2. Minimal Pairs By Dr. Mahima Singh

3. What we will cover: What are minimal pairs? Why do we have difficulty with minimal pairs? Why learn to pronounce them correctly? How to improve pronunciation? Some resources for classroom

4. What is a “minimal pair”? Number of sounds- MUST have same number of sounds. Identical- MUST be IDENTICAL except in ONE phonological element, phoneme/sound- vowels or consonants. Position- MUST be in the SAME position in the word-initial, middle, or final. Meaning- MUST have different meanings. Examples: sitsat sinbin sodrot beachreach beatbit

5. /e/ vs. /i/

6. /f/, /b/ and /v/

7. Final position- /t/ and /k/

9. Final Position- /t/ and /k/

10. One-Syllable Initial Position /b/

11. One-Syllable Initial Position

12. /r/ vs. /w/

13. Position: Initial, Medial, and Final

14. Why do L2 learners have problems with minimal pairs? Discuss

15. Why do adult learners have problems? Do not process the unfamiliar sounds as efficiently as children do. L1 does not have same phonemes, so learners: Replace unfamiliar sounds with closest L1 sounds Omit altogether Distort pronunciation due to L1 influence

16. Why do adult learners have problems? Need explicit instructions and training in L2 phonetic and phonological system Need to practice consistently to make improvement in pronunciation.

17. Different Vowel Systems http://www.sk.combr/sk-voga.html

18. Consonant Phonemes of Portuguese [3][4][5][6] [3][4][5][6] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_phonology) Labial DentalDental/ Alveolar Alveolar Dorsal Post- alveolar plainlabialized Nasalmnɲ Plosive voicelessptkkʷ(tʃ)tʃ voicedbdɡɡʷ(dʒ)dʒ Fricative voicelessfsʃ voicedvzʒ Approximant semivoweljw laterallʎ Rhotic trilltrill/fricativefricativeʁ flapɾ

19. Portuguese Consonant System- http://www.sk.com.br/sk-conso.html http://www.sk.com.br/sk-conso.html Position BILABIALBILABIAL LABIODENTALLABIODENTAL INTERDENTALINTERDENTAL ALVEOLARALVEOLAR PALATALPALATAL VELARVELAR GLOTALGLOTAL MannerVl.Vd.Vl.Vd.Vl.Vd.Vl.Vd.Vl.Vd.Vl.Vd.Vl. STOPSpb nevernever td kg o c c u r i n i n t e r j e c t i o n s 5 AFFRICATESoccur onlyon the phonetic level 1 FRICATIVES fvszshzh x NASALS m n ñ RETROFLEXESrarely occur in Portuguese 2 LATERALS occuroccur l lh FLAPS Ð TRILLS R 3 GLIDESoccur only on the phonetic level 4

20. Portuguese vs. English: Problem Areas The English /iy/ and /I/ perceived and produced as Portuguese/i/ English phonemes /iy/ and /I/ carry a very heavy functional load, so a big problem. Learners will neutralize the contrast between words like: beat /biyt/ = bit /bIt/ bean /biyn/ = bin /bIn/ cheap /tshiyp/ = chip /tshIp/

21. Portuguese Vs. English: Problem areas Both English phonemes /e/ and /æ/ are perceived as /é/ (closer to English /e/ than /æ/). So, learners will substitute and neutralize the contrast between words like: bed /bed/ = bad /bæd/ beg /beg/ = bag /bæg/ dead /ded/ = dad /dæd/

22. Portuguese vs. English: Problem Areas English/a/ and /o/. /a/ is perceived as Portuguese /ó/. English /a/ is many times spelled with the letter “o”, often corresponding in Portuguese to /ó/ as in “pó”, which is very similar to English /o/ as “in-law”. So, problems in minimal pairs like: cot /ko t/ = caught /k ó t/ are /ar/ = or /ó r/ Bought Taught Yawn Gone Boss Talk Coffee Orange

23. Portuguese vs. English: Problem Areas Portuguese /u/ falls between English /U/ and /uw/. So, English /U/ and /uw/ are substituted with Portuguese /u/ neutralizing the contrast between words like: full /fUl/ - fool /fuwl/ look /lUk/ - Luke /luwk/ pull /pUl/ - pool /puwl/

