What is the most common problem with teaching pronunciation in the English language classroom? Teachers I've observed have given me different reasons for not practising pronunciation in the classroom. Some think it’s too difficult for learners to understand, or don’t feel confident enough to deal with it in class. Some teachers think their own accent isn’t appropriate to use as a model, or they lack knowledge of this area of teaching.
Regardless of the reason, if teachers avoid it, learners’ pronunciation errors become fossilised. I often use this resource from BBC Learning English .
How do I solve this problem when teaching pronunciation? Drilling is an effective way help learners with their pronunciation, but never drill words from the board. Learners need to hear how the word is said first, before they see how it’s written. Below are some drilling techniques:
‘choral (x2) – individual (x2) – choral’ pattern ‘Choral’ means ‘as a whole class’ and ‘individual’ means ‘a single learner’.
First, learners listen to you say the word / sentence / question two times. Then, you say it and the whole class repeats twice (choral x2), then you nominate two learners (individual x2), and finally you say it and the whole class repeats for a final time (choral x2).
‘sound – word – sentence’ pattern Using the same principles as above, first drill the individual sound, then a word containing that sound, then a sentence with that word. For example:
/ɔɪ/ (x2) – lawyer (x2) – My mum’s a lawyer.
Learners will practise the specific sound in each part of the drill, as well as a context for them to remember the sound in a word, and in a sentence.
Drill with a lot of energy and enthusiasm, even if it means going over the top. Learners will probably laugh at your over-excitement, but they’ll remember.
Show learners 'how' to say each sound. The movement of the lips, tongue and jaw, as well as whether the sound is voiced or unvoiced, is very important. For example, when saying /aʊ/ (as in 'now'), we drop our jaw and open our mouths, then push our lips together towards the end. In some languages, there isn't much movement of the jaw, so it will often be helpful to demonstrate and practise.
To teach word stress, elicit from the learners how many syllables a word has. If they struggle, repeat the word a few times to help them. Then, ask them which syllable is stressed (or sounds louder than the others).
Once they have understood, drill the words using one of the patterns above, then write it on the board highlighting the stressed syllable. You can do this by drawing a bubble above the stressed part, underlining it or putting a square around it.
I always use a red board pen to record any features of pronunciation; that way, learners can instantly recognise that the mark refers to pronunciation.
For stress in sentences or questions, have learners listen to you say it a few times and ask them to identify which words are stressed. Once they’ve understood, you can drill the sentence / question using one of the patterns above, or you can use ‘backchaining’. This is where you start at the end of the sentence and build it up by going ‘back’ to the beginning. For example:
this morning? have for breakfast this morning? did you have for breakfast this morning? What did you have for breakfast this morning?
