Teaching PronunciationTechniques, Tools, and Technology

Heidi Laidemitt, Beth Sipler, Luke Slisz

                    Chapter 10                           Chapter 9

Tools

• Tools appeal to a variety of senses• Address individual differences in learning styles• Are a source of fun in the classroom

(Celce-Murica)

We are going to cover some ideas from book (and more!) with new materials. • First: A Lesson incorporating Poetry/Song, Jazz Chant

movements, and Gadgets and Props• Second: Ideas for Games• Third: Jokes, Riddles, Parodies, Cartoons

Songs and Poetry • chunks of language • concrete images, repetition of lyrics• easy to involve movement• clever word play (like the title of this song for today!) • word stress focus (stress patterns, prominence)• Cloze task friendly • Like conversational speech: linking (pronounce as thought

groups), final consonant loss, intonation, rhythmic stressed/unstressed patterns 

• draw attention to spelling and pronunciation, especially if they use rhyme schemes 

• Other Good sources not shown: nursery rhymes, jump rope rhymes, 80s/90s hip-hop (Run DMC), sports cheers

Now on to the Bare Necessities: 

Second Stanza: Stress and Pauses

Wherever I wander / wherever I roam /  I couldn't be fonder / of my big home /  The bees are buzzin' in the tree To make some honey just for me /  When you / look under / the rocks / and plants /  And take a glance  / at the fancy ants /  Then may/be / try a few / 

Third Stanza 

Now when you pick a pawpaw Or a prickly pear And you prick a raw paw Well next time beware Don't pick the prickly pear by the paw When you pick a pear Try to use the claw But you don't need to use the claw When you pick a pear of the big pawpaw Have I given you a clue? Golly, thanks Baloo! 

Jobberwocky Idea - Lewis Carroll 

• Have students assign stress to a poem of nonsensical words! 

• Practice pronunciation and language awarenesso What real words sound similar? o What real words rhyme? 

http://www.jabberwocky.com/carroll/jabber/jabberwocky.html

Pronunciation Games

• Competitive Team Games: Minimal-Pair Recognition Game (two teams, two colors. One color to represent 1st word spoken, 2nd color to represent second word spoken)

• Various kinds of Board Games - o Values Topics (Klippel 1984) fluency activity designed for groups of up to They may

land on topic or free question squares. Practice conversational moves too! o Discussion Gambit Cards - one set contans phrases, or gambits, that are used when

participating in a discussion. (Appendix 22) o Hancock (1995) - mazes, jigsaws, crosswords. o Dominoes game: “Rhythm dominoes” - goal is to match 2 phrases with the same

rhythmic pattern. One for phonemes, too: Vowels dominoes.

Jokes, Riddles, Parodies• Connected Speech Jokes

o Hakunna Matta: “Yeah. It's our motto! / What's a motto? / Nothing. What's a-motto with you?” 

• Teach intonation of jokes through matching and making pauses. (perhaps practice reading and have students put in pauses or correct punctuation)o What key is "Exploring The Cave With No Flashlight" written in? o C sharp or B flat.

• Exploring Song Parodies: http://parodyman.com/lyrics.htm• Misheard Lyrics: http://kissthisguy.com/funny.php

o "Shake it like a polarbear ninja" o "Steak and a knife, steak and a knife" o "There's a bathroom on the right" 

--> Write your own!--> Match misheard lyrics with actual! Or compare similarities. 

Comics• Segmental Features - Minimal pair contrasts, Puns are very

common.

• Suprasegmental features like linking, intonation, sentence prominence, conversation representation, mishearing, etc.

Family Circus - My particular favorite (backside of handout)Let's identify pronunciation play in these comics. What's going on?

Tools Summary

• Poetry/Song, Jazz Chant, which can include segmental and suprasegmental pronunciation! And movement. 

• Humor and invented words for play• Gadgets and Props to support visualizing sounds and

invoking other senses. • Games for competition in class and to promote phonemic

recognition as well as fluency. • Jokes, Riddles, Parodies, Cartoons - for language

awareness; may focus on segmental and suprasegmental features.