Contents

INTRODUCTION

1 Theoretical Foundation Of Teaching English Pronunciation In TEFL

1.1 Difficulties in teaching English pronunciation

1.2 Microskills in teaching English pronunciation

1.3 Techniques in teaching English pronunciation

2 Teaching English Sounds

3 Practical Part

3.1 Activities for teaching English vowels

3.2 Activities for teaching English consonants

3.3 Activities for teaching English diphthongs

4 Ways Of Teaching Prosodic Features

4.1 Activities for teaching intonation

4.2 Activities for teaching rhythm and rhyme

4.3 Activities for teaching word stress and sentence stress

5 General Conclusions

Bibliography

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INTRODUCTION

According to the new school Curriculum and the European Council of

Education the problem of teaching pronunciation in TEFL is a very actual

one and it had been studied and analyzed by many great teachers. I tried

also to do a research and I dedicated it to this topic :” WAYS OF

TEACHING PRONUNCIATION IN TEFL “.I did it because I feel it

important and necessary to be taught in schools lyceums or even

individually.

My research comprises four chapters .The first one is a practical one , the

second and the third are practical chapters and finely the last one is left for

general conclusions.

As I have already mentioned the first chapter is a theoretical one and it

is entitled “ Theoretical foundations of teaching pronunciation in TEFL “ . I

thought it is necessary to speak here about difficulties in teaching and I am

sure we can not teach English without having knowledge about micro skills

and techniques used in modern teaching of English pronunciation.

Concerning the second chapter , that means the “ Practical Part “, I

displayed a vast information about the most important peculiarities of

teaching English sounds . Every teacher of English needs to know that

pronunciation consists also in teaching English vowels , consonants and

diphthongs as well . Students in their turn should be taught to practice all

these aspects through exercises and many other activities .It helps to students to

pronounce sounds like the English people do and to develop a great instinct

in each learner to speak a beautiful English .

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Chapter number three is dedicated to teaching prosodic features . That is

to say that when English is taught we have to take into account that it can

not be taught without teaching intonation, rhythm and rhyme and even stress

and sentence stress . All these are rendered in this chapter and also I tried

to show that activities are important in this domain too.

The last chapter is left as usually for general conclusions .While writing

the conclusions I thought it would be good to mention the aspects I touched

upon and to prove that what I did is of great importance in my future

career as a teacher . But there is one more aspect I mean there are lots of

aspects in English pronunciation which I did not study and even did not

touch upon . Such aspects as weak and strong forms in sentences or even

reading rules are also important in pronunciation . What I mean is that these

topics can be studied and analyzed by the others in order to render a

wonderful research which can be a real source for all the teachers and

learners of English as a second language or as a foreign language .

Probably my next research will be based on these aspects I have just

mentioned above . I tried to do my best and I hope that my research

dedicated to “ Ways of Teaching Pronunciation In TEFL “ will serve for

teachers of English to teach their students the best pronunciation .

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CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAL FONDATION OF TEACHING

PRONUNCIATION IN TEFL

1.1 Difficulties In Teaching English Pronunciation

First of all I would like to begin with the question : “ What is

pronunciation ? “ The English Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary gives

the following definition for the term pronunciation - the way in which a

language or a particular word or sound is pronounced and secondly it is the

way in which a particular person pronounces the words of a given

language , in our case , the words of English .Well, there are two aspects of

pronunciation . The first - the way in which a language or a particular word

or sound is pronounced needs a special attention . Why is it so ? Because

in order to know how to pronounce the words or the sounds a person

should be taught first. So in this paper we are trying to discover how many

and which aspects of pronunciation must learn or must be taught .

In G. V. Rogova’s “ Methods of Teaching English “ in the compartment “

Teaching Pronunciation “ we find that the first impact of any language comes

from the spoken word. The basis of all languages is sound , but words are

merely combinations of sounds . That is absolutely right and yet the

acquisition of good pronunciation depends to a great extent on the learner’s

ability of listening with care and discrimination . One of the tasks of language

teaching consists in devising ways to help the learners and the unfamiliar

sounds . The hearing of a given word calls forth the acoustic image of that

word from which a meaning is obtained . Therefore teaching pronunciation is

of great importance in the developing of pupils ‘ hearing and speaking habits

and skills.

Teaching pronunciation is as well of no less importance in the

developing of reading and writing habits , since writing or what is written is

a graphic representation of sound sequences. In reading the visual images

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become acoustic images . These are combined with kinesthetic images ,

resulting in inner speech . Wrong pronunciation often leads to

misunderstanding . For example when a speaker or a reader replaces one

phoneme with another , he unintentionally uses quite a different word , in

this way altering the sense of what he wanted to say .

e.g. white instead of wide , it instead of eat ; pot instead of

port , etc. Every teacher must understand how important the teaching correct

pronunciation is . As we already know any language has its specific phonic

system . This is true for English as well . The sounds of English are not the

same as the sounds of Romanian or even of Russian . The pronunciation of

words is not only a matter of sounds , but also of stress on accent . Some

words have the heavier stress on the first part of the word :

e.g. sorry , evening , morning , answer .

and other words have the heavier stress on the second part :

e.g. begin , mistake , about , reduce , result , occur , effect .

Rogova suggests us that stress is really very important to the assimilation of

English pronunciation . foreigners often find it difficult to understand an

English man’s speech and ask him to speak more slowly , because in quick

speech the accented syllables are so strong that they almost drown the

others.

The pronunciation of sentence patterns includes also variations of

musical tones : rise and fall . English tones patterns differ from those of

Romanian , that is why pupils find it difficult to use adequate tone patterns

in conversation or while reading aloud . Sometimes Romanian people speaking

English use wrong intonation because of the interference of the mother tongue

. That often leads to misunderstanding and impoliteness :

e.g. ́Will you wait for me ́here ?

is not only a wrong tone pattern but is impolite in its form .

While studying the ESL and EFL programs we notice that ‘English’ is a

term that can refer to various dialects , including British English , North American

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English and others. Obviously those studying English in order to fit into their

new country will learn the variety spoken there . However for those who do not

intend to change countries the question arises of which sort of English to learn . If

they are going abroad for a short time to study English , they need to chose which

country . For those staying at home , the choice may be made for them in that

private language schools or the state school system may only offer one model . For

example students studying EFL in Hong Kong , are more likely to learn British

English , whereas students in the Philippines are more likely to learn American

English .

Language teaching practice often assumes that most of the difficulties that

learners face in the study of English are a consequence of the degree to which

their native language differs from English . A native speaker of Romanian , for

example, may face much more difficulties than a native speaker of German . This

may be true for anyone of any other mother tongue , also called first language ,

setting out to learn any other language .

Language learners often produce errors of syntax and pronunciation

thought to result from the influence of their mother tongue , such as mapping its

grammatical patterns inappropriately onto the second language , pronouncing

sounds incorrectly or with difficulty or confusing items of vocabulary known as

false friends .This is known as mother tongue transfer or language interference .

However this transfer aspects are typically stronger for beginners ‘ language

production .

It happens very often that teachers are comfortable teaching reading ,

writing , listening and to a degree general oral skills , but when it comes to

pronunciation we often lack the basic knowledge of articulator phonetics not

difficult to acquire , to offer students anything more rudimentary and unhelpful

advice. There is also a tendency for us to focus on production as the main

problem affecting our learners .Most research however , shows clearly that the

problem is more likely to be reception - what you do not hear , you do not

say .Moreover if the English is not clearly received the brain of the learner

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converts it into the closest sound into their own language . Thus the dental English

fricative [th] in ‘those’ becomes converted by Spanish speakers into the dentalised

Spanish [ d] , producing ‘dose‘ , as if what the speakers hears . Given this reality ,

it would seem logically to place a heavy emphasize on listening or reception as a

way into releasing appropriate pronunciation or production .

Apart from using knowledge of our students and our ears in order to be aware

of their pronunciation problems , it is also useful to have some prior knowledge of

what elements of English phonetics and phonology are likely to cause

problems .This is one area of language learning where few people would question

the use of contrastive analysis.

