How to Teach Pronunciation to ESL Learners

By an eHow Contributor

Pronunciation often gets ignored over grammar and vocabulary in ESL programs. However, it is just as important because with bad or garbled pronunciation, the spoken message gets lost. “I think” becomes “I sink,” to give a common example. With ESL learners across the world, each country and culture has its own verbal albatross. Here is how can you can begin to use pronunciation for your students’ needs.

Instructions

• Get to understand why English words can be so problematic for non-native speakers of English to pronounce. Understanding this difficulty from your students' point of view will better equip you to help them overcome it.

• Obtain phonetic charts that have symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). These charts are available from teaching supply companies and books such as those in the English File series. Hang this up in your class, and familiarize your students with the pronunciation symbols. You can use these charts to teach pronunciation by helping your students understand the sounds that they get wrong, as well as the correct sounds for a given word or similar words.

• Keep your lessons as informal as possible. Students might initially be shy about pronunciation. By using fun, silly activities, it creates a more relaxed, effective atmosphere than strict practice. Tongue twisters are one such fun activity. See the Resources section for a link.

• Use syllable races as an exercise to teach pronunciation. Get a "Snakes and Ladders" board game, and then prepare flash cards that each have a one-syllable, two- or three-syllable word written on it. Instead of throwing a dice, each player will draw a card and if she pronounces the word correctly, she gets to move as many spaces on the board as there are syllables in the word on the flash card. The winner is the player who gets to the end first.

• Get familiar with the different elements of the spoken word--word stress, minimal pairs, pronunciation, intonation and sentence stress--so that you will be able to explain them and be able to create your own lessons geared towards what your students find difficult.

• Use a feather to demonstrate the difference between aspirated and un-aspirated sounds, by holding it right in front of your lips as you say the word.

• Help your students differentiate between minimal pairs by reading phrases for them to draw. For example, have them draw sketches that depict: "A ship’s on the sea" and "A sheep’s on the shore."

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Pronunciation activities

Students Becoming Actors

o    Show a small excerpt of a television series or a movie in class. Have the exact lines of the actors written down, so that students can focus clearly on the performers' pronunciation. Ask students to read the lines and try imitating what they previously heard. Stick to programs made in one English-speaking country, according to the pronunciation you want your students to achieve (American or British for example). You can assume the role of the director, asking students to be angry on some points or to softer their tone on others.

Minimal Pairs

o    Minimal pairs are words that are pronounced almost identically with the exception of one sound. Common minimal pairs are the numbers between 13 and 19 and the numbers 30, 40, 50 and so forth up to 90. Teacher must read sentences containing a minimal pair. For example, "I finish work at 4:15" and ask students whether you said 15 or 50. This is an activity that will help students develop their listening comprehension and understand the slight -- but important -- difference between minimal pairs.

Jaw, Lips and Tongue

o    Producing each vowel and consonant requires certain moves of the jaw, lips and tongue. One reason why foreign speakers have problems with English pronunciation is because their language requires different moves. For this reason, teachers must return to the basics and practice how each sound (not word) is produced. For example, a short "a" requires an quite open jaw, lips slightly apart and a relaxed tongue. The Ohio Literacy Resource Center offers a comprehensive guide on how each vowel of the English language is made.

Stress

o    Contrary to French words, which are normally pronounced on the last syllable or Greek words, which feature stress marks, English words have neither an indication or a uniform rule on which vowel to stress. When introducing new words, teachers must show with their hands the correct intonation of each syllable. For example, when pronouncing the word "hotel," teachers must keep their hands low on "ho" and raise them during the "tel" part.

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