Welcome!
1 University Drive
Aliso Viejo, CA 92656
http://www.soka.edu
Soka University of America
§ SUA is an independent, non-profit,
institution of higher education located
in Southern California’s Orange County.
§ It is founded on the Buddhist principles
of peace, human rights and the sanctity
of life.
The mission of Soka University of America
is to foster a steady stream of global citizens
committed to living a contributive life.
Daisaku Ikeda, SUA Founder
SUA Campus, Aliso Viejo CA
English teacher training
Our “Short Course in Teaching Pronunciation” is
made possible through the collaboration of:
Royal Thai
Distance
Learning
Foundation
RELO
Office,
U.S. Embassy,
Bangkok
Soka
University
of America
Teaching Pronunciation
Communicatively—Some EFL
Considerations
Donna M. Brinton
Professor of TESOL
Soka University of America
Short course: Overview
1
2
3
4
5
Teaching Pronunciation Communicatively:
Some EFL Considerations
The Consonants of North American
English
The Effect of Environment on Consonant
Production
The Stressed Vowels of North American
English
The Unstressed Vowels of North American
English
Short course, cont’d.
6
Introduction to Connected Speech
7
Stress and Rhythm
8
Prominence and Intonation
9
Intersections of Pronunciation with
Vocabulary, Grammar, and Listening
Guiding Principles for Teaching
Pronunciation
10
Overview of today’s session
§ Why focus on pronunciation?
§ The advantage of NNESTs in teaching
pronunciation
§ Why is pronunciation different?
§ Do we need phonetic symbols?
§ A grab bag of traditional techniques
§ Considerations for teaching
pronunciation communicatively
Why focus on pronunciation?
§ Pronunciation is an essential part of oral
communication.
§ Even with excellent vocabulary and/or
grammar, learners will not be understood
if they consistently mispronounce English.
§ Listeners process incoming language
according to their “schema.” If the
language they hear does not “fit” this
schema, they will be frustrated in their
attempts to understand the speaker.
Sam the import/export merchant…
silk /sIlk/
flower
sick
/sIk/
flower
Who can teach pronunciation?
Do you need to
be aif native
What
your
speaker?
own
WhatEnglish
if you
pronunciation
lack confidence
is
perfect?
in not
your
English
pronunciation?
NNESTs and pronunciation
§ Teachers do not have to be native
speakers to teach pronunciation.
§ However, non-native English speaking
teachers (NESTs) do need to be
appropriate models for their students.
§ Knowledge of the English sound system
prepares teachers to help students with
their pronunciation.
The advantage of the NNEST
In the realm of pronunciation teaching,
NNESTs have a distinct advantage…
1. They have insights into the
L1 of their students that NS
teachers often do not!
2. They have first-hand
knowledge of the
pronunciation challenges
their students face.
Helping students overcome…
§ Most importantly,
they have overcome
the hurdles their
students encounter
and can effectively
“coach” their
students using the
techniques that
were successful for
them.
Why is pronunciation different?
§ Language is generally rule-driven.
§ Students can study grammar rules, memorize
vocabulary, and learn the discourse functions of
the language.
§ Pronunciation is different!
– It is rule driven, but it involves
more than just cognitive ability.
– It also involves motor activity
requiring students to assume
unfamiliar positions of the articulators.
– This makes teaching pronunciation qualitatively
different than teaching the other skill areas.
A “grab bag” of techniques
Traditional techniques
1. These are our legacy from articulatory
phonetics and the teaching practices of
the 1960’s and 70’s.
2. They are still found in
virtually every student
pronunciation textbook.
3. Teachers and students
find them useful!
Throw out the baby?
§ These are tried and true
techniques.
§ We should not abandon
them just because they
are “out of fashion.”
§ But we can update
them in creative ways.
Don’t throw the baby
out with the
bathwater.
Visuals
Phonetic symbols
Do we need phonetic symbols?
English has no sound/symbol
Why?
correspondence. You can’t always
guess how letters are pronounced
(especially vowels)!
It’s not necessary to use IPA. Use the
Which?
symbols that are in the dictionary
your students use.
Introduce them gradually, as needed.
When?
Don’t make students memorize the
IPA chart all at once!
The proof is in the pudding…
One spelling, multiple
pronunciations
§ got /A/
§ go /ow/
§ love /Ã/
§ to /uw/
§ woman /U/
§ women /I/
One pronunciation,
multiple spellings
§ believe /iy/
§ receive /iy/
§ leave /iy/
§ machine /iy/
§ be /iy/
§ see /iy/
Is English crazy?
“o” spelling
“ea” spelling
“oo” spelling
/ow/
/uw/
/Îr/
/Ã/
/iyr/ /uw/
/A/
Visual aids
Minimal pair discrimination
Word drills: Which is
different?
1. boat, vote, boat
2. ban, van, van
3. bet, bet, vet
4. savor, saber, saber
5. drivel, drivel, dribble
6. marvel, marble,
marvel
7. suave, swab, swab
8. curb, curb, curve
Sentence drills: Circle the
one you hear.
1. The accident was on
the curve/curb.
2. She saw two
calves/cabs.
3. Can you use this as a
vase/base?
4. I’m having trouble
with my
vowels/bowels.
Sentence practice
/iy/ vs. /I/
Jean and Gin keep an
extremely clean kitchen.
/E/ vs. /Q/
Heather has seven happy
hens in the back pen.
/uw/ vs. /U/
June took a good look at
Luke’s cool pool.
Tongue twisters
§ /s/ vs. /S/: Susie sells sea
shells by the sea shore.
§ Flap “t”: A tutor who tooted the
flute, tried to tutor two tutors
to toot. Said the two to the
tutor “Is it tougher to toot
or to tutor two tutors to toot?”
