12 activities to integrate pronunciation

‘What is “language”?’ asked the teacher trainer.The diligent trainee replied: ‘Well, it’s four things: grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and discourse.’ Well done, good answer. By the way, ‘discourse’ is the organization of language above sentence level. And some people would add ‘pragmatics’ as a fifth area – how context affects meaning (Social English, all that intercultural stuff, politeness, etc).Okay. Grammar and vocabulary are familiar. And let’s leave discourse and pragmatics until another day (or until we teach writing or social English). But pronunciation we can’t leave, and there is a problem: it’s becoming an endangered species in many classrooms and most coursebooks. Why?• For classrooms, I think it’s because it involves a lot of ‘listen and repeat’ and

teachers feel this is old-fashioned. • For coursebooks, it’s because pronunciation problems tend to be quite L1-

specific and coursebooks are aimed at a global market.

I want you to consider the following.1. Think about your students in the real world speaking English. As a percentage, very roughly how much of their communication problems are due to:

a) poor grammar b) lack of vocab c) poor pronunciationd) poor discourse management e) poor pragmatics

2. Now think about your teaching. As a percentage, very roughly how much time do you spend on:

a) grammar b) vocab c) pronunciation d) discourse e) pragmaticsYes, I know you also spend time in class on speaking, listening, reading and writing. Good. But I want you to think about language input right now.Comment. I bet that the % for pronunciation was far higher in #1 than in #2. Draw your own conclusion.

That means we’re going to have to remind ourselves to do more work on pronunciation. Because nobody else will.And we’re going to have to get over the idea that ‘listen and repeat’ is old-fashioned. Because it isn’t. 30 years ago language schools had language labs with tape cassettes and headphones and you listened and repeated. When the internet arrived that equipment was ripped out and computers were installed in the same room. Much was gained but something was lost.Here’s the point about ‘repetition’. There are two types (thanks to Adrian Underhill for this point). The first is bad repetition. This is where we do something over and over mechanically, without attention, uncritically. The mind can day dream. The second is good repetition. This is where we do something over and over attentively, critically, getting feedback on each attempt and altering the next in the light of it. The feedback can come externally from the teacher, or internally from the inner ear, or by self recording with an app that allows playback and comparison with a model. Here the mind does not wander.

Just one more thing before we start on the activities.Below I will use the term drilling, a normal word from teacher training of 30 years ago but almost extinct now. The word comes from the military (marching up and down the parade ground with the sergeant shouting orders). In a teaching context it means ‘to fix something in the mind - or fix something as a habit - by repetitive instruction’. Remember that this means good repetition, not bad repetition.Look at the best language learners in your class: you’ll see them repeat a new word to themselves several times in a low voice. They are self-drilling, and they do it naturally and automatically.You drill when you practice reversing round a corner in your driving lessons, or when you play a chord pattern over and over again when learning the guitar. Drilling is one type of practice, and helps to make things automatic. But it has to be done critically, with attention, with an attempt to improve each time round.

In the language classroom drilling means:1. Teacher gives a model, saying the word (or phrase) several times in a loud,

clear voice.2. Teacher ‘conducts’ choral repetition by saying the word again, then indicating

with a long sweep of the hand around the room that the class are to chant the word in unison. The students chant simultaneously with the hand sweep. Repeat this choral repetition several times for each word.

3. Teacher says the word again, this time gesturing in turn to a couple of individuals for them to repeat. This should encourage the others (choose students who have ‘got it’).

4. Teacher quickly indicates pairs around the room with clear hand signals (but no voice) and says ‘now say it to each other’. Students have a go and there is much laughter.

Enough!Let’s do some activities.Skip activity 1 if you don’t know the phonemic chart. But notice that here only you need to know the symbols, not the students.

Activity 1: start with the chartThis is the ‘phonemic chart’. There are several versions, but this one - designed by Adrian Underhill - is the best. You’ll see why in a moment.This chart was very familiar to teachers 30 years ago. Vowels top left, dipthongs (two vowel sounds together) top right, consonants below. Nowadays the phonemes live on, just, in online dictionaries.