It is very important to mention the opinion of Marianne Celce-Murcia and

Janet M. Godwin concerning difficulties in teaching English pronunciation . They

say that there have been many differences of opinion over the years in the language

teaching pronunciation and about how best to teach it. In direct approaches

pronunciation is very important but the methodology is primitive : the teacher is

ideally a native or near native speaker of the target language who presents

pronunciation inductively and corrects via modeling – listen and imitate me as best

as you can .There is a threshold level of pronunciation in English such as that if a

nonnative speaker’s pronunciation falls below this level he or she will not be able to

communicate orally no matter how good his or her control of English grammar

might be.

What are the variables that seem to impede or enhance the acquisition of a

reasonable pronunciation in English ? Kenworthy (1987) provides a useful

inventory .For each of her 6 factors we can make our own conclusion at the end.

The first factor is the learner’s native language. Mother-tongue transfer is

generally more systematic , pervasive and persistent in th area of pronunciation

than it is in grammar or in lexicon .This makes it important for teachers to know

something about the sound system of the language that their learners speak in order

to anticipate problems and understand the source of errors.

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The second factor is the learner’s age .The younger the age when the learner

begins to acquire English the better the learner’s pronunciation .In fact complete

mastery of English before age 12 generally results in accent-free speech , whereas

acquisition after age 15 virtually guarantees some degree of accentedness in speech.

The third factor is the learner’s exposure .Exposure to the target language

can refer to both the length of time and the extensity of the exposure over time.

Generally speaking the more time spent on learning the spoken language the better

the pronunciation .

The learner’s innate phonetic ability is the fourth factor. Some people simply

have more skills at or aptitude for imitating and producing sounds and sound

patterns that are new to them. All other things equal such learners will achieve a

better pronunciation than will those learners with lesser aptitude.

The fifth factor is the learner’s attitude and sense of identity. The attitude the

learner has toward the target language and its speakers may affect his or her

pronunciation .The more favorable the attitude , the better the pronunciation is.

The sixth is the learner’s motivation and concern for good

pronunciation .This factor is of great importance in pronunciation instruction. If the

learner ‘s motivation to prove is strong and if the investment of time and effort is

great , there will be improvement .

Another difficulty that may occur is the difference between the sound system

of the languages .For example if we compare Romanian with English than it is easy

to observe the following differences:

1. Romanian does not have dental fricatives

voiceless [ ð ] may be replaced with a dental [ t ].

voiced [ θ ] may become a dental [ d ] .

since [ t ] and [ d ] are typically pronounced as dental stops anyway , words

like ‘there’ and ‘dare’ can become homophones.

[ æ ] pronounced as [ ε ] . This makes many Romanians pronounce ‘death’

and ‘that’ as homophones.

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2. Tendency to pronounce the English high lax vowels [ I] , [ υ ] as [ i ] ,[ u ] .

For example ‘fill’ and ‘feel’ , ‘put’ and ‘poot’ , ‘live’ and ‘leave’ are

homophones, since Romanian does not have these vowels.

3. Tendency to pronounce [ ŋ ] as [ ŋg ] ,(‘singer’ ,rhymes with ‘finger’)

because Romanian [ ŋ] is an allophone of [n] before velar stops.

4. Tendency to replace the English retroflex [ r ] with the Romanian trilled [r ].

5. Common mistakes due to Romanian cognates with different meanings (‘

false friends’).

6. Some speakers may have difficulty in using prepositions .Romanian is an

inflected language and use of prepositions is less extensive than in

English .While English prepositions modify the meaning of verbs in

Romanian there are separate words for each meaning .

e.g. go in - a intra

go out - a ieşi

go away – a pleca

go ahead - a continua

A significant number of Latinate words have identical or very similar

spelling in Romanian and English , making pronunciation confusing.

So pronunciation is deffinitely the biggest thing that people notice when a person

is speaking English . The speaker’s pronunciation creates the first impression he or

she makes when speaking.

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1.2 Micro-skills In Teaching English Pronunciation

Referring to micro-skills in teaching pronunciation , professor Jeremy Harmer

tries to give an answer to such questions ‘What a native speaker knows ? ‘and

‘What a language student should learn ?’.Well , native speakers or even competent

users of the language know how to say a word, that is how to pronounce it .This

knowledge comprises three areas : sounds , stress and intonation.

On their own the sounds of a language may well be meaningless. If all words

are made up of sounds , then all speakers of a language need to know the sounds if

they are to understand what is said to them and be understood in their turn.

When they use a word , native speakers know which part of that word should

receive the heaviest emphasis. For example in the word ‘photograph ‘ not all the

parts are of equal importance . We can divide the word into three parts :‘ pho‘ ,‘

to’, and ’ graph’ . Competent speakers of the language will say the word like this: ‘

PHOtograph’ , stressing the first syllable .The situation changes with the word

of ‘ photographer’ , where the stress shifts evidently to the second syllable :’

phoTOgrapher ‘ . Stress in words also changes depending upon a word’s

grammatical function : ‘perMIT ‘ is a verb but ‘PERmit ‘ is a noun .Native

speakers of a language unconsciously know about stress and they know how to use

stress to change the meaning of phrases and sentences and questions .

Closely connected with speech is intonation , which means the tune you use

when we use when we are speaking , the music of speech .Intonation is a big

indicator of involvement. If we tell what we think is a fascinating story and our

listener says :’ How interesting . ‘, starting at a low pitch and dropping their voice

on the ‘int ‘ of ‘interesting’ we will be fairly despondent since by their us of pitch

and intonation they will have plainly told us that they did not think much about our

story . High pitch and a small fall , on other hand would be much nicer , since that

would indicate that our audience was fascinated by what we had to say . Intonation

is clearly important then and competent users of the language recognize what

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meaning it has and change the meaning of what they say through using it in

different ways .

Trying to give answer to the question ‘What a language student should learn ?’

we found more aspects .The first aspect is phonics. Phonics refer to an instructional

design for teaching children to read .Phonic involves teaching children to connect

sounds with letters or groups of letters. It is linked with basic rules , alphabetic

principle with spelling. English spelling is based upon the alphabetical principle ,

the idea that letters represent sounds .For example the word ‘pot’ is composed of

three letters , each representing a phoneme . Some letters in English regularly

represent only sound . However the alphabetic principle is not sufficient to

represent all of the spellings in English . Reading in English also requires

understanding of additional patterns that do not follow the “one letter – one sound”

principle .

Another important aspect is teaching the learner the vowel phonic patterns .It

consists of :

short vowels are the five single letters vowel: a, e , i, o, u.

long vowels are synonyms with the names of the single letter-vowels . They

are : [ ei ] , [ I] , [ ai ] , [ oυ] , [ ju ].

schwa is the third sound that most of the single vowel spelling can produce .

The schwa is an indistinct sound of vowel in an unstressed syllable,

represented by the linguistic symbol [ ə].

closed syllables are syllables in which a single vowel – letter is followed by

a consonant.

open syllables are syllables in which a vowel appears at the end of the

syllable. The vowel will say its long sound .

diphthongs are linguistic elements that fuse two adjacent vowel sounds .

The learner should pay attention also to consonant phonic patterns . It consists

of:

consonant diagraphs are those spellings where in two letters are used to

represent a consonant phoneme .The most common consonant diagraphs are :

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ch for [t∫] , ng for [ŋ] , ph for [f ] , sh for [ ∫ ] , th for [θ] and

[ð] and wh for [ w ] .

1.3 Techniques Used In Teaching English Pronunciation

Different teachers who have studied this topic say that there are a lot of ways

and of techniques used in teaching pronunciation . For example such teachers as

Balbina Ebong and Martha Sabbadine from the British Council decided that a

good method in teaching pronunciation is using songs . A teacher can use songs to

focus on sounds . Sounds are the smallest unit from which words are formed and

can be categorized as vowels and consonants . As languages differ in their range of

sound , students have to learn to “ physically “ produce certain sounds previously

unknown to them . Learners can find sounds difficult to pick up out , and may not

see the point in focusing on them . However , incorrectly pronounced sounds strain

communication , sometime even changing a phrase’s meaning .Songs can help

because they are authentic and easily accessible examples of spoken English .The

rhymes in songs provide listeners with repetition of similar sounds. We can use

songs also to focus on words . on connected speech .

