Unit 3

Prévia do material em texto

1. Unit 3
2. Part 1: Aspects of pronunciation
Aspects of pronunciation - Word stress
Stress
Words can be broken up into syllables – if you tap out the rhythm of a word, it shows you how many syllables the word has. For example, syll- a- ble; 3 beats. 'Syllable' has three syllables.
Some words, e.g. dog, man, house, see, went, have only one syllable.
When an English word has more than one syllable, one syllable is pronounced more 'strongly' – it is slightly louder and longer – than the other syllables.
SYLL-a-ble, im-POR-tant, GOV-ern-ment, de-PRESSED
This is known as word stress. If the stress is placed on the wrong syllable, it can make the speaker quite difficult to understand.
Try saying syll-AA-ble, im-por-TANT, etc.
It is important that students know which syllable carries the main stress (this is often referred to as primary stress).
Representing word stress when presenting new vocabulary
Writing the stressed syllable in capital letters can be confusing for students, especially for those who do not use the Latin alphabet in their own language. They may think that we always write it like that, so we need another way of showing students where the stressed syllable is.
Some teachers place a box over the vowel of the stressed syllable:
Others underline the stressed syllable:
important
Another common way of representing stress is to draw circles to represent each syllable, with a larger circle for the stressed syllable:
important oOo
If you find it difficult to identify which is the stressed syllable, don't worry. It quickly becomes easier.
Here are two techniques that might help:;
1) Try saying the word in different possible ways, exaggerating the stress to see which sounds the best, e.g. HOS-pit-al, hos-PIT-al, hos-pit-AL
2) Stick your fingers in your ears to block out as much sound as possible and say the word normally. You should be able to hear which syllable is the loudest – that one is the stressed syllable
Disappearing syllables
Average Oo
Notice how the word 'average' has a ‘disappearing syllable'. In connected speech at normal speed the 'er' in 'average' is not pronounced. This is the same for the second 'o' in chocolate. They sound more like 'av-ridge' and 'choc-let'.
Disappearing syllables are very common in English. You need to be aware of this feature of English and draw it to your students' attention. There are a few differences in which words have vanishing syllables in different varieties of English. 
For example, comfortable in received pronunciation (RP) is pronounced with three syllables – cumf-te-bel Ooo. In accents which pronounce the 'r' after vowels (most North American, Scottish and Irish accents) the word may be pronounced with four syllables – cum-fer-te-bel Oooo – or three with the position of the r moved – cumf-ter-bel Ooo. 
Optional Further Reading: If you would like to read more about vanishing syllables, have a look at this article by The Pronunciation Coach.
Here is a list of common words in which the second vowel is not usually pronounced by native British English speakers, so that the word has one fewer syllables than you would expect. This is especially the case in connected speech – that is, when the word is part of a sentence, rather than said in isolation. There are many other words in which this occurs:
aspirin, average, business, camera, chocolate, conference, corporal, desperate, different, every, general, family, favourite, federal, history, interest, literally, memory, mineral, miserable, opera, probably, separate, several, library, vegetable
Wednesday and laboratory also have disappearing syllables, but do not follow quite the same rule as the words above. In Brtish English they are pronounced by most speakers as 'Wens-day' and 'la-bor-a-tri'.
Shifting stress
For each set of sentences, in the first use the word is a noun (it refers to a thing), in the second it is a verb (it describes an action). The stress is on the first syllable for nouns (Oo) and the second syllable for verbs (oO).
For example: 
I asked for a refund. refund (noun) Oo -> REfund
Will you refund my money, please? refund (verb) oO -> reFUND
These are examples of a group of 2-syllable nouns and verbs which have the same written form, but are pronounced differently. 
(Don't worry if you are unfamiliar with grammar terms such a verb and noun. We will look at these in Unit 4.) 
Unfortunately, this rule (like many rules in English) is not always true!
e.g. I enjoy foreign travel.                  travel (noun) Oo -> TRAvel
We often travel abroad.                     travel (verb) Oo -> TRAvel
The verb-noun pairs with shifting stress (eg, refund, export, insult) have a Latinate prefix – that is, a short syllable that you see at the start of many words, but which cannot be a word on its own: in the previous examples we have
re- (refund)
ex- (export) 
in- (insult)
But as this rule is not always true, students simply have to learn which words it applies to!
If you want to do some Further Reading on Latinate prefixes, read this article. 
Word families
Photography
Photographer
Photographic 
Photograph
A group of words which are all clearly related to each other is called a word family. All the words in the family have the same basic meaning and the same core form. 
This core form is called a base word. 
Sometimes the position of the stress changes in different words within the same family:
person Oo
personal Ooo
personality ooOoo
personalisation ooooOo. 
Optional Further Study: If you would like to get more practice with base words, see Identify base words, prefixes, and suffixes.
Aspects of pronunciation - Sentence stress and rhythm
We have looked at word stress, but we also need to consider sentence stress.
In a sentence, certain words will be stressed while others will be unstressed. This is what gives spoken English its rhythm, or beat. 
Usually 'content' words – verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs – carry stress, while 'structure' words – e.g., he, the, is, of – don’t. 
Content words are the important words in a sentence because they carry the meaning of the sentence; if they are taken away, you won’t understand the sentence. Grammatical words make a sentence grammatically correct but are not essential; they can be taken away and you would still understand the sentence. 
