Teaching pronunciation

TEACHING PRONUNCIATION
Plan:

1. 
   How to Teach Pronunciation
   
2. 
   The importance of teaching pronunciation
   
3. 
   The content of teaching pronunciation
   

Teaching pronunciation is of great importance in the developing of pupils’ listening and speaking habits and skills. It is of no less importance in the development of reading and writing habits and skills since writing is the graphic representation of sound sequences. In reading the visual images become acoustic images. These are combined with kinesthetic images, resulting in inner speech.

The content of teaching pronunciation
Proceeding from the aims and objectives the FL syllabus sets out, pupils must assimilate.
The sounds of the English language, its vowels and consonants. They should be able to articulate these sounds both separately and in different phonetic contexts.
2.Some peculiarities of the English language in comparison with those of the Russian language (length of vowels, palatalization (dark L, light L).
3.Stress in a word and in a sentence, and melody (fall and rise). Pupils must be able to divide a sentence into groups and intone it properly.
Thus, when we teach the vowels of the English language we can pay learners’ attention to vowel length:
Vowel Length You can demonstrate varying vowel lengths within a word by stretching rubber bands on the longer vowels and letting them contract on shorter ones. Then let the students try it. For example, the word 'fifteen' would have the rubber band stretched for the 'ee' vowel, but the word 'fifty' would not have the band stretched because both of its vowels are spoken quickly.
Teaching syllables teachers can have students count syllables in a word and hold up the correct number of fingers, or place objects on table to represent each syllable
To illustrate syllable stress teachers can clap softly and loudly corresponding to the syllables of a word. For example, the word 'beautiful' would be loud-soft-soft. Practice with short lists of words with the same syllabic stress pattern ('beautiful,' 'telephone,' 'Florida') and then see if your learners can list other words with that pattern.
The teacher faces the following problems in teaching pupils pronunciation.
The problem of discrimination: identifying the differences between phonemes which are not distinguished or used in the Russian language and between falling, rising and level tones.
The problem of articulation, i.e. learning to make the motor movements adequate to proper production of English sounds.
The problem of intonation, i.e. learning to make right stresses, pauses and use appropriate patterns.
The problem of integration, i.e. learning to assemble the phonemes and a connected discourse with the proper allophonic variations (members of a phoneme) in the, months, hard times.
The problem of automaticy, i.e. making correct production so habitual that it does not need to be attended to in the process of speaking.
Consequently, discrimination, articulation, intonation, integration, automaticy are the items that should constitute the content of the teaching of pronunciation.

Absolute correctness is impossible. We cannot expect more than approximate correctness, the correctness that ensures communication.

Pupils assimilate English pronunciation through 1) the acquisition of new sounds, stress, tone-patterns 2) drill in recognition and reproduction of new material to acquire pronunciation habits and 3) making use of the pronunciation habits in language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing).
In teaching pronunciation there are at least two methodological problems the teacher faces:
To determine the cases where conscious manipulation of the speech organs is required and the cases where simple imitation can or must be used.
To decide on types of exercises and the techniques of using them.
Since imitation can and must take place in FL teaching the teacher’s pronunciation should set the standard for the class and the use of native speakers whose voices are recorded on cassettes is quite indispensable.
Teaching a FL in schools begins with teaching pupils to listen to it and speak it that is with the oral introductory course, or the oral approach. The teacher’s task is to determine which sound the pupils will find hard to pronounce, which sounds they can assimilate through imitation and which sounds require explanations of the position of the organs of speech while producing them.
Exercises used for developing pronunciation habits may be of two groups: recognition exercises and reproduction exercises. Recognition exercises are designed for developing pupil’s ability to discriminate sounds and sound sequences.
Pupils should have ample practice in listening to be able to acquire the phonic aspect of the language. It can be done:
By listening to the teacherpronouncing a sound, a sound combination and sensible sound sequences. Thus, a teacher can provide activity for practicing specific sounds.
Specific Sounds

Minimal pairs, or words such as 'bit/bat' that differ by only one sound, are useful for helping students distinguish similar sounds. They can be used to illustrate voicing ('curl/girl') or commonly confused sounds ('play/pray'). Remember that it's the sound and not the spelling you are focusing on.