There is another opinion of David F. Dalton , that exercise is good in training

pronunciation. It should be simple , accessible , fun and combine reception and

production .Some students , usually adults , do feel embarrassed to pull ridiculous

faces when practicing vowel sounds , but David F. Dalton has generally found that

this soon passes and students enjoy the pronunciation work. Where possible ,

exercises should be communicative , and generate differences of opinion and

disagreement of what was said / heard. The exercise allows clear practice in

production and reception and gives concise feedback to individual learners , as

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to where problems lie in these areas and how to repair them . Often these are very

simple physical questions such as not rounding the lips as in [u: ] in ‘fool ‘ which

the teacher can help them to focus on . As teachers , we are not the best judges of

the accuracy of our students’ pronunciation .We are accustomed to it and usually

very tolerant , when in general , native speakers are not . The exercise , then helps

us to be more aware of real problems learners have in their oral production and to

help to correct them .

Celce Murcia and Godwin suggest us several techniques in teaching

pronunciation . First there is “ listen and imitate/repeat” technique which was used

in direct approaches and also the audio-lingual approach . Second there are tongue-

twisters like “ She sells sea shell by the seashore.” or

Peter Piper picked a pick of peppered piper.

Did Peter Piper pick a pick of peppered piper ?

If Peter Piper picked a pick of peppered piper

Where is the peppered piper Peter Piper picked?

The third technique is suppose to be the technique of using lists of words as

minimal pairs .

e.g. syntagmatic: Don’t sit on that seat .

paradigmatic: Don’t slip/sleep on the floor.

A fourth technique that is used by first language acquisition research is the

developmental approximation drill, where the developmental sequence followed by

most L1 children becomes a way to get nonnative speakers to produce a

problematic sound or sound quality .

e.g. [w] ------------------ [r] [y] ---------------------- [l]

wed--------------------red yet----------------------let

The fifth technique that is wide spread is the drilling of vowel shifts and stress

shifts , something that was given by the early work in generative phonology .

e.g. vowel shift [ay] ---------------- [I ]

bible----------------- biblical

stress shift PHOtograph --------------phoTOgraphy

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In fact what we have to do is to apply the most useful and usable of the old

techniques along with the same new and innovative exercises suggested in work on

teaching pronunciation.

In “The Pronunciation Book “ of Tim Bowen and Jonathan Marks we find that

in teaching pronunciation there is a big need to know all the sounds of English

language.

This is a chart showing the 44 phonemes of the variety of ‘standard’ British

English that otherwise known as RP or ‘received pronunciation ‘.

І: I Υ u: I∂

e ∂

æ ʌ ɒ

p b T d K g

f v Θ ð S z ∫ ʒ

m n Ŋ h L r W j

In correspondence to a standard model (RP) such a chart does not include

phonetic variations on the basic 44 phonemes found in various British regional

accent and other varieties of English. This chart is intended a general structural

guideline.

The 44 phonemes of English break down into 12 vowel sounds , 8 diphthongs

and 24 consonants . Many teachers like to display a phonemic chart in their

classrooms and to use it both to help in the teaching of sounds and to deal with

pronunciation problems as they arise . If for example a learner pronounces the

word ‘village ‘ as ‘willage’ the teacher might point to the phoneme [ v ] on the

chart , thereby indicating to the learner where the pronunciation error lies . In

addition , the chart can function as a “ pronunciation syllabus “ for the learners .It

provides a visual representation of the sounds of English , and can thus help them

with the aid of the teacher to recognize which sound they can already pronounce

well, and more importantly to determine which sounds they need to work on .

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Using a phonemic chart presupposes a need on the part of both teachers and

learners to learn phonemic script .It is also a good deal more systematic and

accurate than homemade phonetic transcriptions that take the learner’s mother

tongue as the model for the sounds of English .It is suggested that teachers need to

be sensitive to problems of overload , particularly at lower levels with learners

whose mother tongue uses non-Roman script .Talking to learners about the

importance of good pronunciation and explaining the function of phonemic

symbols and the phonemic chart as well is extremely helpful.

We favor a gradual approach , introducing sounds and their symbols as they

arise over a series of lessons , rather than presenting all the symbols in a single

lesson . We typically introduce up to four sounds in a single lesson , beginning with

the familiar symbols as [m] ,[ s ] , [ p ] . We also introduce sounds in contrasting

pairs , where we feel the difference in sound , quality is particularly important .

Another wonderful technique in teaching pronunciation is using a tape –

recorder . We may find it useful to tape pronunciation listening exercises for our

learners . This is particularly important when we wish to have our learners

distinguish between vowel sounds , stress patterns or different intonation patterns.

Thus when we say :’ Read the sentence aloud !’ , we may find it helpful to tape our

reading beforehand .There are two big advantages to taping. Firstly , we can

provide a constant and consistent model , secondly our learners can listen in their

own time (perhaps in a self access centre or language laboratory , or even for

homework ).

Another role of the tape recorders is to record the learner own pronunciation .

This is a very effective way of giving them feedback on their own performance . If

they hear the contrast between a model sentence read by the teacher and their own

version of the sentence , this can help them in a number of ways . It can show them

that they still need to improve . It can also make them aware of errors in their own

performance .

CHAPTER 2 TEACHING ENGLISH SOUNDS

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We will probably need to help our learners become aware of what happens

when they produce sounds in their own language or in English . It is not normally

sufficient simply to repeat the sounds and expect learners to get it right through

hearing alone .Sometimes we will have to show or explain to them what happens

when a particular sound is produced .We will also probably need to show them how

to improve their pronunciation of the particular sounds that they are finding

difficult .

Celce Murcia and Godwin in “Teaching Pronunciation “ help us a lot by

informing that English has 24 distinct consonant sounds that we can describe in

terms of their place and manner of articulation and in terms of voicing – whether

the vocal cords are vibrating ( voiced ) or not (voiceless ) . In order to represent

each distinct consonant and introduce a few special symbols .One of the best ways

to appreciate the difference between voiced and voiceless sounds is to put our

fingertips on our Adam’s apple and alternate hissing like a snake [ssssssssssss] and

then buzzing like a bee [zzzzzzzzzz]. When buzz like a bee w can feel the vocal

cords vibrate : [z] is a voiced sound. But when we hiss like a snake , we feel

nothing because the vocal cords are still:[s] is a voiceless sound . To demonstrate

the place of articulation f a consonant sound , teachers use a variety of visual aids.

A saggital section diagram of the human speech organs can be a useful aid in

describing the points of articulation. The manner of articulation describes what

happens to the air stream as the sound is articulated . If the air stream gets blocked

completely we refer to the sound as ‘stop’ sound .If the air stream is compressed

and passes through a small opening we call it a ‘fricative’. If the sound begins like

a stop and then is released like a fricative we call it an ‘affricative ‘. If the air passes

through the nose instead of the mouth , we call the sound a ‘nasal ‘. If the air

stream moves around the tongue in a relatively unobstructed manner ,we call the

sound a ‘liquid ‘. And if the sound is very close to being a vowel , we call it a

‘glide’.

The English consonant sounds are as follows

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Sound example

1. [b] boy, cab

2. [p] pie , lip

3. [d] dog , bed

4. [t] toe , cat

5. [g] go , beg

6. [k] cat , back

7. [v] view ,love

8. [f] fill ,life

9. [ð] the ,lathe

10.[θ] thin , bath

11.[z] zoo , goes

12.[s] see , bus

13.[ʒ] leisure , beige

14.[∫] shy , dish

15.[h] his , ahead

16.[] check , watch

17.[] joy , budge

18.[m] me , seem

19.[n] no , sun

20.[ɳ] sing , singer

21.[l] long , full

22.[r] run , car

23.[w] win , away

24.[y] you , Soya

Many teachers of English like to classify the English consonants according the

following way:

Place of articulation

Manner of Bilabial Labio- Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal

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articulation dental

Stop p ,b t , d k, g

Fricative f , v Θ , ð s, z ∫ , ʒ H

Affricate ,

Nasal m n ɳ

Liquid l r

Glide w y

A major problem that learners have with English consonants is the fact that

they cluster both initially and finally . In initial position there are many clusters of

two consonants and even some with three . With clusters of two ,either the first

sound is [ s ] or the second one is [ l ] , [ r ] , [w] or [y] ; in some conditions both

conditions are hold.

