PRONUCIATION

Tips to teach pronunciation

Activities

Articles

READER SECTION

The intention of this magazine is to help those who are learning

of teaching pronunciation. Learning a second language is not

an easy process, which is why it is important to practice and to

learn correctly. This magazine helps you improve your

pronunciation by doing activities and reading articles from

some experts. In this magazine you can find: activities, articles,

quizzes, advertisement and games.

Content

To the reader…

Metacognition quiz…

Articles…

Activities…

Advertisement…

Tips…

Back cover…

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Metacognition quiz: You can use this quiz to monitor or improve you pronunciation

skills.

1. What sounds did we practice today?

2. What is the difference between them?

3. Is it hard to produce these sounds? Why?

4. Did you learn some new vocabulary?

5. Was the activity challenging and interesting? Why?

6. Did you communicate while you were doing the activities?

7. Did you like the activities? How did they help you? What skills did you improved?

8. Is it important to learn these sounds? Why?

9. Did you listen yourself while you were pronouncing the words?

10. Do you have any question about the sounds we practiced? If so, which one(s)?

11. Was the activity interesting? What did you learn?

12. What skills did you improved?

13. Is the /__/ sound hard to pronounce? Why?

14. What did you like the most in this activity?

15. What are your strengths and weaknesses?

16. What should you do to improve your pronunciation?

Metacognition and self-assessment

Andrea Ramirez

What can be better than self-assessment? There is a point in which we

gain certain fluency; however, if we pay attention to what we are saying, can

we say that we are pronouncing as we should? Well, metacognitive approach is

the best way in which we can improve. There is no one better than you to know

until what point you are able to develop your skills.

If you think what you are going to say and how you are going to said it then

you will have successful results because first you are aware of what you’re

saying and the way you want to say. You are aware of your skills and how to

develop them in the most accurate way. We engage in metacognitive activities

every day. Metacognition enables us to be successful learners, and has been

associated with intelligence.

A metacognitive activity looks like for example after reading a paragraph in a

text a learner may question herself about the concepts discussed in the

paragraph. Her cognitive goal is to understand the text. Self-questioning is a

common metacognitive comprehension monitoring strategy. If she finds that

she cannot answer her own questions, or that she does not understand the

material discussed, she must then determine what needs to be done to ensure

that she meets the cognitive goal of understanding the text. She may decide

to go back and re-read the paragraph with the goal of being able to answer

the questions she had generated. If, after re-reading through the text she

can now answer the questions, she may determine that she understands the

material. Thus, the metacognitive strategy of self-questioning is used to

ensure that the cognitive goal of comprehension is met.

After doing an activity you can give these questions to your students so they

can reflect on their knowledge:-What did I do right?-What sounds are hard to

me?-How can I do it better next time?-Were my ideas clear?-What did I

learn from the activity?-How is this going to help improve my pronunciation?

What’s Language?

Dennis Escalante

For people, it so common to speak, to pronounce a word followed

by another that conform an idea expressed in an specific context, with special

characters that create a unique communication between determinate speakers.

We tend to take language for granted, without thinking on the awesome and

special ability that human beings have.

The complexity of language.

As we life in such a big country we cannot avoid different languages and

its variations, and linguistics is the academic discipline in charge of studying

this subject. It is also divided into dialects (varieties of a language) and

accents (varieties on the pronunciation.) Language is a complex process in

which everyone has to go through. An as the txt says is a consequence of being

multilayered.

The levels of language.

This is, in a brief the different system communication that combines

meaningless elements into meaningful structures. An interesting aspect that

the author point out is that as far as we know only humans can have this

meaningful communication, with animals, for instance, they just emit a sound

with no gestures or posture and it can have more than one meaning.

The sound of language.

Sound marks a difference among all the languages worldwide. And of

course it is an essential part of it. On the chapter they emphasize that

depending on how people pronounce a word or a phrase; their socio-economical

status or the region they belong can be reflected. For instance, if someone

says “canyut” instead can’t is given essential information to the hearer that

might affect the context and the response he/she will get back.

Then they define phonemes, allophones and morphemes with such a good

example comparing English grammar with Japanese grammar and from my

personal point of view, I think that the example is excellent due to it clarifies

a lot of why Japanese speak with a [l] ending. Then the Swahili is also a

meaningful example to understand better the differences in prefixes,

suffixes, and infixes (term that I did not know before).

Something relevant is also, how they define word, as mentioned before, we

take those concepts for granted and we never stop to think of what such a

common thing is, we tend to think that a word contains specific meaning,

however a word can hold more much meanings, I learned that for animals, the

word “energy” is not correct, due to it refers to human being’s mental or

physical energy, and that the sentence my poppy has a lot of energy may look

odd.

Grammar, thoughts, syntax, discourse and the nature of language are also

some elements that the chapter covers, and I put them together because in

my personal opinion I would say that it is the perfect definition for language.

Since the very first moment you try to pronounce a word, and create a “well

fashioned” sentence unconsciously or not, you are applying grammar, what you

think and want to say, the way you want to say it, whether it is orally or

written, and who and where are you going to say it. Something relevant from

this part is that the author, point out the importance of who are you talk with,

due to there is something called “people’s diversity” regarding, for instance,

their social status, the speech event, previous knowledge, the intent of the

speaker and the hearer.

