1. How to Teach Pronunciation British Council

3. Pronunciation is a very broad subject: it may incorporate everything from accent to the use of the tongue to create sounds. Sounds, of course, are at the heart of pronunciation. Pronunciation in language learning is about not just speaking but also listening. A lot of problems that learners have with understanding English relate to features of pronunciation, including sounds that may be unexpected or new.

4. Sounds, Stress and Intonation Phonemes are a fundamental part of pronunciation. Weak syllables could also be related to word stress or even intonation. Main stress could also be related to intonation or connected speech. In fact, the three areas overlap. However, looking at them separately can be helpful for learners and can help you decide what to focus on in your lessons. Intonation can be falling, rising or flat. It often indicates the attitude of the speaker, or may help the listener hear the difference between a statement and a question. It can be a difficult area for learners of English and for teachers too. Connected speech – the combination of individual sounds or words – often creates changes to those sounds and words, in comparison to when they're on their own. Contractions are common in connected speech. For example, this often happens with auxiliary verbs such as be and have: He's leaving now. I've spoken to her. In connected speech, some sounds change and become weak – these are sometimes called 'weak syllables', as the speaker doesn't stress them. The (for the listener) usual or expected sounds are 'lost'. These weak sounds can be difficult for the listener to hear and sometimes disappear completely. As well as weak syllables, some sounds are stronger. These include the main stress in words, phrases and sentences. Sometimes there is also 'secondary stress': sounds which are not weak, but also not as strong as the main stress.

5. Stress Pattern To understand word stress, it's important to understand syllables. Stress patterns change from word to word. Even if the number of syllables is the same, the syllable or syllables with the main stress may be different. Teaching Word Stress Choose the circle stress pattern. ooOo Oooo oOoo Although there are some general patterns for word stress, there are also a lot of exceptions, so it's difficult to rely on rules. For example, in adjectives and nouns with two syllables, main stress tends to (but doesn't always) fall on the first syllable: Meanwhile, in verbs with two syllables, the main stress is often (but not always) on the second syllable. Word stress and parts of speech The last examples of word stress you looked at showed stress for the verbs believe and explain. In English, some verbs have a related noun which is similar and has the same meaning. For example, belief is the noun and believe is the verb. They both have similar meanings. They both have the main stress on the second syllable. Other verbs may have nouns with exactly the same form, but different meaning. For example the verb object has a different meaning from the noun object. The verb present has a different meaning from the noun present. In these cases, the main stress can be different, even if the form is the same:

6. Sentence Stress You probably noticed that the words which are normally stressed are often nouns and verbs – the content words. And it's quite normal for more than one of them to be stressed. How can you raise awareness of sentence stress with your learners? One idea is to use poems or songs.

7. Connected Speech When you speak English, the words you use aren't discrete and separate. They join together to form a stream of words. Very often, words sound different in connected speech from how they sound when they're isolated. This has implications for teaching: for example, when teaching new words, try to present them in sample contexts, rather than on their own. This helps learners understand meaning better, as well as giving them the chance to hear the words in connected speech.

8. Intonation When words aren't stressed, they usually have a weak sound. Often those words are prepositions, auxiliary verbs, pronouns or articles. Contractions play an important role too. For example, what is becomes what's. Intonation and meaning Connected speech is important, but another notable feature of spoken English is how much meaning can be conveyed by intonation. When you speak in English, your voice doesn't normally stay at the same pitch and volume. It rises and falls to communicate different emotions or functions. Think about how you can say this sentence. Say it aloud in different ways. Try to say it as if you're bored and then say it as if you're happy. When you try saying it as if you're happy, you should hear the intonation rise and fall more. When you're bored, the intonation was probably quite flat. A difficult area to teach? Although intonation is an essential feature of spoken English, many teachers find it a difficult area to teach. Consequently, it's not often taught in the classroom. That might not be a problem, as research shows that it's not a major barrier to communication between speakers if they don't follow common English intonation patterns. It seems that, often, learners of English transfer their own language's intonation. Supporting your learners Probably the best way to deal with intonation is to raise your learners' awareness of it. Ask them to comment on it or try to copy interesting models. Ask them to try saying new language in different ways – such as if they're happy or bored, as you did at the beginning of this section. It can be a fun way to raise awareness of intonation.