‘But this is irrelevant with speaking dictionaries on smartphones.’ Maybe. But do your students with smartphones really listen and repeat? with critical attention? enough times? with you to monitor and help? Hmmm.I still have a chart on the wall in my classroom. Here are some of the things I do …

continued …The top left hand corner of the chart shows the simple vowel sounds. It’s geographical: the sounds fit into your mouth as shown. So /u:/ is produced top back, /i:/ is produced top front etc.I turn sideways to the students (so they see me like in the diagram) and I make the sounds while I point to the mouth area for the sound. I move in sequence back to front top, back to front middle, and back to front bottom.Then the students repeat, row by row, also using finger movements to accompany the sounds. Each time they first hear my model phoneme again.It’s a lot of fun, and can be used diagnostically to see where the problems are.

continued …Next, in another class, I move on to the dipthongs. Here I copy a lesson that I saw on video when I did my CELTA initial teacher training many years ago. It was given by Adrian Underhill.

He said the first part of the dipthong and ‘caught it’ in his right hand. Then he said the second part and caught that in his left. Then he moved his two fists closer and closer together, saying each separate vowel sound as he moved them. Finally the two fists touched and he said the dipthong.Then came the fun part. He ‘threw’ the first vowel sound through the air to a student, indicating that they should catch it. Then he threw the second sound into their other hand. He invited them through gestures to bring their hands closer and closer, saying the sounds, just as he had done, until they said the dipthong. Very easy to do in class and so much fun.

continued …Next, in another class, the consonants.

See the first two rows? The phonemes alternate unvoiced and voiced sounds, with everything else the same. So /p/ and /b/ have exactly the same mouth/lips/tongue/teeth etc., but the first has no vibration of the vocal chords, and the second does have vibration. Ditto for every pair on the first two rows.I say them in their pairs, pointing to my lips as I say the first and to my throat as I say the second. The students listen and repeat.

No tricks for the third row, sorry.

Generate phonemic symbols and insert them into docs/web pages

And here’s a special treat for the pron fans amongst you.First, two tools that transcribe words into their phonemic versions:http://www.photransedit.com/online/text2phonetics.aspxhttp://learn-foreign-language-phonetics.com/english-phonetic-transcription-converter.php?site_language=englishAnd if you are having problems inserting phonemic symbols into a word processor or a web page, try this: http://www.e-lang.co.uk/mackichan/call/pron/type.html

Activity 2: funny phonemesDifferent L1s have problems with different phonemes. For example, German /v/ and /w/ or Japanese /r/ and /l/. I like to make up funny short sentences that deliberately use the problem sounds. My example below is for Germans, but the activity works for any L1. Just change to other problem phonemes.1. Write up on the board the following words:

Walter Vera went vacation Vienna wonderful timeThen say to the class, in a deliberately exaggerated way for the problem sounds, ‘Walter and Vera went on vacation to Vienna – they had a wonderful time’. There will be a lot of laughter.

2. Choral drilling, bit by bit. Then divide the students into pairs and they say the sentence to each other. More laughter.

3. Repeat next lesson, and the next, with the same sentence. The sounds are going to need a lot of fixing in the students’ vocal repertoire.

Activity 3: up-close mouth settings For any sound that is difficult, I like to give a very clear model of the mouth settings: shape of mouth, teeth, lips, tongue, how air is expelled. Check your teeth for bits of food before this activity.1. Say: ‘have you ever wanted to be a dentist?’

Then ask the students to gather round you and look closely at your mouth. Say the phoneme, several times, showing the mouth settings very clearly and a bit exaggerated. If you do this confidently the students won’t be embarrassed.