First language acquisition.

The chapter concludes with how children acquire their fist language, and

how important it is for the development of a good use of it. As we discuss in

class, children are capable to learn any language, they need to be exposed to

it, but more than that, they need to find a social meaning for the use of that

language, for example a family of immigrants in the US who have two children

going to the school, they are going to find more much meaning in speaking

English rather than Spanish due to those kids socialize with it, and may be at

home Spanish will be not required. This is what they named learning by

context, when you acquire a language because the environment that surrounds

makes you to do it.

In general, when we talk about language it implies a lot of concepts and

typical elements that everyday are used all over the world, sometimes in a

positive way or sometimes not. I think that what really matters is to give to

language the importance that it deservers, due to we, human beings are the

only specie who can actually communicate in such a complex but complete way.

Phonology

Maria Fabiola Sequeira

Phonology is an essential part of English, I think that I like the way how words

are pronounced correctly. Also I really think that as future second language

teachers we must know what pronunciation is about In order to correct our

student in a good way and for this major phonology and phonetics are

important because they should teach them in the beginning. I want to say that

it could be a good idea to know these branches since the beginning in order to

know how to read symbols that it is for knowing how to pronounce a word.

Basically, phonology is the study of the sound system of language. Also it

involves a system that is vocal tract, vocal tract is really important in the

study of phonology just because we can produce sound or speech by vocal

tract and also it refers that physical proprieties that it can help or disfavor

when we speak. I remember, in the first quarter our teacher from reading and

writing basic skills 2, she taught us the phonemic alphabet and it was

different I though in that moment why this alphabet has these kind of sounds

because I just knew let’s say the normal alphabet. However, it shows the

phonemic alphabet and it says that we have to force some letters or vowels

even though, some of them we do not have to force (unstressed). It talks

about phonemes as well, and I can say that phonemes are how we perceive

vowels for instance: ship and cheap that it is kind of tough to pronounce them

sometimes. On the other hand, we have consonants I think that it is hard

sometimes to pronounced consonants because some of them are quite similar

and for example cap and cab, I mean if I see these word written in a paper I

can know the difference between them but If I hear them I kind of rough to

understand in my case. We have to be careful when we are speaking and being

more conscious about the sounds and “phonemic symbols”. There are many

manners of articulation such as: stops, fricatives, nasals, liquids and glides.

And we can use those manners in other to pronounce correctly the consonants.

Finally, there are some phonological rules which we can represent them by its

phonemic and phonetic representations. The first one is aspiration what in this

rule we can find what differences words have and it has two allophones. The

second one is vowel lengthening in this rule we can see if a word has a long or

short vowel by a colon after the vowel and it also has two allophones. The

third one is vowel nasalization is about when we try to pronounce a word we

ignore a vowel, we do not pronounce it, but I think that in this case we ignore a

consonant as gnat and it has two allophones as well. The fourth one is flapping

what I understood is we can put intervals in /t/ and /d/ surface as the

alveolar flap before an unstressed syllable, so that words such as "metal" and

"medal" are pronounced similarly or identically.

Finally, we have rule ordering which is about we have to order a word for

instance the phonemic form, aspiration, flapping and phonetic form.

Activity #1

Name: Grab Game

Target sound: /ɪ/- /i/

Learning style: Auditory.

Level: Intermediate.

Materials: charts with the minimal pairs.

Objectives:

Students recognize the difference between the two sounds.

Learn new vocabulary.

Social interaction.

Encourage competition.

Procedure:

Students work in groups of 3-4. Put a few minimal pairs on slips of paper (one word

per paper) and give a set to each group. Then call out a word. The students race to

grab the correct word. Keep calling until there's none left. Then get the students

working within their groups. One student calls out the words, the others grab the

word he/she said.

Activity #2

Name: Hot potatoes.

Target sound: /Ɛ/-Epsilon.

Learning style: Auditory.

Level: Intermediate.

Materials: Ball.

Objectives:

Increased vocabulary.

Make students think faster.

Improve pronunciation.

Procedure:

1) Make a semicircle in the classroom.

2) Say the first word with the target sound- /Ɛ/.

3) Throw the ball to one of the students and ask him/her to say a word with the

sound.

4) The student will randomly throw the ball to one of his/her classmates.

5) If one of the students cannot say a word or the pronunciation is not the

correct, he/she will receive a challenge for example: try to remember and

repeat all the words that your classmates said before.

Activity #3

Name: Tongue Twisters.

Target sound: /s/,/w/,/f/,/k/.

Learning style: Auditory.

Level: Intermediate.

Materials: charts with the tongue twisters.

Objectives:

Increased vocabulary.

Make students think faster.

Improve pronunciation.

Procedure:

Students get in pairs and they take one chart with a tongue twisters, student # 1try

to said it and students #2 takes note of the mistakes they hear. Then student # 2

says another tongue twister and student #1 takes note of the mistakes. Then they

share they notes and give feedback.

