Get excited about teaching pronunciation: How to integrate the phonemic chart and script into your

lessons.

ELTed Limerick Louise GuyettELT Ireland 7th June 2014

Advantages of using phonemic chart and script

ᵊ Empowers learners – provides them with a tool that builds their

confidence.

ᵊ Autonomy – gives them a system they can use in their self-study.

ᵊ Memorable – discovering sounds is more memorable than ‘listen and

repeat.’

ᵊ Spelling – demonstrates differences and highlights patterns between

spelling and pronunciation.

ᵊ Visual stimulus – connects the visual with the physical when using the

chart as map of the mouth.

ᵊ Tool for the Teacher– effective error correction, introducing new lexis and

grammar.

Pronunciation goals

ᵊ Celebrate differences in your learners.

ᵊ Aim to improve not to perfect.

ᵊ Intelligibility is the name of the game – can my learners be understood?

“The chief argument is one of mutual intelligibility”

- IDA. C. Ward (1931)

“ . . .the primary goal of teaching pronunciation must now be to make

learners intelligible to the greatest number of people possible . . .”

- Robin Walker (2010)

Before you begin

ᵊ As the teacher, it’s your responsibility to have some knowledge of the

chart and the script.

ᵊ Watch Adrian Underhill’s video online.

ᵊ Download Sounds: The Pronunciation App and get practising.

ᵊ Start by introducing the chart slowly and build it up a few sounds at a

time.

Phonemic Hangman

Aim: To practise the pronunciation of the target language of the lesson.To boost learner confidence using phonemic script.

Procedure: 1. Give each pair a set of 6 words or expressions. 2. Learners work together to write the word in script.3. Match sets of pairs together to make groups of 4 or 6 (3 teams)4. Groups play hangman with their words in phonemic script. They put the number of spaces as there are sounds. The others have to say the sounds (not letters) to fill in the spaces and guess the word or expression.

Tips

ᵊ Be sure to do an example as a whole class first.

ᵊ It’s best to do this as a way to revise a set of lexical items that were studied

in the previous class or after a listening or reading.

ᵊ If you want to make it slightly easier, give the pairs the target language in

script to begin with and they have to figure out the words or expressions.

ᵊ The first time you try this, perhaps give each pair 2 or 3 words.

ᵊ Give the activity time, not just the last 10 minutes of class.

ᵊ Give each pair a copy of the phonemic chart or have them download one

on their phone or tablet.

Phonemic ‘back to the board’.

Aim: To revise the pronunciation of a set of lexical items

Procedure: Exactly like the traditional version. Instead of writing the words on the board, write them in phonemic script. Learners have to figure out the word and then go on to describe the meaning to their teammate.

Tip:1.Have students cover their mouths while they’re trying to decipher the word!2.Make sure your learners are quite comfortable with script at this stage, it can be quite a challenging game.

Songs

Aim: 1. To highlight differences and similarities between spelling and pronunciation.2. To recognise target language in a stream of speech/ song.

Procedure:1.Give the learners the lyrics of a song with some lyrics taken out and phonemic script in its place. Learners decipher the words and then listen to check.

2. Give the learners the lyrics of a song with some lyrics taken out and placed in phonemic script at the top of the page. They decipher the words and decide where they should go in the song. They might discover a rhyming pattern which will help.

Tips

ᵊ Songs with simple rhyming patterns will help with method 2.

ᵊ Using songs that contain specific target sounds or minimal pairs can

provide follow up spelling and pronunciation activities.

Final tips

ᵊ Remember, it’s all about building confidence and intelligibility.

ᵊ Build up the IPA a few sounds at a time. Many learners won’t have

seen it before or are scared of it.

ᵊ Inform yourself! Take the time to discover the chart and script

yourself if you aren’t familiar with it.

ᵊ HAVE FUN! Once your learners start to see the benefits, they will

love it. And when you see how much they progress and love it, you

won’t want to teach anything else!

References

Walker, R. (2010) Teaching the Pronunciation of English as a Lingua Franca. OUP

Ward, I. C. (1931) The Phonetics of English. W. Heffer & Sons LTD, Cambridge.

Get in touch

E-mail: loueltblog@gmail.com

Blog: http://loueltblog.blogspot.com

Twitter: @Louiseguyett

Facebook: IATFEL PronSIG (Pronsig)