Two : [sn] snake ;[sp] speak ; [sk] sky ; [pl] play ; [pr] pray ; [kw] quite ;

[hju] hue ; [pju ] pure

With initial clusters of three , the first sound is [p] , [t] or [k] and the third sound is

[l] ,[r ] , [w ] or [y] :

Three : [str] strong ; [spl ] splash ; [skw] square ; [sky] skew .

In final position there are even more consonant clusters than in initial position ,

and these clusters can consist of two , three, four consonants;

Two : [lb] bulb; [md] seemed; [rv] serve; [vz] loves

Three : [rts] hearts ; [dz] builds ; [sks] asks

Four : [mpts] tempts ; [ksts] texts.

1.

Teachers as Tim Bowen and Jonathan Marks have something about teaching

sounds. They consider important to pay attention to the whole process of

pronunciation . Speaking about the vowels and diphthongs they point first to the

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air , voicing , jaw , lips ,tongue to every little detail. There are some pieces of

advice concerning each point:

Air

Say [i:] . put your hand in front of the mouth . You should feel some (but

probably not much )air being expelled from the lungs. Muscle effort is involved in

the passage of this air , with the tongue and other speech organs affecting the

quality of this passage without ever completely blocking it.

Voicing

Whisper [i:] .Place the fingertips lightly on either side of Adam’s apple .

Notice the absence of any vibration . Keep your fingertips in position and now utter

[i:] aloud . Notice the vibration .This is voicing . Voicing (the vibration of the vocal

cords ) is present in the pronunciation of all vowels , diphthongs and consonants.

Jaw

Say [i:] .Notice the position of the jaw . It is probably almost closed. Now say

[æ] . Can you feel any difference . Now try several times to succeed these two

vowels. You should feel a considerable difference in the jaw position. To illustrate

the importance of jaw position in the production of vowels and diphthongs try

pronouncing [i:] with your jaw wide open and [æ] with your jaw almost closed . It

will probably feel very unnatural and difficult to achieve .

Lips

Whisper the sound [i:] . Notice the lips . They are spread , almost as if you are

smiling. Now say [u:] . You feel that the lips become rounded , almost as if you

were whistling . Try pronouncing [i:], [u:] several times in rapid succession . to

illustrate the importance of lips , try pronouncing [i:] with rounded lips . It would

probably sound quiet differently . It may sound for example like a French vowel.

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Tongue

Pronounce the sound [i:] . Notice the position of the tongue .Is it low in the

mouth ? Is it flat ? You will probably notice that it is raised towards the front upper

molars . Now say [u:] . Again notice the position of the tongue .It is probably

humped a little further back and it is not making such noticeable contract with the

rear of the mouth. In fact it is probably touching the sides of the back upper molars .

c

The production of consonants is affected by a number of factors , but

particularly by the manner of place of their articulation . Other factors to

consider are the quantity of air flow and the amount of muscle power

involved therein , as well as the question of voicing .

Manner of articulation

Prepare to say the sound [p] but stop just before releasing the sound . Notice

that the lips are pressed tightly together and that the passage of air is

momentarily obstructed. Now release the sound [p] ,you will feel that it is

almost like an explosion accompanied by a realize of air .Experiment in a

similar way with [k] . These sounds are plosive (stops). They are

characterized by two of the articulators organs coming together to form a

complete closure , blocking the passage of air momentarily. The air is

released to give the plosive sound . There are 6 plosives in English : [p], [b],

[t] , [d] , [k] , [g].Now try the sound [f] .Notice how this sound can continue

for some time . Unlike the plosives it is not a single ‘explosion‘ of air. The

top teeth and the bottom lip make contact and obstruct the free passage of

air , but not completely.

There is also a certain amount of friction involved .Now try [s] and [z] and

notice again the half-obstructed passage of air. These sounds are members

of the group known as fricatives :[f] , [v], [θ] , [ ð] , [s] , [z], [∫] , [ʒ] and [h].

The phonemes [m] , [n] and [ɳ] form a separate group . Practice saying them

all several times in rapid succession . You will soon notice that they have a

21

common feature .As with the plosive sounds there is a blockage in the

passage of air somewhere . The air ‘escapes’ through the nasal cavity , giving

all three sounds a nasal quality .These sounds are known a nasals.

The phoneme [l] is in a category of its own . Whisper the sound [l] several

times in rapid succession . You will probably notice that the teeth or blade

of the tongue comes into contact with the ridge behind the teeth , while the

air flow gives rise to the name of this single phoneme category – lateral .

So all the consonants and the vowels have their own way of being

pronounced and w have to pay attention to the articulation , because it is of a

great importance in teaching English sounds.

22

CHAPTER 3 PRACTICAL PART

3.1 Activities For Teaching English Vowels

According to Dumitru Chitoranu ‘s “Ghid de pronuntie” , there are 12

simple vowels in English .That means that these vowels appear in initial ,

mid and final position . In Romanian we have 7 simple vowels , which can

appear in any position in words, no matter if it is a voiced or a voiceless

vowel.

Pronunciation of the vowels [i:] and [I]

cc

Activities :

1. The sound [i:] and [I] contrasted in minimal pairs of words:

[i:] [I] [i:] [I]

Deed did seat sit

Seal sill beat bit

Lead lid leap lip

Steel still peak pick

Seen sin seeks six

2 The vowels [i:] and [I] contrasted in sentences:

We want Jean . …………………. We want gin .

Feel them carefully . ………………. Fill them carefully.

It is on the seal. …………………….. It is on the sill .

It is a big meal . ……………………. It is a big mill.

He caught the sheep . ………………. He caught the ship.

23

Pronunciation of the Vowels [e[ and [ æ ]

The sound [e] is easy to be pronounced by Romanian speakers because it is

similar to the Romanian [e] .We can find the English vowel [e] at the beginning and

in the middle of the words and never in the final position of a word.

e.g. eggs, enemy , any, bell, says , fence.

The vowel is longer when it is followed by a voiced consonant and shorter

when it is followed by a voiceless consonant.

e.g. bed - bet

led – let

beg – beck

said – set

The vowel [æ] is very difficult to be taught because it has no equivalents in

Romanian . The sound [æ] can be obtained by keeping the mouth wide open as for

pronouncing [a] , but trying to pronounce a Romanian [e]. The tip of the tongue has

to touch the inner edge of the lower teeth. The vowel [æ] appears only in initial

position and in the middle of the words.

e.g. Ann , apple , act, hat , sand , natural .

The vowel [æ] is modified in dependence of the position in words. It is longer

when it precedes a voiced consonant and shorter before a voiceless consonant.

e.g. cab – cap

bag – back

sad – sat

ladder – latter

Activities :

1. The sounds [e] and [æ] contrasted in minimal pairs of words:

[e] [ æ ] [e] [ æ ]

24

Ten tan send sand

Mess mass pen pan

Led lad lend land

Leg lag head had

Bed bad merry Marry

Expensive expansive peck pack

2. The vowels [e] and [æ] contrasted in sentences:]

I said bad. I said bed .

I want my wife to be more expensive.

I want my wife to be more expansive.

We watched him peddling . We watched him paddling.

Throw the pen away . Throw the pan away.

I love this gem . I love this jam.

3. The sounds [i:] ,[I] ,[e] and [æ] contrasted in pairs:

[i:] [I] [e] [ æ ]

Pete pit pet pat

Deed did dead dad

Lead lid led lad

Neat knit net gnat

Bean bin Ben ban

Peel pill Pell pal

Seat sit set sat

Pronunciation Of the Vowels [ ] and [ ʌ]

The vowel [] is much longer than the Romanian [a] . The English vowel []

appears in initial , mid , and final position

25

e.g. arm , art , hard, calm, far, car.

Just the same as the other English vowels , [] suffers some modifications , in

dependence of its position in words. The vowel [] is very long when it is in a

final position or followed by a voiced consonant.

e.g. car, far, are, tar, father, garden , sergeant, palm.

The vowel is shorter when precedes a voiceless consonant :

e.g. carp, clerk, art, calf.