§ Vowel review: A big black
bug bit a big black bear,
made the big black bear bleed blood.
Communicative techniques
§ Communicative techniques have been
applied to the teaching of pronunciation
since the mid 1970’s.
§ Today, we recognize
the need for a balance of
accuracy and fluency. Not
all mistakes are corrected.
§ There is a progression from word and
sentence based exercises to more
discourse-based, communicative practice.
“Gadgets”
Gilbert (1991)
Pronunciation bingo
dead
guess
head
said
ten
send
sad
and
end
had
pet
bag
BINGO
dad
sand
end
tan
tend
beg
pat
gas
tanned
then
and
than
Rhythm drills
COWS
EAT
GRASS.
The COWS
EAT
the GRASS.
The COWS
have EATen
the GRASS.
The COWS
will have EATen
the GRASS.
The COWS
couldn’t have EATen the GRASS.
Rhythm drills, cont’d.
CATS
EAT
MICE.
The CATS
EAT
the MICE.
The CATS
have EATen
the MICE.
The CATS
will have EATen
the MICE.
The CATS
couldn’t have EATen the MICE.
Congruent pattern drills
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
–
— – — – ˜ –
I need a pound of butter.
I’d like to buy a sweater.
You didn’t close the window.
He ought to buy a laptop.
She doesn’t speak much English.
Congruent patterns, cont’d.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
–
—
–
–
—
–
–
˜
I think that he wants us to run.
I told him to wait in the hall.
She asked me if Doris had left.
She promised to carry it home.
It’s better to harvest the corn.
Information gap: Partner A
buys
Jean
Jin
Jane
Jen
wants
likes
needs
pins
?
cake
?
?
a pet
grapes
a maid
beads
kids
?
?
?
?
men
?
Information gap: Partner B
Jean
Jin
Jane
Jen
buys
wants
likes
needs
?
a kiss
?
paint
a desk
?
?
jeans
?
?
green
?
milk
a pen
?
a drink
Children’s rhymes
Wicky Wacky Womper-A
There’s an ant on me today.
If I flick it far away
Do you think that it will
stay? (make flicking motions
with thumb, forefinger)
http://www.kidsread.net/wicky.htm
Children’s rhymes, cont’d.
Wicky Wacky Womper-U
There’s a froggy in my
shoe.
My oh my! What will I
do?
Maybe it will jump on
you! (put pretend froggy
on shoe of person next to
you)
http://www.kidsread.net/wicky.htm
Children’s rhymes, cont’d.
Wicky Wacky Womper-E
There’s a monkey in my
tree.
Maybe there are two or
three.
Maybe they will play with
me. (scratch armpits &
make monkey noises)
http://www.kidsread.net/wicky.htm
Four Fat Flies – Jazz Chant
I wish I could find
Those four fat flies
That flew in my window
Last Friday night.
Four flies flew in,
Four flies, not three
One landed on Fred,
Three landed on me.
Graham (1978)
How’s His English? Jazz Chant
His English is wonderful,
He speaks very well.
His accent is perfect.
You can’t really tell
That he isn’t a native
Of the U.S.A.
There’s only one problem.
He has nothing to say.
Graham (1978)
A few useful tips
1. Introduce sounds gradually, and
recycle the sounds you have already
taught.
2. Work on recognition first, then
production.
3. Work on issues as they arise in class.
4. Don’t overwhelm students with
correction. Correct selectively!
Tips, cont’d.
5. Don’t expect students to “get it” the
first time. Working on pronunciation
takes time and effort.
6. Encourage students when they get
sounds right.
7. Familiarize your students with their
dictionary’s phonetic symbols and
encourage dictionary use.
Tips, cont’d.
8. Integrate pronunciation work with
other skills.
a. For example, when teaching vocabulary,
work with difficult sounds and word
stress.
b. When teaching grammar, work on
difficult to pronounce grammatical
endings such as
–ed and –s.
c. When having students read aloud, work
on tone units, prominence, and
intonation.
Parting shots…
Parting
Parting shot:
shot: aa remark
remark
that
that you
you say
say as
as you
you are
are
leaving
leaving somewhere
somewhere so
so
that
that itit has
has aa strong
strong
effect
effect
Make it visual
Make it kinesthetic
Make it auditory
Make it fun!
Some teacher resources
Avery, P., & Ehrlich, S. (Eds.) (1992). Teaching
American English pronunciation. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Bowen, T., & Marks, J. (1992). The
pronunciation book: Student-centred activities
for pronunciation work. Burnt Mill, Harlow:
Longman.
Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D. M., & Goodwin, J.
M. (In press). Teaching pronunciation: A
reference for teachers of English to speakers
of other languages (2nd ed.). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Teacher resources, cont’d.
Dalton, C., & Seidlhofer, B. (1994).
Pronunciation. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Gilbert, J. (1991). Gadgets: Non-verbal tools for
teaching pronunciation. In A. Brown (Ed.),
Teaching English pronunciation: A book of
readings (pp. 308–322). London: Routledge.
Graham, C. (1978). Jazz chants. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Graham, C. (1986). Small talk: More jazz
chants. New York: Oxford University Press.
Teacher resources, cont’d.
Hewings, M. (2004). Pronunciation practice
activities: A resource book for teaching
English pronunciation. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Kelly, G. (2000). How to teach pronunciation.
London: Longman.
Kenworthy, J. (1987). Teaching English
pronunciation. London: Longman.
Laroy, C. (1995). Pronunciation. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Teacher resources, cont’d.
Nilsen, D. L. F., & Nilsen, A. P. (1973).
Pronunciation contrasts in English. New York:
Regents. [reissued 2002 by Waveland Press,
Prospect Heights, IL]
Swan, M., & Smith, B. (2000). Learner English:
A guide to interference and other problems
(2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.