teaching pronunciation english in the 21 st century & how to teach segmentals
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English in the 21st Century
How many people are there in the world today?How many of them speak English?
English in the 21st Century
There are over 7 billion people in the world today.
More than 25% of them speak English fluently or competently (Crystal 2003, quoted in Jenkins 2007).
English in the 21st Century
This is Braj Kachru’s famous model for understanding how English functions in different countries. (in Crystal, 1995)
English in the 21st Century
How many users in each circle?
• 300-500 million in inner circle (e.g., US)
• 320-380 million in outer circle (e.g., India)
• 500 million – 1 billion in expanding circle (e.g., VN)
(Figures from Crystal, 2003, quoted in Jenkins, 2007)
Nativeness versus Intelligibility
• Nativeness principle: the goal of pronunciation teaching is for learner to achieve native-like pronunciation in the target language
• Intelligibility principle: the goal of pronunciation teaching is for learners to be understood when speaking
Does being a native speaker make a person a good pronunciation teacher?
• Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz0IT4Uk2xQ to see the video!
Does being a native speaker make a person a good pronunciation teacher?
What are some advantages NNESTs (non native English speaking teachers) have over NESTs (native English speaking teachers)?
Teaching Segmentals: Vowel Sounds
• What English vowels are difficult for you to pronounce? Which are easy?
• What strategies have you or your past English teachers used to improve your production of English vowel sounds? Which ones were the most successful?
Common Vowel Problems
•/iy/ vs. /ɪ/ seat/sit, sheep/ship•/ɛ/ vs. /æ/ vet/vat, pest/past•/ʌ/ vs. /ʊ/ buck/book, cud/could
Teaching Vowels: /iy/ vs. /ɪ/
• Help Ss understand the mouth position• Exaggerate and use movement to help them pronounce the sound correctly
Teaching Vowels: /iy/ vs. /ɪ/
• Help Ss understand the mouth position• Exaggerate and use movement to help them pronounce the sound correctly
• Drill using minimal pairsSLEEP SLIP
GREEN GRIN
LEAVE LIVE
EAT IT
Teaching Vowels: /iy/ vs. /ɪ/
• Help Ss understand the mouth position• Exaggerate and use movement to help them pronounce the sound correctly
• Drill using minimal pairs• Give listening discrimination practice
Listening Discrimination
Directions: 1) copy the words; 2) listen to the teacher (or recording) say the words and mark the one you hear.
1. ___ SLEEP ___ SLIP
2. ___ GREEN ___ GRIN
3. ___ LEAVE ___ LIVE
4. ___ EAT ___ IT
Teaching Vowels: /iy/ vs. /ɪ/
• Help Ss understand the mouth position• Exaggerate and use movement to help them pronounce the sound correctly
• Drill using minimal pairs• Give listening discrimination practice• Do controlled practice activities
Example: What’s Your Phone Number
What’s Your Phone Number
0- sleep 1- slip
2- green 3- grin
4- leave 5- live
6- eat 7- it
8- seat 9- sit
Teaching Segmentals: Consonant Sounds
• What English consonant sounds are difficult for you to pronounce? Which are easy?
• What strategies have you or your past English teachers used to improve your production of English consonant sounds? Which ones were the most successful?
Common Consonant Problems
•/p/ vs. /b/ pat/bat, pour/bore•/g/ vs. /k/ gut/cut, gain/cane•Final consonants false•Consonant clusters months
Teaching Consonants: /p/ vs /b/
• Instruct Ss about how to form the sounds• Show a picture or exaggerate your mouth position
Teaching Consonants: /p/ vs /b/
• Instruct Ss about how to form the sounds• Show a picture or exaggerate your mouth position
• Practice voiced and unvoiced by touching your vocal chords
Teaching Consonants: /p/ vs /b/
• Instruct Ss about how to form the sounds• Show a picture or exaggerate your mouth position
• Practice voiced and unvoiced by touching your vocal chords
• Use a piece of paper to demonstrate aspiration
Teaching Consonants: /p/ vs /b/
• Instruct Ss about how to form the sounds• Drill using minimal pairs
PAT BAT
PIE BUY
PIG BIG
PAIR BEAR
POOR BORE
TAP TAB
Teaching Consonants: /p/ vs /b/
• Instruct Ss about how to form the sounds• Drill using minimal pairs• Give listening discrimination practice
___ PIE ___ BUY
___ PIG ___ BIG
___ POOR ___ BORE
___ TAP ___ TAB
Teaching Consonants: /p/ vs /b/
• Instruct Ss about how to form the sounds• Drill using minimal pairs• Give listening discrimination practice• Do a controlled practice activity
Example: Pronunciation Journey
What are Final Consonants?
• Is the answer true or false?• My favorite color is black.• Please send those two emails to me.
Teaching Final Consonants
• Drill the word exaggerating the final consonant
• Give listening discrimination practiceExample: Slap the board
Teaching Final Consonants
• Drill the word exaggerating the final consonant
• Give listening discrimination practice• Do a controlled practice activity
Example: Word Chain
Teaching Final Consonants
• Drill the word exaggerating the final consonant
• Give listening discrimination practice• Do a controlled practice activity• Remind students everyday by writing S or last sound on the board and pointing to it when they make a mistake
What are Consonant Clusters?
a) weeks: /wi:ks/ CVCC
b) months: /mʌnθs/ CVCCC
c) twelfth: /twelfθ/ CCVCCC
Note that all of these words are one syllable.
Teaching Consonant Clusters
Consonant clusters: 1. Write the word in phonemic script or just
practice the individual sounds
M O N T H S
Teaching Consonant Clusters
Consonant clusters: 1. Write the word in phonemic script or just
practice the individual sounds2. Drill the word backwards, sound by
sound, and build up the word
M O N T H S
Teaching Consonant Clusters
Consonant clusters: 1. Write the word in phonemic script or just
practice the individual sounds2. Drill the word backwards, sound by
sound, and build up the word3. Drill the whole word