Pronunciation in EFL Classes

Pronunciation:Quick Tips and

Presentation Tricks

(Using your senses approach)

Robert J. DickeyKeimyung University

Elicitation Ahead!

Issues

Issues

• Student Wants vs. Needs

• Theory (Phonology & Phonetics vs. Phonics)

• Segmentals vs. Suprasegmentals

• International Varieties of English & “the Core” vs. Target (US, UK, Australia, etc)

• Can’t teach what you don’t speak???

• “KATUSA disease” (‘fluency’ first?)

Using the Senses inTeaching Pronunciation?

Using the Senses inTeaching Pronunciation?

1. See (Visual)

3. Taste (Delicious)

5. Smell (Nasal)

7. Time (Rhythm)

9. Adventure and Fun! (Openness)

2. Hear (Audio)

4. Feel (Tactile/Kinesthetic)

6. Reason (Sensible)

8. Decorum (Culture)

Focus on the Mechanical(from Marc Helgesen Aug 12 2010)

• Source of Sounds? (Think “Why”)

• Silent Speaking (Raising Awareness)

• Visualization (See Success)

Focus on the Mental

• Native-speaker Awareness of L1 (Consciousness-Raising)

• What’s “Impossible”? (Openness)

• Visualization (See Success)

Pronunciation’s Continuum of Complexity

Let’s consider illustrations(visual-based learning tools)

Let’s consider illustrations(visual-based learning tools)

• What have you seen/used?

Let’s consider illustrations(visual-based learning tools)

• What have you seen/used?

– Consider “beat” / “bit” / “bet”

Textbook drawing /i/ ( e )

5-second drawing /i/ ( e )

Dynamic Imagery /i/ ( e )

What else could we do?

What else could we do?

• Duration (long “e” versus very short “I”)

• Teach tenseness (muscles) with fingers on mouth

• Teach tenseness with elbows against ribs

• Think Piano (scales)

• L1 referents?

Morley’s Cardinal Vowel Quadrilateral

Cook’s Jaw & Lip Positions

Hewings’ Lip Positions

Hancock/Sylvie Mouth Images

Hancock, M., Sylvie, D. (2007).English Pronunciation in Use Intermediate.

Cambridge Univ Press.

American Phonetic Spellings

Webster’s NewWorld Students’ Dictionary (Macmillan/Simon&Schuster, 1992)

Underhill’s IPA Chart

Underhill, A. (1994). Sound Foundations. Macmillan.

Forrest’s GA Variant

Dillon’s Online Sounds

speechinaction.com

Bilabial/Fricative Comparison

Hewings’ Front & Back Vowels

Hewings’ R & L

S – Sh – Th2 Quickdraw

Minimal Pairs

• She sells seashells by the seashore (Try with the “hand-jive”)

• Leo the lion loved little lambs for lunch

• Larry’s red Lemans raced Roy’s yellow roadster

• The zebra joined the giraffe in the zoo.

Syllables: Vowel-Consonant Mix

• The shortest spoken word in the English language is “it.” Why?

• Some consonants (can) change the flavor of some vowels. Examples?

Word-level Intonation

• Noun vs Verb stress ( ‘record, re‘cord )

• Two, three, four syllable stress– Rhythm (timing)– Duration (time length)– Volume (loudness)– Emphasis (attack, kinesthetic, other)

Dynamic Imagery (Lengths)

Sentence-level Intonation

• Common patterns– Simple Statements– Yes/No Questions vs. Other Questions

• Drawing patterns <dots/dashes, lines…>

• Stressed items(new thoughts, personal emphasis, etc)

I really like Jim’s red car (red car)

Guides on common issues

Hewings, M. (2004). Pronunciation Practice Activities. Cambridge Univ. Press.

Thanks for Sharing…

Robert J. Dickey

rjdickey@content-english.org