Pronunciation [50 minutes] Essential Presentation Elements

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1 Pronunciation [50 minutes] Materials Tissue Slip strip (optional) Handout #10 Addressing Pronunciation Problems Handout #11 English Speech Sounds Handout #12 Tips, Tricks and Methods in Pronunciation Suggested Teaching Methods Lecture Question and Answer Essential Presentation Elements Trainees typically are very anxious about their ability to address pronunciation problems. Reassure them that: 1. Pronunciation, while important, is not too difficult for them to understand or teach. 2. The goal of pronunciation is understandability, not perfection. 3. Every tutor is a pronunciation expert although we are not consciously aware of what our bodies are doing when we speak, we can discover most of what we need to know simply by paying attention to what we do automatically. Explain that this information is also useful to BL students because they need to understand the relationship between sounds and letters to read and spell. Some speak foreign dialects of English or American dialects where sounds are quite different from what they will read. Four Teaching Techniques Same/Different (for speech and reading) When students confuse two sounds, you have to figure out whether they can hear the difference between them. Step 1 (for level 1 ESL students only): 1

2 o If your students do not know their meaning, you will have to teach the words same and different. Do this as you would teach a drill. Show two books and say same. Show two pencils and say same. Show one pencils and one book and say different. o Test understanding by holding up two objects and asking are they the same? or are they different? Students should answer either same or different. Step 2 (this will be Step 1 for students who already know the words same and different ): o Test the two sounds in question by saying them (for example, /b/ and /v/) and asking the student, are they the same? o Repeat several times. Step 3: o Print the two letters in question. o As you say each sound, have students point to the correct letter. Repeat several times. This technique serves as both a diagnostic tool and a teaching tool. For speech, redo this at intervals to see how students have progressed. Follow up with practice. There is a feedback effect. Better pronunciation usually brings better listening comprehension. Minimal Pairs (for speech and reading) Minimal pairs are pairs of words that are pronounced identically except for two sounds that are being confused. These sounds, which appear in the same place in the two words, can be at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end. This technique is the best method for learning to pronounce individual sounds properly. Start with sounds at the beginning of words where the contrast is easiest to hear. For example, if the sounds in question are /b/ and /v/: b v bet vet [Note to trainers: write these lists on the board] bat vat big vig 2

3 Then move on to minimal pairs for the middle and end of words, because some problems occur only there. The minimal pairs technique helps students pronounce a sound correctly. It also helps students differentiate the two sounds being practiced. As students learn to pronounce the sounds, their ability to recognize and hear them improves. For speech: Create a grid of two rows, each with the target sounds in the same position (beginning, middle, or end). Use nonsense words the point is to focus on distinct sounds. Say each word, one at a time, in the first column and have the student repeat each one. This reinforces the sound /b/ and creates a new muscular habit. Say each word, one at a time, in the second column and have students repeat each one. This reinforces the sound /v/ and creates a new muscular habit. Finally, say the two words in the top row, one at a time. Have students repeat. This differentiates /b/ and /v/. For reading: The grid is the same, but students see it. For reading, nonsense words are better because they ensure that students are reading the sounds, not just recognizing a familiar word. First, students read down one column; then they read down the second column; finally, they read across the rows. Modeling (for speech only) When we converse with or read to our students, we speak naturally so they will mimic intonation and inflection. When we model pronunciation, we exaggerate to show what the mouth is doing. With sounds, almost everything is happening inside, so we need to give all clues possible. Your willingness to look ridiculous relaxes students and allows them to look silly and make mistakes. Successive Approximation (for speech only) This technique addresses two issues: It brings together sounds that students know individually in order to use those sounds together 3

