THIS activity is to help students consider the differences in pronunciation of regular past tense verbs.
Step 1: Prepare a set of 12 cards, with a (regular) past simple verb on each. Make sure that the cards are large enough to be seen from the back of the classroom. The past simple verbs can be “liked, played, wanted, watched, tried, hated, looked, showed, needed, danced, cried and visited”.
Step 2: Hold up the cards and let the students say what the words have in common. Students may identify they’re all past simple verbs with “-ed” endings.
Step 3: Write three categories (-ed = /t/, -ed = /d/, -ed = /id/) on the blackboard. Ask students to read them out. Then show the first card, e.g. liked, asking students to decide which category it goes in.
Step 4: Paste the card on the blackboard once students recognize the correct category. If necessary, emphasize that the /t/ sound corresponds to the “-ed” ending. Repeat this for the second card, e.g. wanted. Elicit that the two verbs have the same past simple ending but are pronounced differently.
Step 5: Put students into five groups, each with two cards. Ask each group to put them in the right category.
Step 6: Observe the class as students decide to which category the verbs belong.
Step 7: After students have finished, the teacher points out how many verbs are not placed correctly without revealing the incorrect ones. Then encourage the students to make changes.
Step 8: Once correct changes have been made, the teacher asks the class to read the verbs aloud.
Step 9: With more analytically minded students, the rule that verb ends in a /t/ or /d/ sound is pronounced /id/ can be elicited.
THIS activity requires both productive and receptive pronunciation skills to complete the task.
Step 1: Decide on the aspects of pronunciations that students are having trouble with, and select the pronunciation points to be practiced.
Step 2: Prepare appropriate papers for a speaker and a listener. At least two minimal pairs representing each pronunciation point are needed to allow both students to perform the roles of speaker and listener. The listener’s paper will be a simple blank dictation paper while the speaker’s paper will have the actual words to be dictated.
Step 3: The speaker and listener are seated adjacent to each other. For large classes, one speaker’s paper may serve for four or five pairs of students. Then speakers’ papers should be posted on the blackboard. No speaker’s paper is readable by any listener.
Step 4: The speakers come forward to the blackboard and read the words to be dictated. They then return to their respective listeners and dictate the words. They may return to the blackboard to check the words but must not in any way indicate the spelling of the words. The listeners write the words down and may ask for the word to be repeated several times, if necessary.
Step 5: When all the listeners have written the words, the teacher posts new dictation words on the blackboard, and speakers and listeners change roles.
Step 6: While the activity is going on, the teacher should circulate and monitor the pronunciation of the speakers, noting poor pronunciation for future feedback.
Step 7: After both members of the pair have completed the dictation, they will self-check their answers, or the class may check the answers as a whole.
Step 8: Ask students to practice some of the pronunciations over again based on the notes taken while monitoring.
THIS activity aims at achieving a greater understanding of the influence of connected speech on pronunciation through the use of phonetic transcription, and gaining experience in the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to transcribe speech.
Step 1: Quickly review the IPA, and ask students to transcribe various words written on the blackboard.
Step 2: Lead a short discussion about the differences in pronunciation between various words spoken by themselves and in phrases.
Step 3: Examine a worksheet of text transcribed in IPA. Ask students to note differences between what the single word pronunciation should be and the manner in which it has been transcribed.
* Example text
Frustration is a burst hot-water bottle, or loathing every moment of a holiday you’re paying a fortune for. It’s using the wrong side of the Sellotape, forgetting what you were going to say, or locking yourself out. Frustration is other people parking in front of your garage, or a stranger reading a riveting letter on the bus and turning over before you get to the bottom of the page.
Step 4: Discuss the various changes by giving aural examples as well as written descriptions on the blackboard.
Step 5: Put students into small groups of three to four. Give groups text to be transcribed into the IPA, and stress that they should practice speaking each phrase before beginning the transcription process.
* Text to be transcribed
The weather today will be warm for the time of year and fine on the whole. There will be showers here and there though some places will miss out completely. The good spell should hold over the next two days but there may be fog over low ground in the early mornings. That is the end of the general forecast.
Step 6: Ask groups to compare their work with the transcribed text handout.