2. While they are still gathered round, ask them to have a go. Let laughter happen and keep the atmosphere very light.

3. Repeat next lesson.

Activity 4: language feedback After speaking activities you give feedback, and the tendency is to focus on lexical lacks and grammatical mistakes. That’s fine, but don’t forget pronunciation.Following a discussion, word stress is a good area for feedback. Write the words from your feedback notes on the board as below, and drill. Beat the stress with your hand, like conducting an orchestra:

a-na-ly-sis suc-cess pur-cha-singFollowing a role-play, functional expressions are a natural area for feedback:

Can I just read that back to you?Here you can use ‘back chaining’, drilling each line as you go:… back to you? / … read that back to you? / Can I just read that back to you?

continued … With functional phrases, an incomplete sentence head such as ‘Sorry, what do you mean by …’ does not make sense when you drill it. And you may not get a clear context for the ‘dot dot dot’ part from what the student actually said.Also, the target phrase may have been said wrongly, for example the student may have said ‘Sorry, what means …’ or ‘What do you mean with …’.So be flexible here. Drill with a whole sentence that is close to the original, even if not exactly the same. Keep it simple. Just make it close enough for the feedback to appear relevant to the role-play they just did. For example:Sorry, what do you mean by ‘a few days late’?

Activity 5: Social English phrasesThis activity comes from Dr. Stacia Levy, and was originally posted on BusyTeacher: http://busyteacher.org/17428-esl-pronunciation-key-phrase.html

BackgroundKey phrases are a great way to teach pronunciation. Not only are individual phonemes practised in context, but sentence stress and intonation arise naturally as areas to work on. And what better context for key phrases than Social English? It’s an important topic for all levels and gives the students something to take out of the classroom and use tomorrow.The phrases that Dr Stacia Levy suggests are coming up on the next slide, with some short commentary. After that I’ll paraphrase some points about teaching Social English key phrases that she makes in her post.

continued …Social English phrases to drill:1. How’s It Going? / How Are You?

Used as greetings said in passing, not as questions needing a real answer.2. Are You Busy? / Got a Minute?

Used to open a conversation when there is a serious matter to discuss.3. What I Want to Say Is … / The Thing Is …

Used to signal the arrival of the main point, after talking around the topic.4. Well, It’s Getting Late … / I Should Be Going

Used to finish a conversation, and said just before the next two phrases.5. See You Soon / Let’s Get Together Soon

Used in place of ‘good-bye’, which is rarely used amongst friends these days.

continued …And some comments on teaching Social English phrases through pronunciation:1. Teach the Context. Social English phrases have a specific function, such as

introducing the main point or bringing the conversation to a close.2. Teach the Meaning. Related to point #1, the pragmatic use of a Social English

phrase is usually different to its literal meaning. So ‘How are you?’ is not literally a question about someone’s health. If you did want to know about their health, you could ask: ‘How are you feeling today?’.

3. Teach the Pronunciation in Connected Speech. Most Social English phrases are fixed or semi-fixed expressions. This has a knock-on effect to pronunciation, where they are often said as a single ‘word’, such as ‘Howzitgoing?’.

continued …4. Teach the Stress. Teach this explicitly, by talking about (and letting students

practice) making the main syllable of the main word louder and longer.5. Teach how Stress changes Meaning. For example, ‘She said she was coming’

is just a normal, everyday comment. But ‘She SAID she was coming’ means that there is some doubt in your mind and she may not do what she said.

6. Teach the Intonation. Use your hand to conduct this, showing the intonation as you model the phrase. Remember to do the movement in the air right to left so that your students see it left to right.[#5 and #6 are my own points, adapted from the original blog post]

Activity 6: exploit a reading or listening textAfter doing any reading or listening task the students will have a written text in front of them (back of the book in the case of a listening). After doing all the exercises in the book, you can drill key words and phrases as a round-up.I suggest focussing on topic lexis here – collocations as well as single words – to keep the ‘face validity’ of the exercise. Just choosing random words from the text will seem a bit arbitrary. This is also a good time for you to do language development by feeding in some synonyms and opposites. For example, imagine that you were working with a text that included the phrase ‘They achieved their success by focussing on a small market niche’. You could direct attention to this phrase, elicit the opposite of ‘success’ and a synonym for ‘market niche’, and then drill them all in turn:

success / failure market niche / market segment

Activity 7: grammar presentationIt’s always good to integrate some drilling of grammar forms when presenting new grammar. It helps memory of course (big time), and fluency (big time), and also changes the mood in class from heads-down to heads-up.Wait until after you’ve clarified form and meaning, but before you do controlled practice exercises.You need the grammar form contextualized in a short sentence. This is a good time to work on contractions, and on connected speech (but don’t mention technical words like this – just say the whole sentence at natural speed).I’ll get back to you later today.I’ve been writing this report all morning.What would’ve happened if we’d said ‘yes’?

