Teaching pronunciation FAQ
Tara BenwellHow can I teach pronunciation in a fun way?
If you dread teaching pronunciation, chances are your students will groan when it’s time to practise. Keep in mind that pronunciation can be fun. Some teachers actually love teaching it. If you can’t think of any fun ways to tackle word stress or minimal pairs, ask around. Most teachers are not afraid to share their secrets. You may be able to swap a grammar game for a pronunciation activity. Here are 15 top fun pronunciation games. Whatever you do, don’t avoid teaching pronunciation because you think you won’t be good at it. Here are 7 tips for teaching pronunciation in the ESL classroom.
Which pronunciation resources do you recommend?
Teachers may want to get a copy of Jazz Chants by Carolyn Graham (for practising rhythm) as well as Mark Hancock’s book, Pronunciation Games.
My students’ pronunciation is not improving. What am I doing wrong?
Have you taught your students how to use their dictionaries properly? Make sure that your students understand the symbols that are used in their dictionaries, and be sure to use a universal chart in your classroom (IPA). Also, have you isolated the sounds that are difficult for all of your learners? Consider having individual interviews to determine weaknesses. Create a class chart. Many students will have a certain sound that is causing difficulty, and will feel that it is a waste of time to study sounds that they don’t have trouble with. Try pairing your students up in a variety of ways. Here are some pronunciation ideas that you may not have tried.
If I speak more slowly. will my students’ pronunciation improve? Is it okay to use an exaggerated voice?
No. You should aim to speak at a natural pace during class time. If you speak too slowly and carefully pronounce every sound, your students will not be prepared for listening to English in the real world. If you naturally speak more quickly than an average person, or if you speak more quickly in front of an audience, you will need to slow your pace down to a relaxed speed for your students. Use a slower speech pace if you are explaining something, such as a grammar principle. Keep in mind that an important part of teaching pronunciation is preparing students to recognize natural speech when they hear it.
What’s the best way to teach minimal pairs?
Minimal pairs are pairs of words that have only one sound difference, such as “tap” and “top”. Find out which minimal pairs cause difficulty for your students. Read out example sentences and have students identify which word they hear. Have students create their own lists of minimal pairs. Find examples where minimal pairs change the meaning of a sentence in a very dramatic way. (For example: My sister got a new cat. My sister got a new cot.) Reverse dictation is another idea and often lightens up the classroom atmosphere. The teacher writes what the student says on the board.
How do I teach word stress and sentence stress?
Start by teaching your students about syllables. Tell your students that one syllable in each word that has two or more syllables is stressed more than the others. Train your students to mark the word stress of new words as they learn them. When you write a new word on the board, mark the word stress with a special symbol such as an apostrophe. If you get in the habit of doing this, your students will too. Teach your students that content words, or important words, are commonly stressed in English sentences. The best way to learn word stress is to listen to English every day. Eventually your students will start to learn the patterns.
How can I track which sounds are most difficult for my students?
An excellent book called Learner English is useful for any teacher of multi-lingual classes. It provides important details about the typical pronunciation problems English learners with various mother tongues have with the English language. It is also useful for understanding the difficulties that learners of certain mother tongues have with other aspects of language learning, including grammar, vocabulary, and punctuation.
What is the best way to test pronunciation? What should I test?
Many students think they will not be tested on pronunciation and thus view it as unimportant. If you establish early on that pronunciation is an important part of your evaluation, your students may work harder to speak clearly and learn the rhythm of the language. There are various ways to check the pronunciation skills of your students. You can have your students record messages for you using online audio tools. You can have oral readings in class. You can include a pronunciation mark as part of a presentation. You can have students read poetry or jazz chants or recite minimal pairs in example sentences. Have students mark the stress of words or identify the number of syllables. You can provide sound comparisons, where the learner has to circle whether the words they hear sound the same or different. You can use dictations (peer dictation too) or gap-fills, since recognizing the sounds is equally important to reproducing them. Have students identify which sounds are silent in words. Students can be asked to categorize a group of words by grouping the ones with the same initial, ending, or middle sounds.
Be sure to check for word stress, sentence stress, pausing, intonation, rhythm, sound recognition and sound production.
How much time should I spend teaching pronunciation?
This depends on your group of students. Pronunciation can be the most important thing to work on in some classes. Your students may read and write at advanced levels, but previous teachers may have neglected to work on word and sentence stress. Assess the pronunciation needs of your English learners before you decide how long to spend on this skill. Most importantly, don’t neglect this essential skill.
Should I concentrate on one phoneme at a time?
It depends what level of students you are teaching, and whether or not your group is multi-lingual. Introducing one phoneme at a time is often how teachers introduce pronunciation to beginners and children who all have the same L1.
My students want to speak with an American accent, but I speak British English. What should I do?
Remind your students that they will hear many different types of accents even in America. Expose them to lots of different accents through podcasts, radio, course books, TV, and film. American films are easy to find and can be very useful for teaching English. If your students are determined to be taught by an American teacher, they will have to switch classes or schools. Try not to feel insulted by their choice. Many have been brought up to think that an American accent is a ticket to a better life.
I’m nervous about teaching pronunciation. What can I do to become more confident?
If you lack confidence in teaching pronunciation, it is likely because you don’t have all of the tools and knowledge you require to teach pronunciation effectively. Read as much as you can on the subject (both online and in books) and attend any training sessions you can find on the subject. Make sure to learn the IPA (or the version your school uses). If you are going to use it in class, introduce it at the beginning of your course. Learn the basics of word stress in English. Don’t forget that pronunciation does not need to be taught as an isolated skill. You can integrate pronunciation tips and practice with your grammar lessons and other activities. You may be nervous because your students have unrealistic goals about pronunciation. Make sure that they understand that the goal of improving one’s pronunciation is to help listeners, rather than to speak like a native speaker. In addition, if your students are nervous about having their pronunciation analysed, the atmosphere in the room will feel tense. Try to lighten things up with games, jazz chants, and role playing.
How do I teach pronunciation to a multilingual class?
It is inevitable that your students will become impatient with each other’s pronunciation weaknesses. If you spend a long time on a sound that is only difficult for a few students, the others will think you are wasting their time and money. Mix up the learning pairs by giving students an opportunity to teach each other as well as an opportunity to work with learners who have the same problems. Explaining the reason why students with certain L1 have difficulty with certain English sounds will help everyone feel better about it. Or, have the students explain the reason (“We don’t have this sound in Spanish. In Spanish we say…”). Bring cultural content into the lessons whenever possible. Consider inviting students to your desk for individual practice when the class is involved in group work.
How should I write out word stress and syllable breaks when using the board?
Some teachers use colour coding to annotate pronunciation on the board. Others use lines and accents. Work with your students to come up with a system that works. Introduce this early so that it becomes an everyday habit.
Do my students need to memorize the IPA symbols?
It is very useful to have a system in place for notation. If your students are open to learning the IPA, it could be very helpful. Some teachers prefer to develop their own system. This makes it difficult when students move on to another teacher.