This is how stress can help you understand spoken English
How do we know where the stress is in a sentence?
Consider the following sentence (which is more like a telegram than a sentence):
  This – house – Jack – built.
Even though the grammatical words have been removed, you can still understand the sentence. 
When we add the grammatical words in, the sentence becomes:
  This is the house that Jack built. 
This sentence is now grammatically correct and the four content words are stressed. While the grammatical words were necessary for the grammar of the sentence, they were unnecessary for the meaning of the sentence. 
Consider again the sentence:
  This is the house that Jack built.
We have noted that the stressed words are: 
  This is the house that Jack built. 
In other words, the stress falls on the 1st, 4th, 6th and 7th syllable. This means that there are two syllables between this and house, one between house and Jack and none between Jack and built. 
However, the timing between the stressed syllables is the same. 
This is because English is a stress-timed language, with equal time between stressed words. In order to do this, we usually need to shorten the length of some words in order to maintain the rhythm of the sentence. 
NOTE:
Sometimes we want to emphasize a specific word in a sentence. This will change the natural stress of the sentence and can change the meaning of the sentence.
Consider the following sentences and notice how the stress changes the meaning of the sentence: 
I want the chocolate cake.        He doesn’t want the cake but I do.
I want the chocolate cake.        I really want the chocolate cake.
I want the chocolate cake.        I don’t want the cheesecake, I want the chocolate cake.
I want thechocolate cake.        I don’t want the chocolate biscuit, I want the chocolate cake.
Why should we teach rhythm?
Having an understanding of rhythm will help learners in terms of both speaking and listening:
· Using the correct rhythm when speaking will help your learners sound more fluent and natural in English. 
· Familiarising students with the rhythms of English will improve their listening skills.
When teaching rhythm:
1. Teach recognition before production.
2. Integrate rhythm into the teaching of grammar and vocabulary.
3. Use authentic listening texts.
4. Use dictogloss* and other dictation activities in your lessons. 
5. Use poems, songs and jazz chants in the classroom.
*Not sure what a dictogloss is? Have a look at this explanation.
Aspects of pronunciation - Intonation
While sentence stress is the rhythm of English, intonation is the melody. Intonation is how we say things rather than what we say. It helps us understand the emotions behind sentences. 
Intonation usually follows these patterns:
Wh- questions: falling intonation
Yes/No questions: rising intonation
Statements: falling intonation
Why teach intonation?
Incorrect intonation when speaking can lead to misunderstandings. Speakers can sound bored or impolite, which could cause listeners to take offence. This is why it’s important for learners to become aware of intonation patterns in English.
Advice on teaching intonation:
Learners can be made aware of the different rules of intonation, but there are activities that can be done in the classroom to help learners practise intonation in their production:
1. Include intonation in speaking activities
2. Provide real contexts for intonation practice
3. Provide accurate models of intonation
Aspects of pronunciation - Assimilation
Read the following words aloud:
his
son
ten
bucks
Now read the following sentence aloud.
His son gave me ten bucks. 
What do you notice about the difference between the way you say the words individually, and when you say them as part of a whole sentence?
Try this a few times and think about it carefully before moving on to the next slide. 
Assimilation
You should have noticed that some of the sounds in the words change when they are in a sentence. 
   His son > hison. 
   Ten bucks > tembucks. 
This is known as assimilation – the process by which one sound becomes more like the preceding or following sound. 
This can occur within a word or between a word and occurs in fluent speech. 
To be more precise, sounds can assimilate to a following sound but they may also assimilate to a preceding one. 
Let’s look at a few more examples:
In the phrase good girl, the /d/ sound changes to more of a /g/ sound in connected speech, becoming more like googirl. Here, the /d/ sound of good changes because of the following /g/ of girl. 
In the phrase did you, the y sound in you is changed by the preceding /d/ sound of did, making it more of a j – di-jou. 
Assimilation and elision activity feedback
Heres our answers.
I ate a ham samwich. (/nd/ changes to /m/)
Please can you pass the wipe pepper. (/t/ changes to /p/)
That’s a hopotato! (/t/ changes to /p/)
Every time I see him he says "Goomorning!". (/d/ is elided)
I don'know. (/t/ is elided)
Elide - When a sound disappears in connected speech, it is elided. For example, in 'mustn't,' the first t is always elided, and the second one usually is unless it is followed by a vowel.
A note on the glottal stop
In the previous activity, there is an examples when the ‘t’ is 'dropped' (don't know).
Sometimes when 't' sounds are dropped they are replaced by a kind of gap, known as a glottal stop*.
This is a common feature in most English accents. There is some snobbery about it as it was historically seen as an indicator of lower social class. 
However, it is becoming more and more common in accents from all classes of society.
* Glottal stop: The airflow is obstructed by closure of the glottis at the back of the throat. This often occurs between vowels e.g. in petal, glottal or at the end of words e.g. what. The IPA symbol for the glottal stop is [ʔ]
Further Reading: For more information on glottal stops, read this explanation. 
To read more about the snobbery regarding this practice, read the article Why have we got it in for the glottal stop? 
Teaching Pronunciation: What Is Pronunciation. Part 1.
Aspects of pronunciation - Sounds
Look at the pairs of words in these two groups. Why might these words be a problem for students?
	1
	 
