Lesson 12: teaching speaking in primary level pupils: monologue and dialogue questions to be discussed

Minimal pair drills. Words which have the same pronunciation except one phoneme are called minimal pairs (man/men, bright/bride, tin/thin, sin/sing, etc.). This technique helps learners to recognize differences between sounds and it helps them to articulate individual sounds. In practicing minimal pair drills, learners should first differentiate, then recognize the sounds and finally to imitate the minimal pairs with correct sounds. This technique should be also used with all age groups, but probably more suitable for young learners who have the elasticity of the brain to recognize and imitate sounds they hear.

Ear training. It is a very effective teaching technique, where learners focus their attention on hearing. In pronunciation there is a close relationship between speech perception and speech production. Ear training is also a teaching technique in music. Traditionally, the ear training technique was connected to identification of individual sounds. However, it can be just as efficient in teaching suprasegmental features, such as word stress, rhythm or intonation. Recognition of individual phonemes can be done using minimal pair tests. Listening for a specific task can be used for both segmental and suprasegmental features. Ear training should be used with all age groups, but it is more efficient with young learners, who have the ability to hear different or new sounds, rhythm of the speech and intonation.

Tongue twisters. Tongue twisters are purposefully created sentences or rhymes aiming at certain sounds which are difficult to pronounce. Tongue twisters are in all languages and are created for pronunciation training of the mother tongue. However they are very useful in foreign language learning too. They are useful for all age groups, can bring a lot of fun to the class and learners usually enjoy saying them. To avoid frustration, they should be practiced once the required sound has been learnt.

Reading aloud. This technique is not as popular as it was in the past, because not everybody feels confident to read aloud and it does not always reflect the way people speak. It includes reading passages of texts and it can focus on problematic sounds, stress, rhythm, intonation, etc. Choosing the right text can make this technique interesting and it is suitable for older learners, who can read well in their mother tongue. The young learners are still learning to read well in their mother tongue and forcing them to read in English might be confusing and frustrating.