahoo.com
E-mail: misssarameza@gmail.com

31. Attributions
 Baby photo from Creative Commons by
flicker. Photo contributed by Julian Haler.
 Hi! How are you?, is by Carolyn Graham in
Small Talk: more jazz chants.