6-Teaching-Pronunciation

EnglishLanguageTeachingMethodologyUnit6TeachingPronunciationUnit6TeachingPronunciation1.Whatroledoespronunciationplayinlanguagelearning?2.Whatisthegoalofteachingpronunciation?3.Whataspectsofpronunciationdoweneedtoteach?4.Howcanteachershelpthestudentstoimprovepronunciation?6.1TheroleofpronunciationViewsofteachingpronunciationvary.LearnerswhohavemoreexposuretoEnglishneedlessfocusonpronunciationthanthosewhoonlylearnEnglishintheclass.AdultlearnersneedmorefocusonpronunciationbecausetheyaremorelikelytosubstituteEnglishsoundswithsoundsfromtheirnativelanguage.Theteachingofpronunciationshouldfocusonthess’abilitytoidentifyandproduceEnglishsoundsthemselves.(pronunciationvs.phonetics)Ssshouldnotbeledtofocusonreadingandwritingphonetictranscriptsofwords,esp.foryoungstudents.PhoneticrulesarehelpfulforsstodevelopabilitytocopewithEnglishpronunciationandtheyshouldbeintroducedatasuitablestage.Stressandintonationareimportantandshouldbetaughtfromtheverybeginning.6.2ThegoalofteachingpronunciationWhatisthegoal?Native-likepronunciation?Isitrealistic?Whatfactorsdetermineyouracquisitionofnative-likeEnglishpronunciation?1.Age:CriticalPeriodHypothesisItishypothesizedthatifhumansdonotlearnaFLbeforeacertainage(aroundpuberty),thenduetochangessuchasmaturationofthebrain,itbecomesimpossibletolearnFLlikeaNS.2.AmountofexposuretoEnglish3.Biologicalandphysiologicaldifferencesleadtodifferentphoneticability.Q:Whatarerealisticgoalsofteachingpronunciation?P.93Consistency:thepronunciationshouldbesmoothandnatural;Intelligibility:thepronunciationshouldbeunderstandabletothelisteners;Communicativeefficiency:thepronunciationshouldhelpconveythemeaningthatisintendedbythespeaker.6.3Aspectsofpronunciation6.4PractisingsoundsMechanicaldrillingisboringanddemotivating;itisimportanttocombinedrillingpronunciationexerciseswithmoremeaningfulexercisesthatfocusonwhateveraspectofpronunciationisthefocusofthelesson.6.4.1Q:Howtofocusonasound?Activity:Task4,p.951.Saythesoundalone.2.Getsstorepeatthesoundinchorus.3.Getindividualsstorepeatthesound.4.Explainhowtomakethesound.5.Saythesoundinaword.6.Contrastitwithothersounds.7.Saythesoundinmeaningfulcontext.6.4.2PerceptionpracticeWhatisthegoalofperceptionpractice?Developingthestudents’abilitytoidentifyanddistinguishbetweendifferentsounds.Examplesofperceptionpractice:Usingminimalpairs(withonesounddifference):will/well;ship/sheep;light/nightWhichorder:bear,tear,earSameordifferent?[met],[mi:t]OddoneoutCompletion6.4.3ProductionpracticeWhatisthegoalofproductionpractice?Developingstudents’abilitytoproducesounds.Examplesofproductionpractice1.Listenandrepeatindividualsounds,individualwords,groupsofwords,sentences(mechanicalimitation)2.Fillintheblanks(insentenceswithwordswhichcontaincertainsounds).3.Makeupsentences(usingasmanyfromthegivenwordsaspossible).4.Usemeaningfulcontext(toperformmeaningfultaskssuchasrole-play).5.Usepictures(toproducemeaningfullanguage).6.Usetonguetwisters(topracticepronunciation).6.5Practisingstressandintonation6.5.1PractisingstressTwotypesofstress:word-levelstressItisveryimportanttostressthepropersyllableinmulti-syllabicwords.Thebeststrategyistoemphasizetheimportanceoflearningthestressaspartoflearningaword.Phrase-levelorsentence-levelstressEachphraseorsentencehasonesyllablewhichreceivesgreaterormoreprominentstressthantheothers.Somephrasesorsentencesmayhaveonestressedsyllable,whileothersmayhave5-6stressedsyllables.TeachingmethodsofstressThemostimportantthinginpractisingstressismakingthestudentsawareofwheretostressthewordsorphrases.1.Usegestures(e.g.clappinghands;usingarmmovements)2.Usethevoice(raisethevoicetoindicatestress)3.Usetheblackboard(underlinethestresspartsorwritewithcoloredchalks)6.5.2PractisingintonationHowimportantisintonation?Intonationcangreatlyaffecttheintentionofthespeaker’smessage.IntonationisusedbyNSstoexpressmeaningsinmanysubtlewayssuchassurprise,complaint,sarcasm,friendliness,threats,etc.Howtopractiseintonation?Usehandorarmmovementtoindicatechangeofintonation.Userisingorfallingarrowstomarkintonation.Drawlinestomarkchangeofintonation.Kelly(2005)providesausefulsummary.Fallingonastatement;Fallingandrisingwithinastatement;Fallingonaquestion;Risingonaquestion.