Romanian speakers have no difficulties in the pronunciation of the vowel [ʌ],

it resembles very much the sound [a] from Romanian .But it has to be shortened a

little . This vowel appears only in initial and mid position , both in stressed and

unstressed syllables.

e.g. up , upper, cup, does , pronunciation.

Activities :

1. The vowels [] and [ʌ] contrasted in minimal pairs of words:

[ ] [ ʌ ] [ ] [ ʌ ]

Carp cup calm come

Heart hut harsh hush

Lark luck mast must

Bard bud barter butter

Psalm some starter stutter

Barn bun bark buck

2. The vowels [] and [ʌ] contrasted in sentences:

Calm down ! Come down !

Is the calf white ? Is the cuff white ?

I found a larva in the garden . I found a lover in the garden.

There were carts in the movie. There were cuts in the movie.

I do not like this type of barter. I do not like this type of butter.

26

Pronunciation of the Vowels [ɒ] and []

The vowel [ɒ] appears only in initial position in words.

e.g. on , odd ,opera, not, lock , box.

In American English the sound [ɒ] is substituted by a sound which is similar to

[] . Such words like mob [mb ] , log [ lg] .When [ɒ] precedes a voiced

consonant , it is longer in such words as : long , log , rob, cod, than in : pot, hop,

lock . what .

The English vowel [] resembles the Romanian [o] ,but it is a little closer.

This vowel appears in initial, mid and final positions in words:

e.g. ought, all, order, pawn ,call, hoard, paw , core .

The vowel is very long when it is situated in final position or precedes a

voiced consonant.

e.g. saw , four , more , board, lawn, cause .

When given sound is followed by a voiceless consonant its length is shortened.

e.g. walk , thought, daughter.

Activities :

1. The sounds [ɒ] and [] contrasted in minimal pairs of words:

[ ɒ ] [ ] [ ɒ ] [ ]

Not naught shot short

Spot sport collar caller

Cock cork moss Morse

Odd awed body bawdy

Nod gnawed rot wrought

2. The vowels [ɒ] and [] contrasted in sentences:

I’ll have a shot. I’ll have a sort.

He’s a bad sot. He’s a bad sort.

27

Now , where ‘s that cock? Now ,where’s that cork?

He was counting the pots. He was counting the ports.

The potter was very helpful. The porter was very helpful.

Pronunciation of the Vowels [υ] and [ u]

The vowel [ υ] appears only in the middle of the words .

e.g. put , full, look.

This vowel is longer before a voiced consonant and shorter before a voiceless

consonant.

e.g. good , pudding, book, foot.

The English vowel [] is very similar to the Romanian [u] .This sound requires

length and it appears in initial , mid and final position .

e.g. ooze , spoon, fool, rule, shoe, argue, do.

The vowel [] is very long in final position and when precedes a voiced

consonant .

e.g. who , woo, blue, lose, move, wooed.

When it precedes a voiceless consonant its length is shortened.

e.g. shoot, group, goose.

Activities :

1. The vowels [υ] and [ u] contrasted in minimal pairs of words:

[ υ ] [ ] [ υ ] [ ]

Pull pool wood wooed

Full fool soot suit (Am.)

Stood stewed hood who’d

Look Luke should shoed

2. The vowels [υ] and [ u] contrasted in sentences :

28

Give me the glass ! Fool ! Give me the glass fool !

Look ,the postman is at the gate. Luke, the postman is at the gate.

Are you sure she could ? Are you sure she cooed ?

It was a long pull . It was a long pool.

Pronunciation of the Vowels [ə] and [ ]

The vowel [ə] is easy to pronounce for Romanian speakers because it

resembles the Romanian vowel [ə] , being a little shorter . It is one of the most

frequent sound used in English and it is called also “schwa” . The schwa appears in

initial , mid , and final position and only in unstressed position .

e.g. above , alike , ago , suppose , condition , summer , soda, ever.

The schwa is longer in final position or when is followed by voiced

consonants, and it is shorter when it precedes a voiceless consonant .Sometimes the

schwa is omitted , without changing the sense and the meaning of the word.

e.g. condition [ kən’di∫ən] [kən’di∫n]

The English vowel [] is well pronounced if we pronounce it very long and

our tongue is strained. We can find the vowel [] in initial ,mid and final position.

When it is in a final position or is followed by a voiced consonant the sound is very

long :

e.g. her , sir , fur, heard , bird , pearl ,.

When the sound we are speaking about is followed by a voiceless consonant ,

its length is considerably reduced.

e.g. hurt , earth , curse.

Activities :

1. The vowels [ə] and [ ] contrasted in minimal pairs of words:

[ ə ] [ ]

an earn

29

and earned

forward foreword

commas commerce

for fur

but Burt

could curd

had heard

3.2 TEACHING ENGLISH CONSONANTS

The contribution of such a personality as Dumitru Chitoranu in teaching

English sound cannot be omitted in any case. We find in his studies many

statements about English consonants . There are 24 consonant sounds , most of

them having correspondent sounds in Romanian. We can classify the consonants

according to the manner of articulation as follows:

Stop consonants [p, b, t , d, k, g]

Fricative consonants [ f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ∫, ʒ, h ]

Affricate consonants [ , ]

Nasal consonants [ m , n, ɳ ]

Liquid consonants [ l, r ]

Glide consonants [ w , j ].

30

Except this classification consonants have one more classification , that means

according to the functions of speech organs which are involved in their articulation.

Bilabial [ p, b , m ,w]

Labiodentals [ f, v ]

Dental [θ, ð]

Alveolar [ t, d, s, z, n, l ]

Palatal [∫, ʒ , , , r , j ]

Velar [ k, g, ɳ ]

Glottal [ h ]

And there is one more classification of the consonants – according to the

criteria of vibration of the cord:

Voiced [ b, d , g , ð , v , ʒ , z, , m , n , l, r , w, j ]

Voiceless [ p, t, k, θ , f , ∫ , s, , h ]

And we have consonants which make pairs :

[p, b] ,[ t, d] , [k, g] , [f , v] , [θ, ð] , [s, z ] , [∫, ʒ ] , [ , ].

It has been stated that it is much easier to teach English consonants than

English vowels .

Pronunciation Of the Stop Consonants

All the stop consonants appear in the three position : initial , mid and final

position in words.

e.g. power upper soap

beard rubber lab

town later cat

day rider road

coat chicken lack

game ragged leg

When the consonants [ p, t , k ] by a stressed vowel they are pronounced with

aspiration , a sound similar to ‘h’ .

31

e.g. past , time, carpet.

When the consonants precede an unstressed vowel the aspiration is shortened ,

and when they precede the sound [s] , it disappears totally .

e.g. speak , stay, scar.

When the stop consonants are followed by [l] there happens a ‘ lateral

explosion ‘ of the vowels.

e.g. trouble , apple , little, middle, giggle.

But there is a ‘ nasal explosion ‘ when they are followed by [n] .

e.g. ribbon , happen, kitten, sudden.

Activities:

1. Practice the following consonants in minimal pairs of words :

With aspiration without aspiration

pace base

pack back

pact backed

pad bad

pail bail

pair bear

pall ball

voiceless in the mid position voiced in the mid position

Harper harbor

Dapple dabble

Crumple crumble

Utter udder

Butting budding

Dicker digger

Voiceless in final position voiced in final position

32

Rope robe

Mop mob

Lap lab

Tap tab

Sat sad

Set said

Pronunciation of the Affricate Consonants

[ , ] are pronounced by pushing the tongue to the alveolus , a place where

the tongue blocks completely the speech channel . In order to understand better the

difference between these consonants and Romanian we need to compare some

words which have similar pronunciation , but of course different spelling.

e.g. beach – bici

budge – bagi

chop – ciob

match – meci

both of these sounds appear in initial mid and final positions in words.

Activities :

1. Practice the following minimal pairs of words:

Chin – gin etching – edging

Cheap – jeep larch – large

Choke – joke match – Madge

Cheer – jeer batch – badge

Chest – jest rich – ridge

2. Practice the following combinations of words:

Which chair

33

Much junk

Much gin

Riche judge

Dutch cheese

Large jar

Much jelly

Pronunciation of the Fricative Consonants

All the fricatives appear in the three positions : initial , mid and final.