9. Minimal Pairs

10. Teaching tip When introducing new language to learners, try to prevent the incorrect pronunciation of individual sounds. It's much more difficult to correct problems later on, when the mispronunciation has become a habit. Sometimes, learners don't know how to physically pronounce individual sounds, particularly if the sounds don't exist in their own language or aren't used in the same position in words. The individual sounds your learners have problems with will depend on your context. For example, in Cantonese, the /v/ sound doesn't exist. Therefore, Cantonese speakers often have to be shown how to place their top teeth over their bottom lip in order to pronounce /v/ rather than /w/ – rather like a rabbit. This comparison with a rabbit helps them to remember the physical position.

11. The author Adrian Underhill, writing for the TeachingEnglish website in 2010, says that as pronunciation is the physical aspect of language, it needs to be taught as 'a subtle physical discipline involving the muscles of articulation… in throat and mouth'. Underhill says learners need help finding the 'buttons' they need to press in order to produce the sounds of English that are distinct from their native language. These buttons are: the tongue, which can be forward or back the lips, which can be spread/back or rounded/forward the jaw and tongue, which can be up or down the voice, which can be on or off. It can be useful to raise your learners' awareness of these buttons and associated movements. For example, you can show them the difference between sounds such as /t/ (unvoiced) and /d/ (voiced) by telling them about the 'voice' button: ask them to put their fingers on their throat and say the two sounds. They should feel the difference between them. Knowing about this will then be helpful for learners in future.

12. Pronunciation of a word is as important as its spelling – perhaps more so. You should generally encourage learners to notice and record it when introducing new words. Strong and weak syllables can have an impact on individual sounds too, so these should also be noted – as in these examples. Unfortunately, it isn't always possible to prevent pronunciation problems. For this reason, you should try to notice and give feedback on individual sound problems at an early stage, before such issues become habitual for learners. However, it's generally better to not interrupt learners during fluency activities with a correction – try to do this after the activity's finished.

13. Once learners know how to produce sounds correctly, it's much easier to correct future mispronunciations – often with a brief reminder from you or another classmate. If you feel it's appropriate in your context, you could ask individual learners to concentrate on their personal pronunciation of individual sounds when doing a speaking task.

14. Rhythm Rhythm is about how you use a combination of stressed and unstressed words in sentences. Sentences have strong beats (the stressed words) and weak beats (the unstressed words).

15. linking elision intrusion assimilation.

16. Should you introduce features of connected speech to learners? Whether or not teachers should introduce all features of connected speech to their learners is debatable. It's unlikely that learners who have learned English in a classroom will ever be able to pronounce it using all the features of connected speech. Those who acquire the language by living in an English-speaking country at a young age have a better chance. Not all learners will want to pronounce in such a native-speaker way. They may feel they lose some of their own identity if they do so, and prefer to keep their own accent. However, sometimes a lack of awareness of features of connected speech can affect the success of communication. Speaking English without paying attention to stress and weak forms – without rhythm or linking – makes the speaker sound 'robotic', which is hard on the ears, is difficult to follow and can have a negative impact on the listener. Finally, and most importantly, an awareness of the features of connected speech will help learners understand that there's a difference between written and spoken English, and may aid their listening. So, awareness-raising and early introduction of some of these features, especially if they have a big impact on successful communication, is a good idea. However, expecting learners to adopt all features of connected speech is unrealistic.