	2
	 
	through
	cough
	beer
	pier
	wear
	clear
	care
	pair
	here
	there
	sign
	line
	daughter
	laughter
	mean
	scene
	design
	signature
	write
	flight
	 
	 
	hour
	flower
	 
	 
	half
	laugh
The pairs of words in group 1 are spelt in the same way – they contain the same strings of letters -ough, -ear, etc. – but they are pronounced differently.
The words in group 2 are spelt differently, but they are pronounced the same (each pair rhymes).
Part 2: The international phonetic alphabet (IPA)
The international phonetic alphabet
English uses the Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet. Alphabetic writing systems use symbols to represent the sounds of the language. Each letter in an alphabet is supposed to correspond to a sound in spoken language. In English there are at least 44 sounds, but only 26 letters. This means that some letters represent more than one sound (e.g., 'a' in fat, grass, about) and that some letters are combined to represent a single sound, e.g., 'th', 'sh', 'ee'. These two-letter combinations are called digraphs. Additionally, British English spelling was gradually standardised quite early (during the 17th and 18th centuries), so many spellings reflect older ways of pronouncing words.
The result of having fewer letters than sounds and early standardisation is that readers cannot always tell by looking at the written form of a word how it will be pronounced. Most languages which use alphabets are easier to read because the spelling and pronunciation are much more closely tied than in English.
One solution to this problem is to use the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to show students how to pronounce new vocabulary.
The international phonetic alphabet
The IPA was developed in the late 19th century. It provides a symbol for every sound used in human languages. Each language has its own subset of phonetic symbols. Each symbol represents a sound in the language. Each sound is called a phoneme. 'Dog' consists of three phonemes; d-o-g.
'Shop' also consists of three phonemes; sh-o-p, although it is spelt with four letters. The words sound and phoneme can be used interchangeably when we are talking about the sounds of a language.*
*For our purposes, it is sufficient to say that sound and phoneme have the same meaning, although in linguistics there is a distinction in the meaning of these terms. This is quite technical, but if you are interested in researching it further, look at this post on 'Blog on Linguistics.'
Phonetic transcription
Using symbols to represent how language is pronounced is called phonetic transcription.
When shop is transcribed, we only use three symbols: /ʃɒp/ corresponding to the three sounds in the word: sh-o-p
American speakers pronounce the 'o' in shop and dog differently from British speakers, so these words are transcribed differently for American English: /ʃɑp/ /dɑg/
Unlike letters, phonetic symbols always have the same value.
On the next page is the phonemic chart used for British English. The accent this represents is given various names: RP (received pronunciation), BBC English, Oxford English, standard English accent. It reflects the accent common among middle-class British English speakers, especially in the south of England. In fact, it is estimated that only 2% of people in the UK pronounce all the sounds in the RP way, but we need to have a standard way of representing pronunciation, and this is the most widely recognised British English pronunciation because it is the accent of the 'ruling class.' It was the accent originally insistedon for BBC presenters, which may be why it has become so widely regarded as correct and standard.
Further Reading: to find out more about the current status of RP, read this article by David Crystal.
If you are unsure about how each phoneme is pronounced, there are various websites that provide interactive charts where you can hear the sounds.
For example, The British Council
or The English Club.
You can also download copies of the chart from sites like these.
As you look through the chart, think of another word which contains the same sound. If you don't pronounce some of the words in the way shown here, can you find the symbols that represent your pronunciation? Do all the sounds shown here exist in your accent? Are there sounds in your accent which are not shown here?
* The word 'received' here has the meaning of 'accepted' or 'recognised'. It was coined by the linguist Daniel Jones at the start of the 20th century. He also considered calling it 'public school pronunciation'. (NB confusingly, these public schools are not public – they are the most expensive private schools in the UK!).
If you want an amusing break, listen to 'High RP,' by clicking on this link to a clip from Brief Encounter! 
IPA: CHART FOR BRITISH ENGLISH SUBSET
Derived from Adrian Underhill's 'Sound Foundations' Chart (Macmillan) 
	 
	Vowels
	 
	Consonants
	
	Monophthongs (single vowels)
	  p
	pig, sip
	i:
	cheese, leaf
	  b
	big, baby
	ɪ
	ship, him
	  t
	tooth, night
	ʊ
	book, should
	  d
	date, fade
	u:
	true, moon
	  tʃ
	Church, watch
	e
	dead, when
	  dʒ
	judge, jelly
	ə
	America, television, umbrella
	  k
	cake, Christmas
	ɜ:
	hurt, work
	  g
	girl, giggle
	ɔ:
	war, small, thought
	
	Fricatives/continuants
	æ
	sad, man
	  f
	feel, laugh
	ʌ
	umbrella, shut
	  v
	very, leave
	ɑ:
	harm, bath 
	  θ
	thing, worth
	ɒ
	sausage, dog, what
	  ð
	this, those
	
	Diphthongs (double vowels)
	  s
	bus, see
	ɪə
	feel, beer
	  z
	buzz, zoo
	eɪ
	weight, play
	  ʃ
	shine, wish, mission
	ɔɪ
	joint, toy
	  ʒ
	decision, beige
	oʊ
	bone, hope
	
	Other consonants
	ɑʊ
	shout, cow
	  m
	most, home
	eə
	care, hair
	  n
	neat, fine
	ʊə
	fuel, truer
	  ŋ
	thing, drink
	ɑɪ
	alive, try
	  h
	house, who
	