Tongue twisters are useful for practicing specific target sounds, plus they're fun. Make sure the vocabulary isn't too difficult.
By listening to the speaker on the recording. It is impossible to overestimate the role that can be played by recording. They:
Allow speech to be reproduced with correct pronunciation and intonation in particular.
Permit the same text to be repeated several times for pupils to have an opportunity to listen to it again and again.
Make it possible for the teacher to develop his pupils’ abilities to understand English spoken at various speeds
Help the teacher in developing his pupils’ ability to speak.
Give pupils an opportunity to listen to texts read by native speakers.
We already mentioned that exercises used for developing pronunciation habits may be of two groups –recognition exercises and reproduction exercises.
Reproduction exercises are designed for developing pupils’ pronunciation habits, i.e. their ability to articulate English sounds correctly and to combine sounds into words, phrases and sentences easily enough to be able to speak English and to read aloud in this language. A few minutes at each lesson must be devoted to drilling the sounds which are most difficult for Russian-speaking pupils.
The material used for pronunciation drills should be connected with the lesson pupils study. These may be sounds, words, word combinations, phrases, sentences, rhymes, poems, and dialogues. Proverbs and some useful expressions can be used as material for pronunciation drills.
Teaching English pronunciation is a challenging task with different objectives at each level. This guide on how to teach pronunciation provides a short overview of the main issues to be addressed at each level, as well as pointing to resources on the site, such as lesson plans and activities, that you can use in class to help your students improve their English pronunciation skills. Following each level are a few suggestions for level appropriate activities. Finally, the best way to help students improve their pronunciation skills is to encourage them to speak English as much as they possibly can. Introduce the idea that even when doing homework students should be reading aloud. Learning to pronounce English well takes muscle coordination, and that means practice - not just mental activity!
Syllable Stress - students need to understand that multisyllabic words require syllable stress. Point out common syllable stress patterns.
Voiced and Voiceless Consonants - Teach the difference between voiced and voiceless consonants. Have students touch their throats to note the difference between 'z' and 's' and 'f' and 'v' to demonstrate these differences.
Silent Letters - Point out examples of words with silent letters such as the 'b' in 'comb', '-ed' endings in the past for regular verbs.
Silent final E - Teach the influence of the final silent 'e' generally making the vowel long. Make sure to point out that there are many exceptions to this rule (drive vs. live).
At the beginning level, English learners need to focus on the basics of pronunciation. In general, the use of rote learning is best for this level. For example, the use of grammar chants is a great way to help students pick up pronunciation skills through repetition. Teaching the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is too challenging at this point as learners are already overwhelmed with the challenges of learning a language. Learning another alphabet for pronunciation is beyond the capability of most beginning level English learners. Certain patterns such as silent letters in English and the pronunciation of -ed in the simple past is a good starting point for future pronunciation drills. Students should also learn the difference between voiced and voiceless consonants.
Teaching pronunciation is an area of language teaching that many English teachers avoid. While there are many textbooks and instruction manuals available, there is comparatively little on learning pronunciation. Why? Is it because we don’t need to teach pronunciation or because it cannot be taught?
The importance of teaching pronunciation
Indeed, we should teach pronunciation because words can have different meanings depending on how you say them. For example, there is a big difference between a pear and a bear, two sounds that are not easy for Spaniards! A teacher’s first goal for their students is to achieve basic communication. However, that can fail if their accent is so bad that no one can understand them. In addition, teaching pronunciation is necessary since it’s embarrassing to ask someone to repeat themselves three times and still not understand them.
This article is divided into:
Teaching pronunciation with phonemes (but not necessarily phonetic script)
From the recognition of phonemes to practise
Pronunciation of words
Three barriers to good English pronunciation
How NOT to Teach Pronunciation
When teachers decide to focus on pronunciation practise, many of them make the mistake of teaching pronunciation along with new vocabulary. This combination can work with students who have a ‘good ear’ or speak a related language. However, it can be hit and miss with students whose mother tongue has no relation to the target language.