24. Portuguese vs. English: Problem Areas failure to distinguish minimal pairs, e.g.: rich - reach pack - puck head - had inaudibility of unstressed vowels at the end of a word, e.g.: part (for party) problems with diphthongs- hear hair

25. Portuguese vs. English: Problem Areas inclusion of vowel sounds before, between or following consonants: strap = istrapi months = monthes nasalization of the final /m/ or /n/: ran = rang

26. Portuguese vs. English: Problem Areas problems with words, e.g: then think breathe failure to discriminate between minimal pairs, e.g. pig/big gale/kale substitution or elimination of /h/ with /e/, e.g. ear for hear high for I

27. Portuguese vs. English: Problem Areas /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /tsh/, /dzh/, /f/, /v/, /Ø/, /ð/, /sh/ and /zh/ do not occur in final position: So, addition of a vowel sound to word-final consonants back [bæk] = ['bæki] knife [nayf] = ['nayfi] http://www.manythings.org/b/e/2547/ (practice final /p/ words) http://www.manythings.org/b/e/2547/

28. Portuguese vs. English: Problem Areas word-final consonant /t/ or /d/ do not occur, so, neutralize the contrast: cat [khæt ] = [khætsh ] hat [hæt] = [hætsh] eat [iyt] = each [iytsh]

29. Portuguese vs. English: Problem Areas /Ø/ and /ð/ have no close counterparts, so resort to the clusters /ts/ or /dz/ as substitutes neutralizing the contrast between words like: math [mæ t Ø] = mats [mæts] breathe [briyØ] = breeds [briydz]

30. Portuguese vs. English: Problem Areas When /t/ or /d/ occur before /iy/ or/i/ Because /ti/ and /di/ DOES NOT occur (except in some parts of Brazil)- they are substituted with /tshi/ and /dshi/, e.g. late /leite/ = / leytshi / pod /pode/ = /podzhi / Till /til/ - chill /tshil/ Tip /tip/= chip /tship/ Dim /dim/ = jim /dzhim/ Deep /diyp/ = jeep /dzhiyp/

31. Why is it important to teach correct pronunciation? Discuss

32. What pairs are MOST difficult for your students? Make a list Why difficult? Discuss

33. Minimal Pair Practice ( http://www.tedpower.co.uk/l1portuguese.html )http://www.tedpower.co.uk/l1portuguese.html

34. What do you do to help students with their pronunciation? Activities Games Flash cards Drills Group work ???

35. Practice with Pictures/Flash Cards

36. Pull vs. Pool

37. Rat vs. Hat

38. Rye vs. High

39. Sheep vs. Ship

40. Sit vs. Seat

41. Bed vs. Bad

42. Guess vs. Gas

43. Practice with list of words

44. vs. Ship- sheep Fit-feet Bit- beat Sit-seat Knit-neat Rich-reach Pit- pete Gin- jean Chip-cheap Six-seeks List-least Hill- he’ll Filled-field Mill-meal Ill-eel Is-ease Itch-each Pitch-peach Liver-leaver Risen-reason Bin-bean

45. vs. Bet-bat Pen-pan Men-man Head-had Said-sad Guess-gas Letter-latter Better-batter dead-dad Ken-can Pet-pat Hem-ham Set-sat Peddle-paddle Bend-band Lend-land Kettle-cattle Peck-pack Vet-vat Send-sand Beg- bag

46. vs. Cat- cut Hat- hut cap- cup Lack- luck Sack- suck Batter- butter Ran – run Bank- bunk Track- truck Stack- stuck Snag- sung Ban- bun Dam-dumb Sank-sunk Drank- drunk Ankle – uncle Rag- rug Cab- cub Paddle- puddle Tramp- trump

47. vs. Bud- bird Bun- burn Fussed- first Shut- shirt Cub-curb Ton-turn Thud- third Such- search Tough- turf Hull- hurl Gull-girl Stun-stern Tum-term Tuck-Turk Hut-hurt Suffer-surfer Puck-perk Blood- blurred Cull-curl Bust- burst

48. vs. Cot- caught Cod-cord Pot-port Not-naught Shot-short Fox-forks Spot-sport Knotty- naughty Odder- Order Don- dawn Con- corn Sod- sword Stock-stork Nod-gnawed God-gored Cock-cork shown- shawn Moss- morse What-wart Scotch-scorch