	
	  l
	fall, love
	
	
	  r
	red, sorry
	
	
	  w
	whale, wasp
	
	
	  j
	yellow, yes
A note on accents
You do NOT need to change the way you speak and conduct all your lessons in a posh southern British English accent! It is good for learners to be exposed to a range of different accents.
It is useful for you to work out where your accent differs from the one shown here, though.
The main differences between different accents are in the way some vowels are pronounced and whether ‘r’ is pronounced when it follows a vowel. These are quite minor differences and, even at low levels, students are able to understand different English accents.
For example, you may not use the /ɑ:/ vowel in words such as bath and grass; you might say /æ/ as in apple, or /æ:/ (the same as /æ/, but longer). 
Another common variation is the /ʌ/ sound in fuss and money. Many British speakers, particularly people from the Midlands and northern England, do not use this vowel – for them, the 'u' sound is always pronounced /ʊ/, as in pull and good.
In this 'RP' accent, 'r' is not pronounced in certain positions, e.g. worker, third, tyre. However, most English speakers around the world do pronounce the 'r' in those places.
If your accent is different, you can just point this out to students: the pronunciation here is 'xxx', but I say 'yyy'. Students can choose the pronunciation they prefer or find easier
A note on accents
Further Reading: If you speak Australian or American English, you can use these links to the symbols for your variety of English.
If you speak another variety or are interested in understanding the different accents of English, have a look at the International Alphabet Chart for English Dialects. 
When you start teaching, if you are given a course book to use, you should check what variety of English it uses. For example, if you are British, but using an American English course book, then you need to be aware of how the pronunciation shown differs from your own.
Transcription activity
Use your note book or download and print out this document. Try transcribing the following words before moving on to the next slide.
	Word
	Transcription
	Speaker      
	  /ˈspiːkə/ /ˈspiːkəʳ/   
	Orphan
	 