Activity 8: connected speechTheoryConnected speech is one of the main reasons why learners find it difficult to understand native speakers (another being the use of low-frequency lexis). There are five features to connected speech:a) Juncture. This is where a pause in speech does not come at the same place

as a break between words. So the other person said ice cream but we hear I scream; the other person said great ape but we hear grey tape.

b) Reduction. This is when we substitute a ‘schwa’ (written /ə/ and said like a weak ‘uh’) in place of other syllables. If you say the phrase ’two or three’ slowly, you clearly hear the word ‘or’; but if you say it at normal speed the ‘or’ becomes a tiny ‘uh’, barely audible. This little ‘schwa’ sound occurs all through connected speech, and is associated with unstressed vowels.

continued …c) Elision. This is where a sound is omitted. We say and hear:

fam-lee not fam-i-ly sep-rat not sep-are-rate.Elision is particularly common at the end of words. The pronunciation of ’I walked to work’ and ’I walk to work’ are actually the same. Similarly, the ‘t’ in ’next please’ disappears.

d) Liaison. This is where a sound is introduced at word boundaries. If a native speaker says ’law and order’ you will hear a ‘r’ before ‘and’ to make ‘rand’. (There will also be elision here: the ‘d’ of ‘and’ disappears.)

e) Assimilation. This is where a sound is modified by a neighbouring sound – it’s a technical point that doesn’t need classroom attention. Say ‘handbag’. Sure, there is elision as the ‘d’ disappears. But you actually say ‘hambag’. The mouth takes a short cut to save energy: ‘m’ has mouth settings close to ‘b’, whereas ‘n’ doesn’t.

continued …

Students do not need to know the technical words on the last two slides, and they do not need to produce accurate connected speech in class. If they are going to produce it, they will do so naturally in their own time. However, it does help if they are aware of it. Why? Because it should help them to decode the sounds they hear when native speakers talk.

continued …Activity1. Write this phrase on the board, and ask students to say it at normal speed.

The Tower of LondonNow say you are going to write it in phonemic script. Explain that this is the script shown in dictionaries (print and online) that is written after the headword between two ‘slash’ symbols. Write up:

/ðə taʊərəv lʌndən/(Speakers of American English and other Englishes will have to modify the phonemic script here according to your own accent).

2. Say the phrase yourself at normal speed several times. Point at the phonemes as you say them.

continued …3. Tell the students that they don’t need to understand the symbols. What

matters is the following:They should first notice, and then try to produce:- the disappearance of the ‘w’ and ‘r’ of ‘tower’- the two little weak schwa sounds in ‘tower of’- the way that ‘of’ links with ‘tower’ and is not pronounced as a separate

word- the little schwa at the end of ‘London’- and, at fast speeds, the virtual disappearance of both the ‘n’s in ‘London’

4. Conclude by saying that it is because of things like this that native speakers are hard to understand.

Activity 9: pausing and sentence stress to bring out meaningHere is a short activity I do with every single class. I usually include it as a part of Presentations, although it is useful for Meetings as well.1. I write ‘Pausing and stress' on the board, and quickly clarify the meaning of

‘stress’ here. Then I look around the room for a notice on the wall (or I grab a random document on the table) and read a part of it slowly and dramatically. I use lots of pauses and hit the main stresses strongly. It’s meant to be funny.I ask students: Who uses this kind of technique? The answers are (for this slightly exaggerated usage): actors, politicians, preachers.Then I ask: Why do they do it? I accept whatever answers they give but keep the discussion short. The main discussion will be at stage 5 later.

continued …2. Now I direct the class to a short piece of text. One paragraph - three or four

sentences - is about right. It could be a presentation extract (part of the audio script in a coursebook), or part of a reading text. The text doesn’t matter as long as it has some juicy, interesting information. And everyone needs the same text.