49. vs. Pull- pool Pulled- pooled Wood-wooed Should- shoed Could-cooed Full-fool Suit-soot Hood- who’d Look- luke

50. vs. Cat-cart Back-bark Sack-sark Dan- darn Mad-marred Mack- mark Had-hard CAD- card Cam- calm Shack-shark cap- carp Stun-stern Ban-barn Ham-harm Lad-lard Bad-bard Am-arm Hat-heart Pat- part

51. vs. Bet - bert Bed - bird Head - heard Ten - turn Hell - hurl Ben - burn Edge - urge Nest - nursed Ted - turd Bled - blurred Held - hurled Weld - world West - worst Best - burst Well - whirl End - earned Spend - spurned Kennel - kernel Wed - word Peck - perk

52. vs. Four - fur Court - curt All - url Pour - pearl Form - firm Chord - curd Sport - spurt Torn - turn Or - err Walk - work Thawed - third Horse - hearse Short - shirt Warm - worm Hoard - heard Bored - bird Paul - pearl Store - stir Ward - word

53. vs. Sell - sale Bet - bait Pen - pain Tell - tale Well - whale Red - raid Fell - fail Get - gate Pepper - paper Edge - age Debt - date Gems - James Let - late Met - mate Test - taste West - waste Led - laid Sped - spade Chest - chased Men - main

54. vs. Thigh - thy Mouth (n.) - mouth (v.) Teeth (n.) – teeth (v.) Wreath (n.) – wreathe (v.) Ether – either Cloths - clothes Cloth - clothe Bath - bathe Breath - breathe Sooth – soothe Breathe - breeds

55. vs. Thigh - tie Thread – tread Thin - tin Thorn - torn Theme - team Thug - tug Both - boat Death - debt Faith - fate Fourth - fort Hearth - heart Berth - bert Heath - heat North - nought Maths - mat Path - part Ruth - root Tooth - toot Ether - eater Martha - martyr

56. vs. Thigh - die Thread - dead Thin - din Thorn - dawn Theme - deem Thug - dug Perth - purred Worth - word Faith - fade Keith - keyed Bath - bard Berth - bird Both - bode Death - dead Deathly - deadly Fourth - Ford Hearth - hard North - gnawed Author - order Cathy - caddy

57. vs. Thin- sin Thick- sick Thought- sort Theme- seem Thong-song Thigh-sigh Thorn-sawn Thumb- some Thud- sud Perth- purse Faith-face Kith-kiss North-norse Worth-worse Mouth- mouse Fourth-force Path-pass growth- gross Youth-use Breathe- breeze Clothing- closing

58. vs. Sip- zip Sue- zoo Said- zed Seal- zeal Ice- Eyes Rice- rise Lice- lies Price-prize Dice-dies Grace-graze Face-phase Mace-maze Lace-laze Place- plays Bus- buzz Niece- knees Peace- peas Pierce- peers Fierce-fears Loose-lose / S /

59. /r/ vs. /t/ Bury- betty Curer- cuter

60. /t/ vs. /tsh/ Eat- each Cat- catch Hat- hatch Rent- wrench Till-chill Tip- chip

61. Silent Happy - hour Wholly - honest Hateful - honorable Unhappy - dishonorable Horrible - exhibit Holy - ghost Heavy - Vehicle Holiday - exhibition Perhaps- dishonest

62. NO Initial sound Had - add Hair - air Heart - art Heat - eat Hedge - edge Heel - eel Hate - eight High - eye Hold - old His - is

63. /h/ vs. /r/ Hat- Rat Head - Red High - Rye Hoe - Row

64. vs. Thing- think Sing- sink Sung- sunk Singer- sinker Sinking- singing Ring-rink Rang-rank King- kink Bang-bank Banging- banking Wing-wink Bring- brink Hung- hunk Bung- bunk Cling-clink Dung-dunk Tang-tank Sling-slink Sting-stink Stang-stank

65. vs. Jet-yet Juice-use Job-yob Jot-yacht Jeer-year Jaw-your Jaws-yours Jack-yak Joke-yolk Jam-yam Jarred-yard Jews- use gel-yell John- yawn

66. vs. Wet-vet West-vest Wine-vine Worse-verse Went-vent Whale-veil Wane-vein Wire-via Wiser-visor While-vile Wheel-veal Why – vie Wiper-viper Wary-vary Weir-veer Weired- veered We- v

67. Practice with short stories

68. Pronounced /h/ vs. Silent /h/ Harry is fed up, exhausted and going through Hell. Perhaps he cannot be helped, because if Hugh wins Harriet's heart, he will fall behind in his work and end up in a hole. This would be horrible for our helpless and hapless hero, who would probably have to hide. He would lose all hope of a heavenly future alone with Harriet, whom he feels has been very horrid to him.