	Often
	 
	Economics   
	 
	Furious
	 
	Disaster
	 
	Misery
	 
	Australia
	 
	Car park
	 
	Sixty
	 
	Refrigerator
	 
	Desperation
	 
Note on the end of unit test:
You do not have to transcribe any words yourself, only match words to the correct transcriptions. The items in the test have been selected so it does not matter what variety of English you speak.
Transcribe words activity feedback
	Word
	Transcript
	Speaker
	/ˈspiːkə/ /ˈspiːkəʳ/   
	Orphan
	/ˈɔːfən/ /'ɔːʳfən/
	Often
	/'ɒfən/ /'ɒftən/
	Economics
	/iːkə'nɒmɪks/ /ekə'nɒmɪks/
	Furious
	/'fjʊərɪəs/
	Disaster
	/dɪ'zɑːstə/ /dɪ'zæstəʳ/
	Misery
	/'mɪzəri/ *
	Australia
	/ɒ'streɪlɪə/
	Car park
	/'kɑːpɑːk/ /'kɑːʳpɑːʳk/
	Sixty
	/'sɪkstɪ/ /'sɪksti/ *
	Refrigerator
	/rɪ'frɪdʒəreɪtə/ /rɪ'frɪdʒəreɪtəʳ/
	Desperation
	/despə'reɪʃn/
* For an explanation of /i/, please see The final vowel in words ending in -y, -i, -ey, -ie(s) in the section 'Notes on Certain Vowels'
This chart is extremely useful because the position of a phoneme on the chart is an indication of how it is formed. When considering how a sound is formed we need to look at the place of articulation – where the sound is formed in the vocal tract – and the manner of articulation – which speech organs are involved and how. 
Understandably, it is difficult for learners to master sounds that do not exist in their own language. You can help your students if you understand and can demonstrate how the sounds are formed.
Firstly, what is the difference between vowels and consonants? Everyone learns at school that A, E, I, O, U are vowels, and that Y is sometimes a vowel (e.g. in rhythm or city), but we rarely think about what this actually means.
You need a mirror, webcam or a phone with a video camera for this activity. You may want to do this without anyone watching or listening to you! On the other hand, it might be more fun and easier if you can get a friend to do the activities with you.     
Try saying some of the vowel sounds from the monophthongs section (the light blue part) and some of the consonant sounds from the first two lines of consonants (the pink and purple lines).
After you've tried this move onto the next slide.
How sounds are formed
What is the difference between the vowel and consonant sounds? Can you make the sounds for a long time? Is any part of your mouth touching another part?
Look in the mirror as you make the different sounds. What position are your lips in? Where is your tongue? Are your teeth close together or wide apart?
What is the difference between /i:/ and /ɪ/? What do you think the two dots indicate after some of the vowels?
Try saying the diphthongs (the orange section) slowly while looking in a mirror, or you could video yourself. How does the position of your mouth change while you are making the sound?
Try these activities and think about your answers to these questions before moving onto the next slide
You should have noticed that you can say a vowel ('aaaaaahhhhh', 'eeeeee', etc.) until you run out of breath. The sound of a vowel is determined by the position of your jaw, lips and tongue, but the flow of air is not stopped or restricted.
The diphthongs are formed by putting two vowel sounds together. You glide from one sound to the other.
For the top line of consonants (/p/ - /g/) you will find that you can't say them for a long time – you are either about to say them or have just said them. This is because the flow of air (and sound) is stopped by the organs of speech (lips, teeth, tongue). This set of consonants are called plosives or stops. The sound is stopped then suddenlyreleased – it 'explodes'.
The second line of consonants are called fricatives or continuants. The air is not completely stopped, but is partially restricted. There is friction. As with the vowels, you can continue saying these sounds for a long time.
So a vowel is formed by changing the position of the tongue and lips, and a consonant is formed by stopping or restricting the flow of air.
The two dots indicate a long vowel. In most languages there is no distinction between /i:/ and /ɪ/. Most learners find it difficult to distinguish between pairs of words such as sheep and ship, heat and hit.
For the diphthongs you move from one vowel to another. If you say 'ear' or 'eye' while looking in a mirror, you can see your lips changing position. 
Vowels
Don't be put off by the complicated-looking terms 'monophthong' and 'diphthong'. They derive from Greek monos = single, di = twice, phthong = sound. By this definition, consonants should be 'phthongs' too, but we only use the term to refer to vowels. If you don't like using fancy terminology, it is fine to refer to this set of phonemes as single vowels and double vowels, but you should understand the meaning of the terms.
English is unusual in having so many different vowel sounds. There are even some triphthongs (triple vowels) in English, as in power /'pɑʊə/ and fire /'fɑɪə/ (these are not included in the chart). Some languages do not have diphthongs, or they have different diphthongs from the English ones.
In many languages, the length of a vowel does not change the meaning of a word as it does in ship and sheep. 
Formation of monophthongs
The top left-hand section of the chart (the light blue section) shows the monophthongs.
1. Using your mirror, say the four monophthongs in the top row: i:, ɪ, ʊ, u: How does the position of your lips change?
2. Still looking in the mirror, place your hand gently under your chin. Now move down the first column of monophthongs, saying i:, e, æ. 
Do the same thing with the last column: u:, ɔː, ɒ.
What do you notice about the position of your mouth?
3.  Look in the mirror and say /ɑ:/ ('aaahhhh'). Why do doctors ask us to make this noise if they want to look at our throat?
When you have completed this reveal our answers on the next slide.
How the chart relates to the way monophthongs are formed:
1.  As we move across the chart (i: → u:), our lips change from a spread position to a rounded position (a smile to a kiss!). This is why we tell people to say 'cheese' when having their photo taken.
2.  As we move down the chart (i: → æ), our mouths open wider (closed to open). This is because the position of the tongue changes. Although our mouths are wider open, /æ/ still has 'spread' lips, /ɒ/ still has rounded lips.
3. /ɑ:/ is the sound for which we open our mouths widest and the tongue is flat, so the doctor can see to the back of our mouth.
Formation of diphthongs
The diphthongs are simply two vowels joined together. Practise combining the two monophthongs in each diphthong. For example, say /ɪ/ (as in ship), then try to glide smoothly into /ə/ (as in teacher). This will make the sound /ɪə/.
Getting your students to practise combining the sounds in this way will help them learn to pronounce the diphthongs.
Be prepared to make yourself look foolish when you are teaching pronunciation! Exaggerate the sounds and facial positions to help your students understand what they need to do. If you are prepared to do this, your students will feel less embarrassed about trying out the different sounds.
Notes on certain vowels
On the next few slides we comment on certain vowel sounds:
1. /Ə/ - The schwa sound /ʃwɑː/
2. Words ending with -y, -i, -ey, -ie(s)
3. /oʊ/ - The ‘oh’ sound
4. /'aɪ/ - The 'I', 'eye' sound
5. /ʊə/
/Ə/ - The schwa sound /ʃwɑː/
The /ə/ sound is a very important feature of spoken English. So much so that this sound has its own name: the schwa (the term, originally a Hebrew word, was introduced into German linguistics in the 19th century).
This phoneme occurs more than any other in English. It is an unstressed neutral vowel.
