Most Difficult Aspects ESL Students Have Listening/Speaking By: Minerva,Peter,Maria and Natalia

Our Case  Lorenzo is the new student in Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos in Toa Baja. He comes from a nationalist family. Lorenzo doesn’t ever walk into the classroom late. His written samples are very good. He never speaks English in the classroom. The teacher assigned an oral report on the Spanish-American war. He refused to do it because he didn’t want to speak English. The student will fail if he doesn’t, because he also doesn’t participate in class. Lorenzo shows up with an arrogant attitude. The parents don’t encourage the student to participate either. They even show disrespect for the class. The student and the parents don’t feel like English is a relevant part of their cultural and political values and ideas. How will the teacher cut off this barrier?  The parents don’t realize that this attitude has rendered Lorenzo’s speaking and pronunciation in English. The teacher allows Lorenzo to do his oral report on the colonization of Puerto Rico. The teacher noticed that instead of saying ‘them’ he pronounced ‘tem’; also he pronounced ‘shursh’ instead of ‘church’. His attitude towards the English language changed a bit. It was evident that the conflict had rendered his ability to pronounce. How are we going to address this problem? How are we going to help the student without labeling him?

Our Goal To find tips, and strategies that targets the problem without making the student feel uncomfortable or frustrated.

English verbs tenses—past and past participle  English verbs tenses are one of the most difficult aspects for ESL learners. Many of the English sounds do not have an equivalent is Spanish.  Pronunciation is difficult to grasp if the student does not pay attention or does not have enough practice.  Motivation and desire are the key aspects in the process of teaching and learning experience.

 Pronunciation of simple past and past participle is hard because Spanish do not have verbs with the same ending sounds in English.  For example, the endings t, d and ɪ d are not present Spanish.  The most common practice is when students are reading English; they read each sound like if they are reading in Spanish, literally.

 Teacher needs to have dynamic strategies. They are necessary to break the students’ lack of participation and the habit of not speaking in English in the classroom.  verbs charade  puzzles and game words  board games  dramatization (real live stories)  conversation starters (situations, comparison/contrast, cause & effect, current events)  videos, movies  debates

Difficulty with Ch,Sh,V and B  ESL students might find it very difficult to difference the sound between ch and sh. They also might find it difficult to find the difference between V and B. It’s because rarely students are taught the difference between such sounds.

Ch and Sh Tips and Strategies.  Direct them through simple steps so they can know the difference between the pronunciation for example:  1. When you say the sh sound don’t let your tongue touch the roof of your mouth. The air should pass freely around your tongue. Round your lips to make this sound.  Show  Washing  Cash  2. When you say the ch sound your tongue touches the roof of your mouth and briefly stops the air.  Chair  Teacher  Much

Dialogs!  Try to pronounce the following short dialog using the correct sounds of sh & ch.  Shopper : How much is the chicken?  Clerk: The chicken is on sale. It’s really cheap. Will that be cash or charge?  Shopper: I’ll have to charge it. I don’t have any cash.

How about Tongue Twisters!?  Also try tongue twisters! They are fun! Here are a few:  Check the sure shot charged surely by changing shift  She shan’t check Charley’s shackles.  Chops shops stock chops.  Shredded Swiss Cheese.  Cheating, Sheila cheated surely on Chester’s precious choices.

 Have them pressed their lips together and then slightly push air out of their mouth forcing their lips apart.  Help them to notice the difference between the lips placement with B and V. Difficulty with B and V Give the students a list of words with both V and b in them. Afterwards do this:

 For example when you pronounce B /b/ The lips momentarily press and quickly part into a slight burst of movement.  With V /v/ you momentarily sink your upper teeth to your lower lip and quickly part into a semi or more soft burst. Difficulty with B and V

A Shopper’s Nightmare A great listening/speaking game!

Materials and Directions to play the game  Items and play money.  Students are divided into clerks and shoppers  The clerks will set up stands  The shoppers are given a set amount of money and begin at a stand where there is an open space

 Students shop, trying to accumulate as many items as possible  Periodically, the instructor will say "stop"  and pick a name of one of the Items.  Students with that item must then put ALL their items from the basket in front of the room.  Say out loud all of their items then maybe for homework they will be asked to write a story using some of the items used.

Change it up a bit!  I’ve taken the liberty to make all those Items words that start with B and V  book bottle bag bat bucket bow bowl blouse bandaid Violin Volleyball Videotape vicks vapor rub ect.

More tongue Twisters with V and B  Vivian believes violent, violet bugs have very big value. Vivian believes violent, violet bugs have very big value.  Vern Van-Bevy vowed to buy his beauty Vivicka a Victorian home on Value Avenue. Vern Van-Bevy vowed to buy his beauty Vivicka a Victorian home on Value Avenue  The very wary warrior veered violently where the violets wound very  Wickedly

Problems with Z,S,TH  Unlike in Spanish, in English we have more phonetic sounds. It is confusing for ELL of ESL, especially when their L1 is Spanish.

 When in Spanish we have almost every sound corresponding to a particular symbol, in English we do not. Take for example these words: 1. Three 2. This 3. That 4. Thanks

 As teacher we won’t be teaching a phonetics class. We need to teach then the difference of sounds. The best way is as a teacher to set an example is to know this and be able to pronounce every vowel and consonant appropriately.

Language must be orchestrated smoothly. A problem that many Puerto Ricans have, whose English is not their L1, is the mispronunciation of the /s/ and the /z/. 1. Plays, stays, works 2. Cause, pause, buzz 3. Zebra, zinc, zeta 4. Resilient, has 5. Bass, kiss, Summer

 In Spanish you have /s/ sounds in many words that are so easy to distinguish. 1. Seco, queso, casi 2. Zebra, zapato, cinco 3. Sexo, salida, sector

Pronunciation the /f/ sound  The /f/ sound in Spanish is only present with one consonant (f). This may be the reason for the difficulty with some ESL learners.  In English, the /f/ sound applies to more than just that one consonant. In some cases, it applies to two of consonants joined together in a word or a digraph: ‘ph’, and, in some cases, ‘gh’.

 ‘ph’ joined together in a word is pronounced /f/  Examples: phone, alphabet, photograph, Daphne, Philadelphia, pharmacy

 In some cases, the combination of ‘gh’ at the end of a word is pronounced /f/.  Examples:  Cough  Tough  Rough  Laugh

 There are other cases when ‘gh’ are combined it has no sound.  Examples: though, eight, right, height, through, weight

Strategies  Explain what a digraph is and how many there are.  Practice each digraph by reading it aloud. Practice  Both student and teacher may provide examples of a word with a digraph.  Write sentences using words with digraphs and later reading them aloud.

References  ools.ie/files/pdfs/PH% 20sound.pdf ools.ie/files/pdfs/PH% 20sound.pdf  /~ted.power/I1Spani sh.html /~ted.power/I1Spani sh.html  /uoa/rss/ /uoa/rss/  ames.html ames.html  rmeloche.com/AP %20Tongue%20Twis ters.htm rmeloche.com/AP %20Tongue%20Twis ters.htm