This problem brings us back to whether pronunciation can be taught effectively at all? The answer is yes, of course, it can; it’s just that the way many textbooks teach it is one of the least effective. Many books will have you drill pronunciation with repetition of the vocabulary. Some of the better ones will have you work on spelling., Spelling is an important skill, especially in English with its many irregularities and exceptions. But, unfortunately, very few will start you and your students where you need to, at the phoneme level.
Start with Phonemes (but not necessarily phonetic script)
The dictionary defines ‘phoneme’ as ‘any perceptually distinct units of sound in a specified language that distinguish one word from another. Examples are p, b, d, and t in the English words pad, pat, bad, and bat.’ This definition highlights one reason language teachers start teaching pronunciation with phonemes. If a phoneme is a ‘perceptually distinct unit of sound,’ students first need to hear and recognise it. Thus in the first pronunciation exercises, students should listen and identify rather than speak.
Introduce your phonemes in contrasting pairs like /t/ and /d/. Repeat the phonemes in words and isolation and ask the students to identify them. In addition, you may want to draw pronunciation diagrams for each sound showing the placement of the tongue and lips. Diagrams can help students visualize the differences they are attempting to recognise.
You might also consider teaching your students symbols from the phonetic alphabet. Learning some of these symbols can clear confusion where the same letters have different sounds. For example, the ‘th’ in ‘there’ and the ‘th’ in ‘thanks’ look the same, but they are not. Of course, knowing phonetic symbols isn’t essential and would be overkill with children. That said, it would be worth it for visual or analytical learners.
You can play all sorts of matching games with this material to make the drills more fun and less stressful. For example, you can have students play with nonsense sounds and focus on the tiny differences between contrasted phonemic pairs, the key being to get them to hear the phoneme.
Once they can hear and identify a phoneme, it’s time to practice accurate sound production. For this, pronunciation diagrams are helpful. Your students need to see where to put their lips and tongues in relation to their teeth. Most sounds are articulated inside your mouth, so students have no idea what you are doing to produce that particular noise. If you have ever tried to teach a Japanese student how to say an American /r/, then you have experienced the student’s frustration of trying to produce tongue movements they can’t see.
Get hold of a reference book with diagrams. Alternatively, you can probably sketch them yourself with a bit of practise. Your students will thank you for this insight.
New neural pathways
While this may sound time-consuming and unnatural, you have to realize that you are in the process of reprogramming your students’ brains, and it is going to take a while. Our brains must create neural pathways to learn new facial movements and link them with meaning.
We are recreating an accelerated version of the infant’s language learning experience in the classroom. We are also breaking down language to babbling noises so that our students can play with the sounds, as infants do. So, students learn to distinguish meaningful sounds while using more mature analytical skills that an infant doesn’t have.

Your students’ articulation and perception of phonemes will improve if you practise phonemes regularly. Then, after several weeks, you will get them all to the point where you can practice pronunciation on a word or even a sentential level.

This English Language Games book has pronunciation games for children. However, if you teach online, these ESL Online Games are the ones you need.
Younger students may progress faster, but even adults will begin to give up fossilized pronunciation errors with practise! So now it’s time to take the next leap and correct pronunciation in the context of natural conversation. Now that we have looked at physical challenges making sounds, we can address three further potential barriers.
When teaching phonemes, students explore physical parameters and develop neurological pathways. To be explicit, students make meaningless noises and use their mouths, tongues, and lips in new ways. But when we work on pronunciation at a lexical or sentential level, students may have complex emotional, psychological, and cultural motivations that require re-education.
Three barriers to students’ adopting a second language are anxiety, learned helplessness, and cultural identity. Of course, not every student will have all these problems. However, for sure, all of them will have at least one to a greater or lesser extent. As English teachers, we have to bring these problems to our students’ attention in non-threatening ways and suggest tools and strategies for dealing with them.