As not all languages have a sound like this, learners often want to pronounce unstressed parts of words in the way the spelling suggests. So teacher is said as /'ti:tʃeər/ (teech-air) rather than /'ti:tʃə/ or /ˈtiːtʃəʳ/, important as /ɪm'pɔ:tænt/ rather than /ɪm'pɔ:tənt/ or /ɪm'pɔ:ʳtənt/ (the bold vowels /eə/ and /æ/ are incorrect pronunciations in these transcriptions).
The final vowel in words ending in -y, -i, -ey, -ie(s)
When the last sound of a word is spelt in one of these ways (e.g. city, honey) it is normally transcribed with the short vowel /ɪ/, as in sick. Many people feel this is not quite right. However, if you replace it with the longer sound /i:/, as in bee, you will find that this doesn't sound quite right either. The reason for this is that the sound most people produce in this position is actually an interim one, whose length is in between /i:/ and /ɪ/. Imagine, however, the difficulty of trying to teach your students three different i vowels!
For most learners, it is very difficult to recognise and produce two different sounds for these vowels as the distinction does not exist in their own first language. Producing either sound is good enough.
In dictionaries, this in-between length is often transcribed as /i/. So, for city, the transcriptions /'sɪtɪ/ and /'sɪti/ are both acceptable. 
/oʊ/ - The ‘oh’ sound
You will also see this transcribed as /əʊ/. The way most British speakers pronounce the vowel in the words in this sentence: 'Oh no, don't go home!' has changed in recent decades. /oʊ/ better reflects the way it is usually said nowadays, but the difference is not enormous.
Try saying the two sounds: ə + ʊ, as compared to ɒ + ʊ. /əʊ/ sounds very 'posh'!
The transcription used here: /oʊ/ is now more commonly used in linguistics because this is the way most British speakers say this sound. However, both transcriptions are widely used and both are considered correct. The difference is very small.
/aɪ/ - The 'I', 'eye,' 'aye' sound
Like the 'oh' sound, the 'standard' pronunciation of this sound seems to have changed. You will now often see it transcribed as /ʌɪ/ (so, bible would be /ˈbʌɪb(ə)l/ rather than /ˈbaɪb(ə)l/). Practise saying the sound to try to work out whether your normal pronunciation is /ʌɪ/ or /aɪ/. Note that as far as teaching is concerned it doesn't really matter which of these you use – most native speakers probably wouldn't notice the difference. As long as your students can get close to these sounds, they will be understood, which is the most important thing. 
/ʊə/
This phoneme is falling out of use in RP and many other English accents. You may have noticed that it is not even included in The British Council's phonemic chart. It is the vowel sound in sewer and duel. Words such as poor, moor, sure and tour used to be pronounced with this vowel by speakers of 'RP'. However, in many British English accents, the vowel in these words has now shifted to /ɔː/. This means that words such as poor and paw, sure and shore are pronounced in exactly the same way by many speakers; they are homophones (words which sound the same but have a different meaning and different spelling).
The vowel /ʊə/ is still used by some Scottish, and North American,  Northern English and Irish speakers.
Consonants - plosives
As we have seen, the top line of consonants are plosives or stops. The air is stopped completely and then suddenly released.
There are four pairs of plosives along this line: /p/ and /b/, /t /and /d/, etc.
Practise saying each pair in the top line of consonants (/p/ – /g/). 
Try to work out where/how the air is stopped. Say the sounds several times and look in your mirror. You should be able to feel where in your mouth the air is stopped. 
What is the difference between the two members of each pair? Use rhyming words containing each pair of sounds to help you work out what this difference is, e.g. pair/bear, town/down, chin/gin, could/good.
When you've tried this, revealour answers on the next slide.
Consonants
1. The position where the air is stopped moves back in the mouth as we move across the chart from left to right.
2. /p/ and /b/ are formed by pressing the lips together. This is known as a bilabial sound
3. /t /and /d/ are formed by pressing the tip of the tongue just behind the top teeth. This part of the mouth is called the alveolar ridge so this is an alveolar sound.
4. For /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ the tongue is moved a little further back in the mouth than for /t /and /d/. The tongue is pressed against the roof of the mouth (the 'hard palate').
5. /k/ and /g/ are formed by raising the back of the tongue against the soft palate – the back part of the roof of your mouth (the velum).
6. If you gently touch the roof of your mouth with your thumb, you can feel where the hard palate changes to the soft palate. 
The difference between the two sounds in each pair is that the first is voiceless (also called unvoiced) and the second is voiced. Voiced means that the vocal cords are vibrating and producing a noise.
Put your fingers on your throat and try saying b-b-b-b, d-d-d-d, etc. You should be able to feel your vocal cords (voice box) vibrating.
Do the same with p-p-p-p, t-t-t-t, etc., being careful not to follow the consonant with a vowel sound because vowels are voiced and will cause the vocal cords to vibrate. The voiceless consonants do not involve vibration of the vocal cords – it is like whispering.
Consonants - fricatives
The second line of consonants are called fricatives or continuants. Again the sounds are presented in voiceless/voiced pairs.
As we observed previously, the air is not completely stopped, but is partially restricted when forming these sounds. 
There is friction. You can continue saying these sounds for a long time.
Use a mirror or camera to make sounds for the fricatives:
Practise saying each sound. Try to work out where/how the air is restricted. Say the sounds several times and look in your mirror. You should be able to feel where in your mouth the flow of air is restricted. 
What do you find?
Reveal our answers on the next slide.
1. As with the plosives, the fricatives are made up of four voiceless/voiced pairs and the position where the air is restricted moves back in the mouth as we move across the chart from left to right.
2. /f/ and /v/ are formed by placing the bottom lip against the top teeth. These are known as a labiodental sounds. 
3. /θ/ and /ð/ are formed by placing the tip of the tongue between the teeth. These are interdental sounds. (To help students with these sounds tell them to try saying /s/ and /z/ but with their tongue between their teeth.
4. For /s/ and /z/ the tongue is moved back to about the same position as for /t/ and /d/. They are alveolar sounds.
5. For /ʃ / and /ʒ/ the position of the tongue is similar to /s/ and /z/, but the tip of the tongue is moved a little further back in the mouth and the lips are more rounded. These are palato-alveolar sounds.
(Again you can help students who have problems forming these sounds by getting them to start with /s/ and /z/, which occur in most languages. Then tell them to pull their tongue further back in the mouth, and round their lips a little.)
The bottom line of consonants
The consonants in this line do not form a neat set like the previous two lines, but the first three phonemes in this line are all similar in one respect.
Can you work out what /m/, /n/ and /ŋ/ have in common? Try saying them several times and use your mirror. Try pinching your nostrils closed and saying 'Nasty Nigel's making Ming mad.' What happens?
Are these sounds voiceless or voiced?
Reveal our answers on the next slide.
1. /m/, /n/ and /ŋ/ are nasals. This means most of the air is released through the nose. The effect of blocking your nose is to make you sound as though you have a cold.
2. All three nasals are voiced.