69. Pronounced /h/ vs. Silent /h/ Handsome Harry, who is very honest and normally happy, is on the edge. His hateful and dishonorable friend, Harriet, is having a holiday at his expense with hairy Hugh from Hemel Hempstead. Hugh and Harriet are staying in a high class hotel in the Malvern Hills to the east of Hartford.

70. Practice with Poems

71. There was a young lady from Niger Who smiled as she rode on a tiger They returned from the ride With the lady inside And the smile on the face of the tiger

72. “ Stopping By Woods” by Robert Frost Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village, though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound's the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

73. “The Pig” - By Ronald Dahl In England, once there lived a big And wonderfully clever pig. To everybody it was plain That Piggy had a massive brain. He worked out sums inside his head, There was no book he hadn't read. He knew what made an airplane fly, He knew how engines worked and why. He knew all this, but in the end One question drove him round the bend: He simply couldn't puzzle out What LIFE was really all about. What was the reason for his birth? Why was he placed upon this earth?

74. Pronunciation practice and One,... two, thump... thump, my heart beats for you across the room and we come closer together in the space between us

75. Pronunciation practice A house can be tall, short, wide or thin, with many rooms, or only a few. It can be home for all the family or simply me and my pets.

76. Practice with Songs and Lyrics

77. Row, row, row, your boat Gently down the stream Merilly, merilly, merilly, merilly Life is but a dream

78. “ Yesterday ” by Paul MaCartney, 1965 Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away Now it looks as though they're here to stay, Oh, I believe in yesterday. Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be, There's a shadow hanging over me. Oh, yesterday came suddenly. Why she had to go, I don't know, she wouldn't say. I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play. Now I need a place to hide away. Oh, I believe in yesterday. Why she had to go, I don't know, she wouldn't say. I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday. Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play. Now I need a place to hide away. Oh, I believe in yesterday.

79. “American Pie” by Don McClean A long, long time ago, I can still remember how That music used to make me smile. And I knew if I had my chance That I could make those people dance And maybe they'd be happy for a while. But February made me shiver With every paper I'd deliver. Bad news on the doorstep I couldn't take one more step. I can't remember if I cried When I read about his widowed bride. But something touched me deep inside The day the music died.

80. Practice with tongue twisters

89. Creating your own tongue twisters

91. Your turn Write your own tongue twister Share with class

92. Sentences It is often a battle to wean a baby from a bottle These six silly sisters are sweet to meet. ????

93. Your turn Write sentences with minimal pairs

94. Minimal pair exercise with audio

95. http://esl.about.com/library/media/audio/auirpairs.mp3 I need someone to ________ my hair. (curl/call) The teacher was _______ with the police. (caught/curt) The _______ ended in harmony. (consort/concert) His ______ language doesn’t appeal to everybody. (curse/course) Our _______ managers are thinking about new possibilities. (export/expert) I was __________with my son. (form/firm) I am going out on the ______. (lawn/learn) My pet _____as she lay on the ground. (pawed/purred) These _______ need to be cleaned. (shorts/shirts) I _______in the park. (walk/work)

96. Practice with Games and Activities http://www.tinyteflteacher.co.uk/teacher/pronunciation/minimalpairs.html Pronunciation Games by Mark Hancock

97. Number Dictation Write the minimal pairs on the board in a table, as in the example below. Drill the pronunciation around the class. Then, dictate four of the words, but tell the students they only need to write the number, not the word. So, if you say "cut, but, fan" the students should write "1,1,2". Then the students work in pairs - one dictates the words, the other says which number. 12 cutcat butbat Funfan

98. Silent Dictation Exactly as Number Dictation, but instead of saying the word, you mouth it silently. Note: This only works for words which occur in a different place in the mouth because sounds like /p/ and /b/ will look pretty much the same when mouthed!

