Pronunciation poems are rhymes, chants, limericks, raps and song lyrics all written specifically to contain multiple examples of the target pronunciation features. The activities usually begin with an exercise completing or correcting the text and culminate in practising saying or chanting the text out loud.
Pronunciation pairworks are information-gap communication activities for students to do in pairs or small groups. Success in each activity depends upon the students accuracy in producing and understanding the target pronunciation feature.
Pronunciation puzzles are challenging game-like activities which students can do on their own, although they are fun to do in pairs or small groups. They include such puzzle types as mazes, sudoku, word searches and crosswords.
Pronunciation workouts are extended drills focusing on specific areas of English pronunciation. Think of them like the scales and other exercises which pianists use to improve their fingering technique. Or like a fitness workout which a gymnast might use to tone the muscles. But in the case of pronunciation, it’s the vocal articulators which are getting trained – the tongue, lips, jaw and vocal cords.
On the TESOL Spain website (click here), you can now see videos of various speakers from the 2016 conference in Vitoria, conducted by Gerard McLaughlin.
Most teachers of English will have come across a sound chart at some point, but few realise how arbitrary they are. I do not mean 'arbitrary' in the negative sense of 'with no good reason', but rather in the sense that there are choices that the designer has had to make. At every stage in the creation of a chart, the author will have made decisions which could equally well have been otherwise.
In this talk, we will look at ways of exploring sounds in class, in a way which is both meaningful and fun. The slide show for the talk can be downloaded below. Various versions of the sound chart can be downloaded from here.
Sometimes pronunciation deserves more than a passing correction or one-off task. In this workshop, we will see how pronunciation points can be worked on from various different angles, in coherent and enjoyable task sequences. The handout, slides and audio tracks used in the talk can be downloaded below. The raps are taken from my new book 'PronPack', which is coming soon! Keep checking back!
Working on pronunciation can be enjoyable and rewarding, and it is one of the most important ways we can use face-to-face class time. This course aims to give participants an overview of the main issues in pronunciation teaching, including questions of accent, suitable models and evaluation.