3. The mouth position for /m/ is the same as for /b/.
4. The mouth position for /n/ is the same as for /d/.
5. The mouth position for /ŋ/ is the same as for /g/.
Consonants
/h/ is not really a consonant. How does it differ from other consonants?
Make notes in your notebook while carrying out the activities below.
Look in your mirror and say beat, bit, book, boot, bed, Bert, Bat, but, Bart, Bombay. 
You should be able to see your mouth moving from the /b/ position to the position of the following vowel.
Now try doing the same with heat, hit, hook, hoot, head, hurt, hall, hat, hut, heart, hot. 
Can you see any change of mouth position between /h/ and the vowel?
Once you have tried it, reveal our answers on the next slide.
1. /h/ is voiceless. The air is not restricted or stopped in any way. There is not a single mouth position for /h/ as there is for all the other phonemes. When you say heat you begin with your mouth in the /i:/ position, when you say hat you begin in the /æ/ position, etc.
2. In fact, /h/ is a 'voiceless vowel onset'.* This just means that we begin the vowel sound with a voiceless puff of air.
3. Many languages do not have a /h/ sound. Tell your students to imagine they've been running for a long time – what noise do they make? They should be able to produce a panting sound 'ha-ha-ha'. This how to make a /h/.
*Some linguists classify this phoneme differently, but for our purposes this is not very important.
/l/ and /r/
We will look at these sounds together because they are notoriously difficult for speakers from South East Asia. This contrast is also difficult for speakers of some African languages. Confusion of these two sounds can make people sound quite comical and can cause misunderstanding. It is therefore important that teachers can help their students with these sounds. The way these two sounds are formed is very similar, which is why they are difficult.
Say the /r/ and /l/ sounds several times to work out the difference in the way they are formed. Use your mirror to help you.
What position is the tongue in for the two sounds?
Try it, then reveal our answers on the next slide.
/r/ is not a true consonant because there is no complete closure or restriction stopping the flow of air. It is called an approximant or semi-vowel. The tip of the tongue is in a similar position to /d/ but there is no contact. The tip of the tongue is curled up and towards the back of the mouth.
To help your students, tell them to say 'aaah' and then curl their tongue back – demonstrate with your hands how the tongue should move:
With /l/ there is contact between the tongue and the alveolar ridge (just behind the top teeth).
Get your students to say 'la-la-la-la'.
Again, you can use your hands to demonstrate the position of the tongue in relation to the teeth. They should be able to feel their tongue touching their mouth behind their top teeth.
When the /l/ sound occurs at the end of a word or is followed by a consonant, it is actually pronounced differently from when it is followed by a vowel.
Compare the /l/ sound in love, flow, follow with the one in fault, vowel and hill.
For the 'l' in the second group the tongue is not 'flapped down' in the same way. It is held in the starting position. This is called a 'dark l' and has its own phonetic symbol /ɫ/, but this is not usually used in language teaching. 
Consonants
/w/ and /j/ are also approximants or semi-vowels.
/w/ is formed with rounded lips. You can help students by getting them to move from the /u:/ sound to the /ə/ sound (schwa). If they say these quickly they form a /w/. Some learners confuse /w/ and /v/.
Spanish speakers often confuse /dʒ/ (joke) and /j/ (yolk). This is because the position of the tongue is very similar, with the body of the tongue raised up to the roof of the mouth, with the sides of the tongue against the back teeth. Whereas for /dʒ/, the tip of the tongue is pressed against the roof of the mouth so that it stops the air, for /j/ it is curled back and makes no contact or only slight contact with the roof of the mouth.
Copy and paste or type the words below into the gaps to complete the definitions:
A  isa sound produced when the flow of air is stopped or restricted e.g., /p/ and /v/.
A  is produced when the flow of air is not stopped or restricted, e.g., /æ/ and /Ʌ/.
A  is a consonant produced when the air is completely stopped and then released, e.g., /b/ /k/.
A  is a consonant when the air is partially restricted; there is friction, e.g., /f/.
A  is a plosive produced by pressing the lips together and then releasing the air, e.g., /b/ and /p/.
A  is a sound produced by releasing most of the air through the nose, e.g., /m/ and /n/.
A  sound is one in which the vocal chords vibrate, e.g., /z/.
A  sound is when there is no vibration of the vocal chords, e.g., /s/.
A  is two vowel sounds glided together, e.g., /ɪə/.
Part 3: Helping our students with pronunciation
Student problems
The position on the chart of the monophthongs, fricatives and plosives indicates how the sounds are formed. Learners confuse phonemes that are formed in similar ways. This means that monophthongs that are close to each other on the chart, e.g., /ɪ /and /i:/, /ɪ /and /e/, /e/ and /æ/, are likely to be confused. You can be sure that students will not have difficulty distinguishing between /i:/ and /ɒ/ because they are formed in very different ways.
First language interference
The sounds that your learners will have most difficulty with are sounds that do not exist in their own language. So a learner’s first language (mother tongue or L1) can influence not only the acquisition of English and its vocabulary, but also pronunciation of the target language (the one they are learning). 
The first problem is that students often can't hear the difference between two sounds. They will simply hear the sound that is most similar to those sounds in their language.
For example, in Japanese there is one sound in between /l/ and /r/. In Japanese and Spanish there is one sound between /b/ and /v/. In Arabic there is no /p/ – learners say /b/. In many languages there is no distinction between /ɪ /and /i:/. Although we have the impression that they get the two sounds 'the wrong way round', it would be more accurate to say that they produce one 'in-between sound' for both target sounds. When speakers who do not have /l/ and /r/ in their own language hear those sounds, many of them will think they hear the one interim sound that exists in their own first language. 
This means that the first thing you need to do is help students hear the difference between the two problem sounds. It is helpful to show them how the two sounds are formed and then give them listening practice. This can be done using minimal pairs. 
*First language interference is also referred to as mother tongue interference or L1 interference
Minimal pairs
A minimal pair is a pair of words in which only one sound differs.
ship - sip               first sound is different      /ʃɪp/  /sɪp/
sheep - ship          second sound is different   /ʃi:p/   /ʃɪp/
sheep - sheet        third sound is different      /ʃi:p/   /ʃi:t/
There are many different minimal pairs which can be used to teach different sounds.
For example, using the word bad /bæd/ we can make the following minimal pairs:
First sound is different: sad, mad, dad, had, cad, lad, tad, pad
Second sound is different: bed, bud, bod, bid, bead
Third sound is different: bat, ban, bang, back, bag
Minimal pairs do not have to have three sounds e.g by and bee (2 sounds), assistant and assistance (8 sounds), daughter and water (4 sounds, or 5 if you pronounce word final r)
*Minimal pairs are two words which have only one sound difference between them. Most obvious are rhymes where the first sound is different, e.g, pit and bit.