Here are the tongue twisters:

1. Swan swam over the pond, Swim swan swim! Swan swam back again -

Well swum swan!

2. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, If a woodchuck would chuck

wood? A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could chuck , If a

woodchuck would chuck wood.

3. If two witches were watching two watches, which witch would watch which

watch?

4. A flea and fly in a flue, Were imprisoned so what could they do? Said the

flea let us fly. Said the fly let us flee. So they flew through a flaw in the flue.

5. The winkle ship sank and the shrimp ship swam.

6. Three sweet switched Swiss witches watch three washed Swiss witch

Swatch watch switches. Which sweet switched Swiss witch watches which

washed Swiss witch Swatch watch switch?

7. He thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts.

8. A Kentukian named Knott could not knit, so Knott invented a knitter called

the Knott Knitter, but the Knott Knitter would not knit knots. One day while

Knott was not knitting on the Knott Knitter, Knott invented an attachment for

the Knott Knitter called the Knott Knitter Knotter. When Knott attached the

Knott Knitter Knotter to the Knott Knitter, no man could knit knots like Knott

knit on the Knott Knitter.

Activity #4

Name: Mirror-Mirror

Target sound: /p/-/b/

Learning style: Auditory.

Level: Intermediate.

Materials: Mirror and a list with different words.

Objectives:

•Increased vocabulary.

•Make students be aware of their pronunciation.

•Improve pronunciation.

Procedure:

Use a mirror: Giving your students a chance to view their own physical

movements while they are working on their pronunciation can be of great value.

You can always encourage your students to look at your mouth and face as you

pronounce certain sounds, but they will also benefit from seeing what movements

they are making as they speak. Sometimes, becoming aware of the physical

movements involved in pronunciation is all your students will need to correct

pronunciation issues of which they are unaware.

.

For those kinds lovers of technology, the application ABC

m 123 colors, will give them a full experience of well pro

p pronounced words while they are playing meaningful and

interesting interesting game. Available for Google store and for Apple

Want to make it simple?

One of the best sellers in the pronunciation field, from one most prestigious editorial Longman. Go and find it in your favorite library.

1. Vowel lenght: One of the biggest difficulties in clear pronunciation is vowel

length. Short vowels aren’t short enough and long vowels aren’t long enough. Do

contrasting exercises where long vowels are extra long (e.g. ‘seeeeeat’) and short vowels

are very abrupt (e.g. ‘sit’). This is especially great if you are doing short/long minimal pair

exercises. It’s important to exaggerate in the beginning so that students can hear the

difference more clearly. Do competitions where students see who can hold the sound the

longest. Over time, make the vowels shorter and shorter until they are the appropriate

length.

2. Mouth Positions: Studies have shown that explicit instruction in how to

position the mouth while speaking greatly helps learners tackling difficult sounds. First,

demonstrate with videos and exaggerate making the sounds yourself. Then pass out

mirrors and have students observe their own mouth positions while forming the sounds.

Here are some of the most important mouth positions for tricky English sounds:

Open mouth: bot, bought (note: for some English dialects, there is no distinction between these

vowels)

Round mouth: boat, boot

Neutral position: but, bit, bet

Corners of mouth pointed down (makes a frown): beat / bat

Tongue between teeth: threat; let

3. Practice Listening: You need to hear it before you can say it. Encourage

students to get as much listening experience outside of the classroom as possible. Assign

listening reports in order to check in and see what kinds of English students are listening

to outside of class. Listening doesn’t have to be boring; tell students to listen to popular

music, TV shows, movies, anything in English will work!

Tips to

Teach pronunciation

4. Write Tongue Twisters: Everyone knows that tongue twisters are a

great way to practice pronunciation, but instead of doing all the work, share the load with

your students. Having students create their own tongue twisters helps them to not only

practice their pronunciation, but be more aware of which sounds are in the words they

know. They will have to really think about how to say words to know which ones to

include in their tongue twister, and everyone will have a laugh sharing the crazy sentences

that result.

5. Feedback: It’s incredibly important that students get feedback early and often

before they begin bad pronunciation habits that are difficult to adjust as later learners. As

a teacher, it can be difficult to maintain a large classroom and give individualized

pronunciation feedback to many students. A good way to manage a large classroom is to

make notes while students are speaking, for example during role plays or individual

presentations. Make note of specific words/sounds that students struggle with while

speaking in front of the class, and after the class, focus on the most frequent pattern of

errors for that particular student. Keep a note card for each student that you can make

notes on and then give to the student. You can also have the students keep track of errors

on their note card; for example, if you correct them during class, they can make a note of

the mispronounced word on their card so they can remember to practice later.

6. Practice Word Stress with Vocabulary: English has incredibly

erratic word stress patterns which are rather difficult to learn due to all of the exceptions

to the rules. The best way to learn word stress is to practice as you introduce new

vocabulary words. As students study their new vocabulary, tell them which syllable to

place the stress mark on so they can practice accurate pronunciation while learning the

word.

Back cover

Editors:

Andrea Ramirez Chinchilla

Maria Fabiola Sequeira

Dennis Escalante Ugalde