Activities :

1. Practice the following words with the consonant [f] ;

Five sacrifice

Food coffee

Fear roof

Faith leaf

Difference deaf

Trifle soften

Muffle deafen

Baffle often

Rifle siphon

Waffle toughen

Flee frame

Flesh fume

Flag fury

Frog fuse

Fruit future

34

h

b

Activities:

1. Practice the following variants of the sound [m]:

Nymph rhythm

Comfort prism

Circumvent lissome

Smack bottom

Smoke materialism

2. Practice the following words with the sound [n]:

Infant cotton

Infinite sudden

Invite often

Sneeze mission

Snatch listen

3. Practice the following variants of the sound [ɳ ]:

Bring bacon

Cling taken

Anger blacken

Drink thicken

Singer sicken

Pronunciation of the Liquid Consonants

The English liquid sounds are [l]and [r]. [l] is pronounced by pushing the

blade of the tongue on the alveolar ridge and the air must pass freely on the lateral

parts of the tongue .[r] is pronounced by raising the blade of the tongue to the hard

35

palate without touching this area of the palate . The liquid consonants appear in

initial , mid and final position .

Activities :

1. Read in a loud voice the words in which [l] is initial and in mid position:

Leak collect

Lid aloud

Leg lily

Lamp malady

Lord ballet

2. The same task but with the sound [r] :

Read correct

Rude arrange

Rid hurry

Raw story

Rub horror.

Pronunciation Of The Glottal Consonants

Two English sounds resemble vowels and consonants at the same time. They

are called semi vocals or semi consonants. As vowels they cannot form any syllable

and as consonants they are always followed by a vowel . These are [j] and [w].

e.g. yes , what

When [w] is preceded by a consonant ,lips are rounded as for pronouncing

[w] and those consonants are pronounced with rounded lips .

e.g. sweet, quite , dwelling

[j] is pronounced by articulating with the lips the sounds.

e.g. yet , yard

36

The sounds [j] and [w] appear only in initial and mid position

e.g. young, water

refuse, twelve , aware

These two sounds appear in combination of words which present big

difficulties in pronunciation for Romanian speakers , because there are no

equivalents for such sounds in Romanian.

Activities :

1. Read in a loud voice the words :

Yiddish wit

Yet wet

Yap wax

Yacht watch

You wood

Young won

Yeast were

Youth week

Yard wolf

Yawn wall

3. Practice the [j] and [w] contrasted in minimal pairs of words:

Wet yet wield yield

What yacht wall yawl

Woo you whelp yelp

Were year whale Yale

Worn yawn woke yoke

37

3.3 ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHING ENGLISH DIPHTONGS

There are many combinations of sounds in English which can be counted as

diphthongs , but only 8 of them have a statue of phoneme. They are [] ,[] ,[] ,

[ ], [ ] , [iə] , [ ] , [ ] . Generally the pronunciation of the diphthongs

does not present too many difficulties for Romanian speakers because Romanian is

also a language of vocalic combinations .

But there is a very important difference between the English and Romanian

diphthongs . It consists in the degree of intensity and the duration of pronunciation

of the two component elements. In English , diphthongs are low , the first vowel

is stressed and comparatively to the second .

Pronunciation Of The Diphthong []

When we pronounce the English diphthong [] we can begin from the

pronunciation of the same Romanian diphthong , but we must stress the sound [e].

We can even compare some Romanian words with English words.

English Romanian

May mei

Bay bei

Hay hei

The diphthong [] appears in initial , mid and final positions .When we

pronounce it we need to pay attention to the sound [e] ,because it is keeping its

length when it is situated at the end of the words , or it is followed by a voiceless

consonant. The length of the sound is reduced when [] is followed by a voiceless

consonant .

Activities :

1. The long and the short variants of the diphthong []:

38

Play plays place

Ray raise race

May made mate

Lay lays lace

Pay pays pace

Bay bays base

Day daze dace

Fay phase face

2. The vowel [e] and the diphthong [] contrasted in minimal pairs of words:

Tell tale wet wait

Pen pain tent taint

Red raid men main

Let late rest raced

Pronunciation of the Diphthong []

The English diphthong [] is very similar to the Romanian [] . In this case

as in the case with [] the sound [a] must be pronounced longer than [I] .The

diphthong can be practiced by comparing the English diphthong with the Romanian

in words:

English Romanian

Die dai

Sty stai

My mai

The diphthong is found in all the three position in words. When it is in a

final position or is followed by a voiced consonant the sound is much longer then in

the case when it is followed by a voiceless consonant.

e.g. fly like

high white

39

sly mice

Activities :

1. The long and the reduced variant of the diphthong [] contrasted in words:

Sigh side sight

High hide height

Pie pies pice

Rye rise rice

I eyes ice

2. The diphthongs [] and [] contrasted in minimal pairs of words:

Tray try pale pile

Bay buy paint pint

Way why lake like

Ray rye late light

Raid ride space spice

Pronunciation Of The Diphthong []

The diphthong [] has similarities with the Romanian diphthong []. But the

first element of the English diphthong is more open and longer than the Romanian .

Because of this we can compare it in English and Romanian words:

English Romanian

Toy toi

Soy soi

Boy boi

The diphthong [] appears in initial , mid and final position in words. The

length of the sounds is kept when the diphthong is situated in final position or

followed by a voiced consonant, and the sound is shortened considerably when it is

followed by a voiceless consonant

40

Activities :

1. The long and the reduced variant of the diphthong [] contrasted in

minimal pairs of words :

Toys voice

Boy choice

Can moist

Noisy adroit

Poison hoist

Destroy exploit

2. The diphthongs [] , [] and [ ] contrasted in minimal pairs of words :

Tray try Troy

Say sigh soy

Bay by boy

Pays pies poise

Lane line loin

Bail bile boil

Pronunciation Of The Diphthong []

The diphthong [] is formed from a nucleus similar to the vowel [ə] and

finished with a sound close to [υ] . It is not difficult at all for Romanian speakers to

pronounce the sound ,because it is similar to the Romanian one. For example:

English Romanian

So său

Row rău

Toe tău

41

We an find this diphthong in all the three positions in words. It has the same

peculiarities as the others .It is longer in final position , and when it is followed by

a voiced consonant .The sound is obviously reduced when it precedes a voiceless

consonant.

Activities :

1.The long and the reduced variant of the diphthong contrasted in words.:

Go goad goat

Roe robe rope

No node note

Mow mode moat

Row rode wrote

2. The diphthong [] contrasted with other diphthongs:

Laid lied Lloyd load

Ray rye Roy row

Fail file foil foal

Lane line loin loan

Pays pies poise pose

Pronunciation Of The Diphthong []

The English diphthong [] is very similar to the Romanian [] and it does

not present any difficulty when pronouncing it . For a better pronunciation of the

diphthong w have to pay attention to the first element of the diphthong : it must be

longer and more stressed than the second one. We can compare some words from

both languages :

English Romanian

Now n-au

Cow c-au

42

Sow s-au

The diphthong appears in initial , mid and final position in words. It is long

when is found in a final position or is followed by a voiced consonant.

Activities :

1. Long and reduced variants of the diphthong contrasted in words :

Bough bout loud lout

Cow couch mouse(vb.) mouse(n.)

House(vb.) house(n.) mouth(vb.) mouth(n.)

Vow vouch bowed bout

Found fount south(vb.) south(n.)

Pronunciation Of The Diphthong [Iɜ]

The diphthong [Iɜ] has no equivalents in Romanian and it is a little bit

difficult to pronounce . For a right pronunciation it is better to make the[I] of the

diphthong longer and more stressed . this diphthong can be found in all the

positions in words. The sound is longer in mid and final position or when it is

followed by a voiceless consonant

Activities :

1.Long and reduced forms of the diphthong [Iɜ] contrasted in words :

Peer peers pierce

Fear fears fierce

Tear tears tierce

Gear geared ---

Beer beard ---

2. The diphthong [Iɜ] contrasted with the vowel [i:] :

Pier pea cheers cheese

43

Beer bee piers peas

Fear fee beard bead

Tear tea ear E

Deer Dee steered steed

Sheer she speared speed

Pronunciation Of The Diphthong []

The diphthong [] has no equivalents in Romanian . The diphthong appears

in initial , mid and final position .The sound [] is longer in final position and

when precedes a voiced consonant. The length of the sound is reduced when it is

followed by a voiceless consonant.