3. I read it aloud myself, as a model, exactly as I did at stage 1. It’s another example of the same thing. I pause in an exaggerated way. I hit the stressed syllables of key words with extra stress.

4. Then I repeat, reading the same extract again, but now with different pauses and stressing different words. I bring out the meaning in a different way. I do all this very spontaneously, establishing an atmosphere of fun.

continued …5. We discuss what I just did. Now the students realize there is no one ‘right’

way. The points to bring out are that techniques of pausing and stressing :a) create interest (by avoiding a flat, boring voice)b) direct attention to key points and make them more memorablec) help to persuade listenersd) can be used by anyone, no matter what their language levele) are useful in meetings and presentations, not just for

actors/politicians.6. So far it’s all been modelling by me. Now I ask the students to stand up, take

their copy of the same text in their hands, and spread themselves around the edge of the room. They should face the walls, looking away from their colleagues as much as possible. This is to create a safe personal space for experimentation and avoid embarrassment.

continued …7. I explain that they are now going to read the text aloud themselves, several

times, experimenting with different pauses and stresses. They should ignore the other people in the room.

8. I give a signal to start, staggering the starts (so that they don’t all begin with the same words at the same time). I go round student to student, encouraging and monitoring. There is always lots of concentration and lots of noise.

9. At the end the students go back to their seats, and I choose a couple of them to go to the front, stand up, and deliver their mini 'presentations'.

Tip. I love ‘Presenting In English’ by Mark Powell (section 3) for activities to practise using your voice to bring out meaning.

Activity 10: remembering topic lexis through word stressThanks to Lisa Pick for this longer activity that is a warmer for any topic.BackgroundThere is a lot of evidence that words are stored in the brain along with their stress, and that incorrect word stress fossilizes very quickly (you probably know this from your own experience with students).To avoid problems in this area it is important to drill any new words that are likely to present problems immediately, and/or to return to them as revision.

1. As part of your lesson preparation, make a list of all the topic lexis you want to focus on. Avoid single-syllable words as the activity is about word stress.Do not show the list to the students yet. Below is an example list for the topic of ‘financial statements’, but any topic can be used.Accounts payable Interest payments Profit marginAccounts receivable Inventories ProfitabilityAssets Liabilities RevenueEarnings Operating profit Turnover

2. Explain to the students that you are going to repeat some words round the class as a pronunciation exercise. You are not going to show them the words yet so they will have to concentrate on listening. And for now the meanings don’t matter – you’ll explain later.

continued …

3. Say the first item yourself as a model, then indicate for the student to your left to repeat it, then the student to their left etc. until it comes back round to you. Repeat for all the other items. Keep the activity fun and very fast-paced.

4. Now write up all the words on the board: students can copy into their notebooks as you do so. Establish the idea of word stress: that when words have more than one syllable, one of the syllables will be said more strongly. Give a few examples, choosing words with different stress patterns, and show the stress on the board using circles like this:

Accounts payable o O O o oLiabilities o o O o o

continued …

5. Divide the students into pairs and ask them to work out and write down the stress patterns of all the words in the list. Circulate and monitor.

6. As a round-up and memory aid, the students need to say all the items one more time. So return to a whole-class setting and conduct listen and repeat choral drilling of everything.