17. How can you integrate these features? In grammar lessons. When studying grammar, don't focus only on the form of the words but also draw attention to the way they're pronounced in natural conversation. Superlatives, for example, provide opportunities to practise elision. You could write a few phrases on the board: Why focus on intonation? Intonation exists in every language in some way, so the concept isn't normally new to learners. However, foreign language learners are often so preoccupied with finding their words that intonation suffers. Yet intonation can be as important as word choice when it comes to effective communication. Simply being aware of intonation can help communication, while incorrect intonation can result in misunderstandings and listeners losing interest or even taking offence! Though it's unlikely your learners will need native-speaker-level pronunciation, what may help them is greater awareness of intonation to facilitate their speaking and listening. Techniques for raising awareness Providing learners with clear models, especially with exaggerated intonation, is important. You should also let learners compare two examples of the same phrase, e.g. with varied and flat intonation. Get learners to imitate your intonation or the intonation in your coursebook audio, but without words, just humming.

18. Grammar and speaking lessons You can also integrate it with grammar, for example: practising falling intonation in wh- questions: Where are you from? practising rising intonation in yes/no questions: Do you have any pets? practising rising and falling intonation in question tags: It's a lovely day, isn't it? (falling); I hate the name Dave... Oh no, your brother's name isn't Dave, is it? (rising). In a speaking lesson, learners can practise using varied intonation to show interest or be friendly, and contrast this with flat intonation to sound unfriendly or uninterested. Learners don't always need to know that the focus is on intonation. With lists, the focus could be on reviewing vocabulary; with questions, the focus could be grammar.

19. Activity 1 – Word tennis Play in pairs, learners A and B. A says a one-syllable word. B has to reply with a word that rhymes with the first word. B then begins with a new one- syllable word, and A must think of a rhyming word. When a player can't find a rhyme, their opponent wins a point. For example: A: Boat B: Coat… seat A: Meet… road B: … (can't think of one) Activity 2 – Interested or not? Option 1: Listen to a recording of the following sentences and decide if speaker B is interested or not. Option 2: Listen to another pair of learners and decide if B is interested or not. A: I saw a good film last night. B: Oh, what was it called? A: I'm reading a really good book at the moment. B: What's it about? A: Would you like to go for a coffee after the lesson? B: Yes, OK. A: I used to play tennis a lot when I was younger. B: Oh, really! Practise with your partner. Make sure you sound interested! Activity 3 – Limerick Say the limerick: There was a young student called Brian, Who smiled as he rode on a lion. They returned from the ride With young Brian inside, And the smile on the face of the lion. Write your own. Activity 4 – Song Listen to each line of the chorus of the song. Hum the rhythm. Then work in pairs: 1. Look at the lines of the chorus on the strips of paper. 2. Order the lines of the song.

20. Activity 5 – Countries Put the following countries in the correct column. Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, Hungary, Holland, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Turkey, Uganda, Zimbabwe Activity 6 – Listen and underline Listen to the teacher saying these sentences and underline the word you hear: 1. It was the biggest sheep/ship I have ever seen. 2. They went to buy beans/bins. 3. Did you feel/fill that? 4. It was a really hard peach/pitch.

21. Snap Learners work in groups. They have a pack of word cards with one-syllable words. They deal the cards out, but cannot look at them. They take turns turning over cards. If two words have the same vowel sound, the first person to say 'Snap' and/or slap their hands down on the cards wins all the cards that have been turned over so far. The person with the most cards at the end of the game is the winner. This also works with longer words, to match the same number of syllables or the same word stress How do I feel? Learners work in groups. They're given a word, a phrase or a sentence. They take it in turns to try to express as many different feelings and meanings as they can by varying the stress and intonation when they say the word, phrase or sentence. The other learners guess what feeling they are trying to convey.

22. Pelmanism Pelmanism is a memory game. Learners work in groups. They have a pack of word cards. All the cards are spread face-down on the table, and learners take turns turning over two cards at a time, trying to find pairs of cards with matching vowel sounds. This also works with longer words, matching the same number of syllables or the same word stress. No sounds listening comprehension Learners try to identify which sentence in a dialogue you or another learner have chosen without them using any English sounds. This can be done by humming, using your hands/arms to show sentence stress or intonation, or beating out the rhythm of the sentence on the table or the palm of your hand. This also works for practising stress in individual words.