Activities :

1. Long and reduced variants of the diphthong [] contrasted in words:

Air aerial airplane

Wear wearing wherefore

Tear tears ---

Care cared careful

Hair haired hairpin

Bare bareback bare skin

2. The diphthongs [Iɜ] and [] contrasted in pairs of words :

Chair cheer rare rear

Dare dear stare steer

Hair here bare beer

Mare mere share shear

Tear tear fare fear

Pair peer spare spear

44

Pronunciation Of The Diphthong []

The same as with some of the sounds , we do not have any similar sounds in

Romanian for this diphthong and we meet difficulties when pronouncing the

sounds. For a better pronunciation of the sound it is suggested to stress and to make

longer the first element of the diphthong . The sound appears only n mid and final

position in words . In the diphthong [] , [υ] is longer than [ə] when the sound is

stressed , in other cases [υ] is quite reduced .

Activities :

1. Variants of the diphthong []:

Tour usually

Doer vacuum

Endure continuous

Brewery influence

Bureau valuable

Fluent rescuer

2. The diphthong [] contrasted with [] and [Iɜ] :

Sure share sheer

Poor pair peer

Dour dare dear

Tour tear tear

Lure lair Lear

Boor bear beer

Moor mare mere

Wooer wear we’re

b4 WAYS OF TEACHING PROSODIC FEATURES

45

4.1 Teaching Intonation . Activities for Teaching Intonation

We have been looking at different ways in which human sound is

processed . The point to emphasize is that all this is dome in order to communicate ,

and when we communicate using sounds , we clearly do a good deal more than

simply string allophones together to make up words. The message we convey

depends just as much on how we say something as on what we actually say .

The most obvious aspect of pronunciation is the articulation of specific

sounds. Thus , the proper name “Henry “ can be said to consist of a sequence of

sounds , or segments ,transcribed as [ ‘henri ] .But this segmental transcription does

not of course , tell us very much about the way this world might be uttered in any

specific situation .

So far we have established that intonation is used by speakers to convey

information , mainly through choice of significant pitch variation . But what kind

of information can be conveyed ? In Crystal (1987)six functions are listed :

emotional : expression of attitudinal meanings such as excitement ,

surprise , reserve .

grammatical : marking of grammatical contrasts , such as chunking

into clauses and sentences , or contrast between questions and

statements .

information structure : marking of the distinction between what is

already , known and what is new . For example if someone says :

“I saw a BLUE car.” , this presupposes that it is already known

that a car is being talked about , and ‘blue’ is the new information .

textual : marking of the structure of larger stretches of discourse ,

such as the distinctive melodic shape which different paragraphs

are given in news – reading .

46

psychological : organization of discourse into units that are more

easily perceived and memorized , for example the tendency to

divide telephone numbers into rhythmical chunks.

Indexical : markers of personal identity , and of group membership;

for example , members of certain occupation have distinctive ways

of speaking ,such as preachers , sports commentators , street

vendors , etc.

It has been stated that there are four possible tune movements :

Simple : - falling (moving downwards )

- rising (moving upwards )

Compound : - falling then rising

- rising then falling

Again the use of gesture and the backboard can help the teacher indicate the

rising or fallen pattern .

Gesture : a sweep of the arm from high to low will indicate the falling tune

(vice-versa for the rise) . The teacher should produce this gesture backwards -

from right to left , as this will be the right way round – from left to right – for

students .

The blackboard : (the non-text stage )

1. The teacher draws the parallel lines on the blackboard ; the top

represents a high pitch , the bottom line represents a low pitch .Then

an arrow is drawn to indicate the direction of the intonation pattern.

2. It is also possible to indicate both stress and intonation at the same

time

(the text stage )

Once the learners are able to read English the teacher can use a sign system

over the text , either on the blackboard or in a stenciled handout with exercises for

pronunciation work .

Brita Haycraft has pointed out the usefulness of such signs:

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They are a support for the students’ memory , they can isolate stress and

intonation …they are neutral , common language , a code. Signs are there to help

and therefore must be flexible. When students first begin , by merely looking at

lines drawn on the blackboard (without words ) they ‘hear ‘ the sentence and

imitate it .

Activities :

When we teach our students we must understand what intonation is .It is the

music of a language – the way the voice goes up and down . We need to make

these general points about intonation :

Intonation is very important in expressing meaning , and especially in

showing our feelings ( surprise , anger, disbelief , gratitude )

However , intonation patterns are quite complex , and it is better for

students to acquire them naturally rather than try to learn them

consciously .

1. A game-like activity – using reliant to set up a situation that would

illustrate the difference in attitude . The teacher gives each student a small coin and

asks them to respond ‘thank you ‘ , at the same time drawing on the blackboard :

One student is then given a larger coin and encouraged to produce ‘ thank you ‘ on

slightly higher pitch , and so on with increasing amounts of money . The

differences in pitch are illustrated on the blackboard :

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The teacher can use other objects , such as chocolate , depending on the age level

and interests of the class .

2. Mood-cards . Two faces are drown on cards , one indicating a bored ,

uninterested mood like this :

The other like this :

And these once introduced , act as aids to correction whenever the dull intonation

pattern is produced. These drawings can be very simple , or the more amusing

cartoon-like drawing would be better . For younger learners they can also be given

names such as :

Mr. Grumpy Mr. Happy

3.Creating roles or enacting . One way of overcoming shyness and

embarrassment is to have the pupils or students to adopt a role and act out a short

sketch. For young learners this may quite simply entail having pupils walking

towards each other and producing greetings :

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Mr. Happy: Hello .

Mr. Grumpy : Hello .

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4.2 Teaching English Rhythm and Rhyme . Activities

As a general definition of the word ‘ rhythm ‘ , the Oxford English

dictionary gives the following one : ‘ movement marked by the regulated

succession of strong and weak elements ‘ . The list of possible movements is very

long , and ranges from one heartbeat , the tick-tack of the clock , the sound of

footsteps , fingers tapping , to waves beating on the shore or the change of the tides.

It certainly seems a if our lives are pervaded by rhythm even though the rhythm is

not necessarily there objectively , but may be something we impose .

Activities :

1. Walking the rhythm

Level : all

Time : 10 – 15 minutes

Aims : developing awareness of pace and rhythm

Materials: music to accompany walking and rhythmic texts , recorded if possible

Preparation : 1. select of music to walk to.

2. make a recording if possible of a short poem or prose text in English and

one in the students’ mother tongue .

Procedure : ask the learners to walk round the room in pairs , with one leading , and

the other trying to walk like the leader . The leaders should move as they

like – stop , slow down , or speed up . After a maximum of minute ask the

students to swap roles. After another minute , ask all the students to stop

and discuss the way they felt , first in groups of four , then as class . Then

play the music and ask the students to walk to it . Then ask how easy or

neutral it is for them to walk to the pace of music . Next play the recording

of a short poem or read it and encourage students to move a part of their

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body (head , leg or arm )or to sway their whole body to the rhythm of the

text.

3. Feeling The Rhythm

Level: elementary and above

Time : 5 minutes

Aims: becoming aware of the rhythm of English

Materials: a short poem or rhyme

Preparation : find a short poem or rhyme which is easy to understand , preferably

with repetitions .

Procedure : do this at the beginning of a lesson as warmer . The learners stand in

circles of about 10 people . Ask them to take one step forward , swinging

their arms , from behind their back to high in front of them and then step

back , swinging their arms down . Say the poem or rhyme accompanying the

rhythm with the movements . The students imitate you . When they have got

the rhythm , proceed with the rest of your lesson .

Suggestions for text : Icker backer , soldier cracker

Icker backer boo

Engine number nine

Out go you !

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4.3 Teaching Word Stress and Sentence Stress . Activities

In English we can use the word ‘stress’ to refer generally to the way we

emphasize something ,or give it prominence . The term ‘stress’ is used in two

different ways . One use is as a conventional label for the overall prominence of

certain syllables over others . Used in this wider sense , stress does not correlate

directly and simply with one feature as loudness , but represents the combined

effect of several other factors besides . The second and narrower use is concerned

with the way in which speakers actually achieve this impression of prominence , i.e.

its physiological cause. In this sense , stress refers to the muscular energy which

goes into the production of a syllable .