99. Vocab Grab Students work in groups of 3-4. Put a few minimal pairs on slips of paper (one word per paper) and give a set to each group. Then call out a word. The students race to grab the correct word. Keep calling until there's none left. Then get the students working within their groups. One student calls out the words, the others grab the word he/she said. Encourage lot of competition to keep them motivated.

100. Object Grab Each pair of students needs an object on the table between them (e.g. an eraser) - they compete against their partner. Then tell the class which sound they are listening for (e.g. /b/). You call out a list of words ("vet, vote, big") and as soon as they hear that sound, they grab the object – If they are right, they get a point.

101. Shouting Dictation Practice mouth shapes by exaggerating. Students work in pairs. Each student has a different set of words which they must dictate to their partner. But, get them to stand on opposite sides of the room, so they must shout. Can play background music to make it even more challenging.

102. Stand up- Sit down As Number Dictation, you write the table with minimal pairs on the board. Assign each sound an action. For example, the sound /r/ could be "stand up", and the sound /l/ could be "sit down". Write the actions on the board. Then you call out the words, and the students should perform the action. The last student to do the correct action becomes 'caller' and calls out the next word.

103. Bingo Students choose 9 words from the minimal pairs you give and write them in a 3*3 square as shown below. You call out the words and they tick them off as they come up. If they think you've said all the words, they shout "Bingo!"

104. Musical Chair- Fruit Salad Can use a few minimal pairs for this - one pair for each 6 - 8 students. Give each student a sound (e.g. for 18 students you could have three students with /s/, three with /z/, three with /r/, three with /l/, three with /b/ and three with /v/). Students sit in a circle. Then you call out a word (e.g. 'right'), and students who have their sound in that word (all the /r/ students) should stand and race to swap seats. You should remove one of the chairs, so one of the students is left standing. That student then calls out another word and game continues.

105. Resources: http://www.speech-language- therapy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13:contrasts&catid=9:resources&Itemid= 117 (Extensive list of minimal Pairs with flash cards) http://www.speech-language- therapy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13:contrasts&catid=9:resources&Itemid= 117 http://www.tedpower.co.uk/l1portuguese.html (List of minimal pairs for practice) http://www.tedpower.co.uk/l1portuguese.html http://www.manythings.org/pp/ (Listening practice with quiz)http://www.manythings.org/pp/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrIfQTOl97k (60 minimal pairs pronunciation) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrIfQTOl97k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPsz6QVZeVE (36 English phonetics) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPsz6QVZeVE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8KppNXfx2k (IPA English Pronunciation) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8KppNXfx2k http://www.speakingofspeech.com/Articulation_Materials.html (flash cards and other materials) http://www.speakingofspeech.com/Articulation_Materials.html http://www.espressoenglish.net/minimal-pairs-english-pronunciation-exercises-vowels/ (listening practice) http://www.espressoenglish.net/minimal-pairs-english-pronunciation-exercises-vowels/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htmkbIboG9Q (Pronunciation – Listen and Practice) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htmkbIboG9Q Pronunciation Games. Mark Hancock. Cambridge Copy Collection. 1995. (Games for pronunciation practice) http://busyteacher.org/classroom_activities-pronunciation-worksheets/ (Workseets, activities for pronunciation practice) http://busyteacher.org/classroom_activities-pronunciation-worksheets/

106. Resources: https://www.englishclub.com/images/pronunciation/Phonemic-Chart.jpg (IPA Phonemic chart) https://www.englishclub.com/images/pronunciation/Phonemic-Chart.jpg https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/phonemic-chart-ia.htm (Interactive – clickable IPA Phonemic Chart w/ pronunciation) https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/phonemic-chart-ia.htm https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/minimal-pairs.htm (List of Minimal pair words w/explanation) https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/minimal-pairs.htm http://www.fonetiks.org/engsou5.html (Minimal Pairs w/ audio) http://www.fonetiks.org/engsou5.html http://fonetiks.org/index.html (pronunciation guides to 9 varieties of the English language and 9 other languages - Instant sound - Pronunciation samples by over 40 native speakers w/dictionary) http://fonetiks.org/index.html http://shiporsheep.com/ (minimal pairs with sounds) http://shiporsheep.com/ http://www.eduplace.com/kids/sv/books/content/wordbuilder/ (word builder, minimal pairs, audio, exercises, etc.- by Houghton Mifflin Co.) http://www.eduplace.com/kids/sv/books/content/wordbuilder/

108. Thank You Questions ?