4 It separates sounds that students can use only in combination in order to use those sounds individually. If students can t make a blend or pronounce two sounds together, say each sound separately again and again, each time closer and closer until they are together. This technique is like saying choo-choo and imitating a train coming nearer. For example, students can pronounce /s/ and /t/, but not /st/. Sometimes students master the sounds at the beginning of a word but cannot blend the same sounds when they occur at the end. For example, if students cannot pronounce /th/ at the end of bath, but they can pronounce it at the beginning of words such as thing and think, have them say ba thing more and more quickly until the two words run together. Then cut the word off right at the end by dropping -ing. Do the opposite if students can pronounce a sound in combination, but not separately. For example, Spanish-speaking students often pronounce an initial /s/ (as in stamp ) as /es/ ( estamp ). Have students pronounce the word slowly, holding the proper mouth position for each sound. Then have them slowly separate the sounds until they can pronounce each sound as a separate entity. A similar technique is with non-clusters of similar sounds. For example, if students can say /oo/ but not /w/, have them say the /oo/ as they close their mouths to create friction (/w/ is the consonantal form of /oo/). Then have them say it faster and faster until they achieve /w/ without going through /oo/. Basic Differences in Speech Sounds Vowels Vowels are differentiated by where the tongue is placed (back/front, high/low) and how the mouth opens. The differences in tongue placement and mouth opening are very slight. Ask trainees to notice what they are doing with their mouths as they say: beat, bit, bet, bat, bate, box, book, beau, boo Optional information: o ESL students have great difficulty with short vowel sounds. o BL students who are new English speakers may have problems with short vowels. o BL students may have serious problems reading vowels if they speak another dialect. U.S. Southern and Black English vowels do not fit into the general 4

5 Consonants English pattern (example short I in Tennessee is a triphthong and sounds nothing like other short vowels, so can hinder reading greatly). Other dialects are missing sounds (example pronouncing the first sound of which as /w/ instead of /hw/. Thus, which and witch sound exactly the same. o Drilling with same/different and minimal pairs can be very valuable. Voiced/Not A voiced consonant comes from the vibration of your vocal cords (examples: /v/; /th/ as in that) An unvoiced consonant comes from the tightening of your diaphragm, so your vocal cords won t vibrate (examples: /f/; /th/ as in thanks) Demonstrate the difference o Hold a tissue in front of your mouth and say /v/; the tissue will remain still o now say /f/; the tissue will flutter o an unvoiced consonant releases a puff of air o Have trainees place one hand on their throats o as they say /v/ they will feel their vocal cords vibrate o a voiced consonant vibrates Stops A stopped sound is one in which air is stopped and followed by an explosion (at the beginning of a word) or the sound is bitten off (at the end of a word) Examples: p, t, k, b, d, g) Continuants A continuant sound occurs when there is friction and can be prolonged indefinitely (examples: s, f, m) Difference between L and R They are part of the same sound in many Asian languages L is created by air flowing around side of tongue. For L, the tongue tip touches the ridge behind the teeth; for R, it is low to midmouth, not touching R is pronounced like a vowel in English. Like all vowels and no other consonant, the tongue does not touch anywhere; its back is bunched toward the back of the 5

6 mouth and the tip is tense. Beyond Sounds Intonation refers to the rise and fall in pitch when one is speaking. This is one of the most important things students should master. English speakers use intonation to indicate sentence structure. As a result, poor articulation and good intonation are easier to understand than good articulation coupled with poor intonation. The three main intonation patterns in English (see Handout #10, page 2) are: Declarative sentences go down at the end. Are/is and Do/does questions go up at the end. Exclamations have short, silent spaces around the most important word which is further stressed. The same intonation applies to clauses, further helping comprehension. A good teaching aid for intonation is the book, Green Eggs and Ham, for its repeated contrasting of question and answer in clause and sentence. Would you, could you, in a boat? I would not, could not, in a boat. Syllable emphasis To help students understand which syllable is stressed, use a pen or your hand to tap out the syllables. Examples: content v. content; thirty v. thirteen. This is especially useful for reading and spelling. In English multiple-syllable words, the position of the stressed syllable moves around (unlike many other languages in which the stressed syllable is always positioned in the same place). Word emphasis To help students learn how to properly stress words in a sentence, have them read or recite simple sentences. Tap out the words that are stressed. How to Help Your Student In addition to the techniques just discussed, consider: Mirrors Sit side-by-side with your student so that you face a mirror that reflects both of you. The student can see whether she properly mimics the shape of your mouth Memory keys (b-b-b-b-) (like chart words) Diagrams of mouth shape Regular, short practice (no more than 5 minutes), preferably at the beginning of the session. The mind and muscles get tired. Handouts provide additional suggestions 6