The smaller domain in which the contrast stressed and unstressed syllables is

the word .The characteristic patterning of these two kind pf syllables is commonly

called word ‘stress ‘ . What makes English word stress particularly difficult to cope

with for foreign learners is what makes English word stress appear chaotic and

without rules .English word stress is fixed in the sense that every word has its own

stress pattern which is an important part of its identity .

Activities :

1. Word stress

Level: all

Time : about 5 minutes

Aim : to develop personal and physical awareness of word stress

Materials : recordings of pieces of music with different rhythms

Preparation : prepare a list of words with the same stress pattern , including

nonsense words .

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Procedure : brainstorm a number of rhythmic feelings with the class first . make a

list of fields where rhythmic activities occur .Here are some examples :

Nature : a summer breeze , an autumn gale , the waves of the sea , breathing ,

heartbeats .

Sports : riding a hoarse , rowing a boat , cycling , running , swimming , tennis.

Ask the learners to sit comfortably , to close their eyes and breathe calmly . Tell

them in a quiet voice that you are going to say some words . They should

concentrate on the rhythm of the words , not the meaning and try to associate it

with something personal . Ask them to complete the second part of the

sentence such as :’ When I feel the rhythm of those words , it is as if ….’ or ‘

The rhythm of these words make me think of ….’. Quietly say the words you

have prepared without stopping between them . repeat the list .

2. Sentence stress

Level : elementary and above

Time: three stages of 15-20 minutes .(can be in separate lessons )

Aims : raising awareness of how stress affects the meaning of a sentence.

Materials : rhymes and statements

Preparation : The students need to know what word stress is , before doing this.

Prepare a class set of two suitable rhymes at the students’ level such as “This

is the house that Jack built.” or “Boys and girls come out to play .”Rhymes

which contain several one-syllable words are the most suitable .

Stage 1

Noticing stress

Procedure : teach the class the first rhyme , ask them to clap the rhythm , or move

any part of their body they like . Ask the students how many syllables the

words have . Remind them that two-syllable words have one syllable stressed

more strongly than the other . Go through the text and , asking your students

to say where they fee there is strong stress .

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Stage 2

Procedure : teach the class the second rhyme . Say the first stanza and ask them to

repeat it. Check that they understand it . then write it on the blackboard . Ask

them to say it while clapping the stressed syllables . For example :

“ THIS is the HOUSE that JACK built .”

Ask a student to indicate the main stress on the board .Draw your students’

attention to the fact that one word is stressed more strongly than the others .

Ask some students to repeat the rhyme , clap it, walk it, putting the main stress

on words .

Stage 3

Practicing in conversations

At this stage class practice is beginning to be more communicative . You can

concentrate on sentence stress only , or you may want to combine it with

intonation practice as well .

Preparation : prepare a series of statements about your students , the school, their

work place , current affairs , etc. at a level and on topics appropriate for the

group . Some should be true and some should be false .

Procedure : ask the learners to show whether the statements are true or false by

repeating them , replacing some words , and making careful use of stress .Ask

them to prepare their own list of true or false statements . In pairs one student

reads out one of their statements and the other students responds.

In twos or threes , the students pretend that they are in a noisy place , for

example in a railway station or busy street , or trying to talk on a bad phone

line . One starts a conversation , another ‘ misunderstands ‘ and puts the stress

on the wrong word /syllable .The other student correct them by stressing the

right word even more strongly .

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GENERAL CONCLUSIONS

Now comes the time to draw some conclusions . It is important to mention that

I found necessary to pay a special attention to several aspects concerning the

“Ways of teaching pronunciation in TEFL “ .

The pronunciation process seems to be a practical one but it can not be

practiced by anyone without being aware of some theoretical notions concerning

pronunciation.

The first chapter contains information about the difficulties met in the process

of teaching English pronunciation . This process is not easy at all and it needs to be

studied first. A teacher should know first the level of the learner , then to find out

which are the difficulties. A very frequent difficulty is the difference between the

English phonic system and the learners’ phonic system. In this case the teachers

and the learners as well must study the differences between the ways of

pronouncing special sounds.

A speaker can have a wonderful grammar , a very well developed vocabulary ,

but he or she can be misunderstood by a native speaker or even by the teacher. We

can ask what is the problem? The answer to this question is that a bad

pronunciation makes the speaker or the learner to make first of all a bad impression

about himself or about herself , and secondly of course to be misunderstood .

Also in this chapter I tried to show some micro skills and techniques used in

the teaching pronunciation process. It is very important for a teacher to know what

to teach , how to teach , when to teach and why to teach. It happens that the learners

have no ideas why they need to be taught different things at different times and with

different purposes. For example when I was at school practice I tried to see this

thing at every lesson. Pupils were already intermediate learners I would say , it was

the 9th grade and practically they had a good pronunciation , but it was not perfect ,

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and it is normal , to my mind. I observed that they had a good teacher in English

who knew all these things and in such a way they got good pronunciation .

In the second chapter I mentioned something about the sound system. A

teacher should be aware of all the peculiarities of the English vowels and

consonants. Without it students or learners can not receive a good information

about it and they are not able to become good teachers in their turn. For example if

I did not receive this information when I was a beginner now I could never become

a good teacher. The pronunciation process seems to be a practical one but it can not

be practiced by anyone without being aware of some theoretical notions concerning

pronunciation.

The third and the fourth chapters are practical ones. Everyone knows that

theory without practice is nothing, and I agree with this. Practical part means

exercises for different types of vowels ,consonants and diphthongs as well ,

different activities for teaching or better to say for practicing the English

intonation ,word stress and sentence stress. This is one of the most important

aspects in this process , I think. What I tried to do with the learners at school at this

chapter was to practice with them intonation and word stress with the help of the

tongue twisters.

Actually this is all that I could in this domain. There are many other aspects in

pronunciation I did not touch upon . My suggestion would be to pay also a special

attention to such aspects as developing pronunciation through games , developing

the process of learning pronunciation by studying the weak and the strong forms in

a sentence. A learner should be aware which syllables to stress and in what cases. It

is rather difficult to do it because , practically there are no rules for this. The learner

should feel the stress exactly as the native speakers do.

In the end I would say , as a future teacher of English that a teacher must teach

his students first of all the best pronunciation.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Bowen Tim and Marks Jonathan : The Pronunciation Book Student

Centered activities for Pronunciation Work , Pilgrims Longman Resource

Books, Longman , 1993

2. Celce-Murcia Marianne : Teaching English as a Second or Foreign

Language , (second edition ) Heinle and Heinle Publishers , a division of

Wadsworth , Boston , Massachusetts , 1991

3. Chiţoran Dumitru and Pîrlog Hortensia : Ghid de Pronunţie a Limbii

Engleze , editura ştiinţifică şi enciclopedică Bucureşti , 1998

4. Dalton Christiane and Barbara Seidhofer : Pronunciation, language

teaching – a scheme for teacher education , editors CN Candlin and H. G.

Widdowson , Oxford University Press , 1995

5. Doff Adrian : Teach English . A training course for teachers . Trainer’s

Handbook , Cambridge Teacher Training and Development , Cambridge

University in Association with the British Council , 1990

6. Doff Adrian : Teach English . A training course for teachers . Teacher’s

Workbook , Cambridge Teacher Training and Development , Cambridge

University in Association with the British Council , 1998

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7. Harmer Jeremy : The Practice Of English Language Teaching , (new

edition ) Longman Handbooks for Language Teachers , London and New

York , 1994

8. Hubbard Peter , Jones Hywel , Barbara Thornton , Wheeler Rod : A

Training Course for TEFL , Oxford University Press , 1994

9. Laroy Clement : Pronunciation . Resource Books for Teachers , series

editors Alan Maley , Oxford University Press , 1996

10.www.en_wikipediawork/non+native pronunciation

11.www.peacecorps.gov/library/pdf/Moo41_tefltesl.pdf

12. www.ucop.edu/elltech/parker_paper.

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