But the difference may occur in another part of the word, e.g., bit and beat - here the vowels are different, or bit and bid, where the final sound is different. Minimal pairs are very useful in pronunciation teaching, focusing on the sounds your students tend to confuse.
Minimal pairs activity
How many minimal pairs you can think of for the word said /sed/? Write your answers in your notebook
(You can include people's names.)
Consider minimal pairs where: 
· the first sound is different
· the second sound is different, and
· the third sound is different.
Use the chart below to help you go through the possibilities before moving to the next slide.
Minimal pairs
These are all the minimal pairs for the word said /sed/.
First sound is different: bed, Ted, dead, Jed, fed, zed, shed, Med, Ned, head, lead, red, wed
Second sound is different: seed, Sid, sued, sword, sad, sod
Third sound is different: set, sedge, says, sell/cell
Now try this activity below.
Minimal pairs - Step 1
Step 1 Give students a list of minimal pairs using sounds they might find it difficult to distinguish between:
 E.g., pair/bear, two/do, low/law, right/light, heart/hurt, fast/past
 Step 2 Teacher reads one word from each pair. Students mark the one they think they hear
Step 3 Check answers to find where problems are. Demonstrate how the problem sounds are formed, getting the students to copy. Repeat several times.
Step 4 Repeat step 2. Keep doing steps 3 and 4 until students can hear the difference between the target sounds.
tep 5 Students work in pairs, doing stage 2 together (A reads, B marks the words s/he hears, then reverse roles). Teacher monitors and helps. 
Reducing first language interference
So if the sounds don’t exist in a learner’s first language, the learner will have difficulty identifying and producing the sound. This means that the result of first language interference in pronunciation is that English language learners may have difficulty pronouncing certain words and they will usually have recognisably non-native speaker accents. 
Often, learners want to sound as “English” as possible, so this can be a problem. 
Teachers can help their students by:
· Providing appropriate models of target language 
· Focusing on problematic words and sounds and correcting students’ pronunciation
· First presenting the word in its spoken form before the written form
· Helping learners become aware of the effects of stress, rhythm and intonation on pronunciation
· Using activities which involve matching sounds to words
· Using drills, minimal pairs and tongue twisters to practise individual sounds
· Teaching phonetic symbols so that students become aware of the individual sounds of English
Optional further reading: For more teaching ideas,  See 10 ESL Activities for Powerful Pronunciation Progress, on the FluentU English Educator Blog
Do I need to teach and learn the IPA?
Reasons for:
The phonetic alphabet is an extremely useful tool because it shows exactly how words are pronounced, unlike our spelling system which does not always make pronunciation obvious. Most modern dictionaries use the phonetic alphabet, so learners who understand it can find out how to pronounce a word by looking it up in a dictionary.
As explained in Student problems, the way the chart is laid out helps you to understand how the different sounds are formed. You will not be able to help students improve their pronunciation unless you are able to show them how to produce the sounds they are having difficulty with. Because we consider it such a useful tool for English language teachers, you are required to become familiar (but not expert!) with the phonetic alphabet while doing this course.
Whether you decide to use the phonetic alphabet when you start teaching may be a matter of personal choice, but you may find yourself working in a school which expects all teachers to be able to use it, or teaching students who already know it. If the students can already use it, they will probably expect their teacher to be able to use it, too.
Reasons against:
If your students' first language uses a different writing system, you may feel that having to learn both the phonetic alphabet and the Latin alphabet is too demanding for them.
If your students are only attending a language school for a couple of hours a week, the time involved in teaching them the phonetic alphabet maynot seem justified.
Compromise position:
Just teach some of the symbols
If you are teaching a monolingual group, it is very easy to establish what their pronunciation problems are. Of course, you will identify their problems fairly quickly once you begin teaching them, but a short cut is to do some research in advance. Try Googling 'pronunciation problems for Thai speakers of English' (or any other nationality that you think you might teach). You will find not only that there are many websites listing the sounds which are difficult for those learners, but there are also usually plenty of suggested teaching activities and materials that you can use.
When you have identified the phonemes which are likely to be difficult for your students, consider whether it would be useful for them to know the phonetic symbol just for that sound. For example, Thai speakers often have difficulty with the diphthongs. As these can be spelt in a variety of different ways, particularly the phonemes /ɪe/ (here, near, deer, pier, we're), /eə/ (there, their, bear, pair, share), and /oʊ/ (boat, vote, don't, oh, no, know), it might be useful for them to learn these symbols. 
How can we teach the phonetic alphabet?
Don't try to teach it all at once! Only cover four to six symbols at a time.
Use easy vocabulary that students are already familiar with to illustrate which sounds the symbols represent.
Make sure students can hear the difference between similar sounds before you ask them to produce them.
Don't just say the sounds in isolation – put them into words and into sentences, as well e.g., /ɪ/ and /i:/.
Minimal pairs: ship/sheep, hit/heat, sit/seat, lip/leap
Sentences: Can you see that ship/sheep over there?
Make students study the phonetic symbols at home.
Once you have introduced a set of symbols, ensure that you use them in your lessons and teaching materials.
summary
Why should we teach pronunciation?
· Reasonably accurate pronunciation is necessary to ensure understanding on the part of the listener. Misunderstandings may occur due to incorrect stress, rhythm and intonation. Being able to use these effectively will increase the chances of the speaker being understood. 
·  The aim of teaching pronunciation is NOT to ensure our learners speak with a perfect native speaker accent, but rather to improve their intelligibility. 
·  Teaching pronunciation provides learners with correct and appropriate models of language, which they can then mimic, so improving their speaking skills. 
· Very importantly, practising pronouncing the language like native speakers helps learners understand spoken English - it improves their listening skills.
·  A knowledge of phonology is a knowledge of sound patterns, which will help learners in terms of word recognition and production - it can help improve reading and writing skills.
How should we teach pronunciation?
· Focus not only on the pronunciation of sounds, but also on recognising the sounds when listening to spoken English.
· Teach stress, rhythm and intonation from the start.
· Provide appropriate models of acceptable English pronunciation.
· Teach sounds in isolation but also place them in connected speech. 
· Use minimal pairs to focus on individual sounds.
· Use songs and tongue twisters to make pronunciation enjoyable.
consonant
vowel
plosive
fricative
bilabial
nasal
voice
voiceless
diphthong