Examining the “F” in

/fənɛtɪks/

Eva M. Ramos R.Language Unit,

Ministry of Education, Panama

evaramos28@hotmail.com

Milagro García A.ELT Consultant

Cambridge Pressmgarcia@cambridge.org

TESOL 2011 CONVENTION, NEW ORLEANS

AbstractProducing English sounds is crucial for ESL learners. Distinguishing between English sounds and learners’ native language counterparts and producing them in a native-like fashion is very difficult. The ideas presented here were used when other teaching strategies failed. What are the common elements of success? They encourage students’ creativity and they were FUN.

This could be a call out area. This could be a call out area.

Problem

Teaching pronunciation and phonetics, especially in an EFL setting is a rather difficult task. Students find learning the new sounds difficult and frustrating.

Questions1. How can we make phonetics/pronunciation courses more enjoyable and less frustrating for students?  2. How can I engage students in becoming active learners in a pronunciation/phonetics course?  3. What strategies/projects can help my students to master the sounds easily and creatively?

Solution Creative Ideas for Teaching Phonetics/Pronunciation come to the rescue!

Purpose Applying different creative ideas to help ESL learners to master English sounds, while having fun at the same time.

Interactive Charts

During the term, students go to the computer lab, in order to practice the sounds. We use the interactive IPA chart designed by the University of Iowa, as well as Taylor’s and Thompson’s (2005) color vowel chart .

Videos

Students need to be exposed to native pronunciation, and a good way to provide that is through videos. We usually use videos from:http://www.rachelsenglish.comhttp://www.youtube.com/user/KentLinguisticshttp://www.englishmeeting.com/http://www.youtube.com/user/JenniferESL

Consonant Costume Contest

As a mid-term activity students have to work in pairs in order to design a costume/t-shirt that represents a specific

set of sounds. They are required to explain the

production of sounds and give examples of minimal pairs.

Consonant Board Game

Students design a board game that can be used to practice a particular set of consonants.

For the board game project to be complete, they have to

design: the box game, the game board, tokens, and the

instructions.

Super Vowel Hero Project

Students are required to create a super hero

representing a vowel sound. They have to write a catchy

introduction for their superhero using the vowel sound that they selected.

Minimal Pairs Baseball

This game is played just as baseball, with two

differences: bats represents each vowel sound, and the

minimal pairs are written on paper balls categorized as:

homerun, triple, double, and hit, by their level of

difficulty.

Phonetics Portfolio

At the end of the second quarter, students collect their projects and reflect on their learning using a portfolio. They share them with their peers in a conference.

Conclusion

Helping students master American English

pronunciation is not difficult if you put some creativity and

hard work into it.