7. You may want to show how word stress is indicated in an English-English dictionary (print and online) with a symbol just before the stressed syllable. ′In advanced learner dictionaries the secondary stress is also shown:

liability 8. Now you can get on with your lesson and start explaining the words, putting

them in a context, etc.

continued …

This whole activity could be easily adapted for revision rather than presentation.Make a photocopy with all the topic lexis and ask students to mark the stress. They can do this in class or for homework.Then they work in pairs to:1. Say the words to each other.2. Explain the words to each other!

continued …

BackgroundThe modal verb 'might' (used to show 50/50 probability) is one of the commonest words in English, but also one that learners fail to use. This is because they translate from L1 and say things like: 'It is possible that it will' or 'Perhaps it will'.Now, the really fun thing about 'might' is that the % probability can change a lot depending on our intonation. The activity I describe below takes about 3 minutes of class time, and I do it on nearly every course I teach (as part of a review of modals - always welcomed by students).

Activity 11: It might rain this afternoon.

1. Look out of the window and say: 'It might rain this afternoon'. Do this like you are making a matter-of-fact comment in a conversation. The probability should sound about 50%, but don’t mention this % yet.

2. Now look out of the window and say the same phrase again. But this time say: 'It miiiiight rain this afternoon'. So: pause for a microsecond before the word, extend the vowel, and say the word with a slightly higher pitch. Try it and you'll find yourself also with slightly closed eyes and head slightly to one side - like you're evaluating something. Now the probability should sound about 5%-20%, but again don’t mention this %.

3. Ask the students: 'What is the difference between the two versions?' They'll quickly say that with the second one there is less chance of rain. You can ask for approximate probabilities.

continued …

4. Drill both versions, alternating between them. Remember to give a clear model first, then choral repetition on your hand command.

5. Now ask one particular student: “What are you going to do at the weekend? Choose something with a 50/50 probability and use ‘might’”. Let them answer – this one is easy. Then ask the same student: “Now think of another weekend plan where the probability is much lower; use ‘might’ again”. The student will have a lot of fun trying to get the intonation, and everyone will laugh. Keep it light-hearted, and ask a few more students the same question.

6. Finish by encouraging students to use 'I might' more often, in place of 'Perhaps I will' or 'It is possible that I will' or 'There is a possibility that I will'.

continued …

Thanks to Adrian Underhill for this activity . Students can try it for themselves and it involves no teacher or classroom. My students love it.BackgroundIt is easy to think of pronunciation as a speaking skill. But pronunciation activity also takes place internally, in your mind, when you do other language activities.• When you read, your inner voice may be saying, and therefore pronouncing,

the phrases.• When you prepare to speak, an inner voice may be rehearsing the words, and

therefore of course the pronunciation.• When you write, you may be saying the phrases internally with your inner

voice, and without thinking about it you are practising your pronunciation.Pronunciation is everywhere!

Activity 12: listen to your inner voice

Say the following to your students: 1. Whenever you hear a word in English that interests you (on TV, in a shop, at a

movie, in school, in a song) let your inner voice repeat that word a few times, so that you are hearing it internally. Make no external sound. Just let the word repeat in your mind’s ear, as if you are tasting it. Do this for 5 or 10 seconds, no longer. After you have done this a few times you may notice that you get better at hearing the word internally, without it changing.

2. Now slow the word down in your inner ear, and count how many individual sounds it contains (for example the word ‘many’ has 4 sounds). It doesn’t matter if you are wrong or right – just make yourself listen to the sounds of your inner voice. Again, don’t take longer than 10 seconds.

[Note: the sounds being counted here are of course the phonemes]

continued …

3. Now return to normal speed in your inner voice as you put the sounds together again to ‘say’ the word. Listen again internally a couple of times. Finally, and only now, say the word aloud quietly to yourself.

4. Practice this several times a day, for different words. See what changes you notice.

continued …

Tip. Further great ideas for teaching pronunciation appear regularly on Adrian's blog. Highly recommended.http://adrianpronchart.wordpress.com/

Please, please, please …No reading aloud of a long text paragraph by paragraph, student by student, round the group. This is not pronunciation practice.It is a pointless waste of time. It is just students waiting for their turn with lowered gaze, heart beating and no chance to practise first.Teacher feedback causes the student to lose face in front of their colleagues. Lack of teacher feedback is equally bad.No-one learns anything.No-one has any idea what the text was about at the end.

And to finish, a plea…

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