teaching pronunciation activities

English Teachers’ Network Workshop Teaching Pronunciation Nov 2010 Activity 1 -Crazy numbers Age: Primary or Junior High School. Aims: To use pronunciation as a way of raising energy; to make the learning of numbers interesting and memorable Materials: None Procedure: 1) Ask learners to work in pairs. 2) Ask each pair to count to 20 between themselves. Eg. Learner A: one Learner B: two Learner A: three etc. English Teachers’ Network Workshop Teaching Pronunciation Nov 2010 3) Now tell them to do this again but this time to say every third number (3, 6, 9 etc) in a surprised way. It may be a good idea to demonstrate this with one pair in front of the class first of all. 4) Now ask them to try saying every third number in other ways. Some good examples to use are in an angry way, very happily, as a question, loudly, quietly, nervously, suspiciously etc Note: With lower levels the instructions can be given in Chinese as well as English. This activity can also be done with days of the week, months etc. English Teachers’ Network Workshop Teaching Pronunciation Nov 2010 Activity 2- Working with a chant Age: Primary or Junior High School Aims: To make language memorable by exploring rhythm; to practise connected speech Materials: A chant written on the board, or in the learners’ coursebook. The example below on the left is taken from PEP Primary English Students’ book, page 7 (Lingo Media 2003). The example on the right is from Memory Activities for Language Learning by Nick Bilbrough (CUP 2011) Who is your teacher? Mrs Heart Is she kind? Yes! And she is smart. Who is your teacher? Mr Rice. Is he strict? Yes, but he is nice One, two, three, I’d like a cup of tea Four, five, six I’d like a plate of chips Seven, eight, nine I’d like a glass of wine English Teachers’ Network Workshop Teaching Pronunciation Nov 2010 Procedure: 1) Say the whole chant to the class in a loud and clear voice, aiming for natural rhythm, and allowing words to link together where it seems right. It may help to clap or tap on the table while you do this to emphasise the rhythm. 2) Now chant each line again and ask the whole class to repeat each line after you. Repeat any lines which seem more difficult for the class. 3) Now you perform half the chant (the questions in the example on the left) and the class perform the other half (the answers in the example on the left). Then swap things around so that the class say the questions and you say the answers. 4) Divide the class into two sides. One side perform the questions and the other side perform the answers. Now swap things around and repeat it. Note: Clapping, tapping, or clicking your fingers, and encouraging the learners to do the same will really help with the rhythm of the English Teachers’ Network Workshop Teaching Pronunciation Nov 2010 chant, and make the language more memorable. It will also help if learners can stand up, and can do simple gestures to go with what they are saying. English Teachers’ Network Workshop Teaching Pronunciation Nov 2010 Activity 3 - Back-chaining Age: Primary or Junior High School Aims: To facilitate smooth and natural repetition of drilled utterances Materials: None Procedure: 1) Choose a sentence that is appropriate for the class, using the area of language that you have been focusing on. Here’s one for a secondary group You’re going to the Asian Games, aren’t you? 2) Say the sentence naturally, and then ask the class to repeat it after you. Repeat this several times. Now choose an individual to repeat the sentence on his or her own. 3) Now just say the last part of the sentence and get students to repeat again, both chorally and individually. Keep repeating this English Teachers’ Network Workshop Teaching Pronunciation Nov 2010 process and adding on more and more of the sentence until it is complete again, like this: aren’t you? Games, aren’t you? Asian Games, aren’t you? the Asian Games, aren’t you? to the Asian Games, aren’t you? going to the Asian Games, aren’t you? You’re going to the Asian Games, aren’t you? Note: Working backwards from the end of the sentence is less challenging in terms of memory than starting at the beginning. It also allows learners to notice more about the way words flow together. English Teachers’ Network Workshop Teaching Pronunciation Nov 2010 Activity 4 - Memory Drills Age: Primary or Junior High School Aims: To raise awareness about connected speech and the pronunciation of regular past verb forms; to develop working memory for language Materials: A list of sentences using the same area of language but which get increasingly longer. The example below uses sentences with regular past verb forms. I shouted. (2 words) I jumped around. (3 words) I cleaned the kitchen. (4 words) I played football with George. (5 words) I watched the news on TV. (6 words) I decided to go for a walk. (7 words) I wanted to speak to my English teacher. (8 words) I listened to some music while I had breakfast. (9 words) English Teachers’ Network Workshop Teaching Pronunciation Nov 2010 I looked out of the window and it was raining. (10 words) I walked to the zoo and fed the monkeys some bananas. (11 words) I intended to swim in the sea but it was too cold. (12 words) I cooked a nice meal for everyone at home the day before yesterday. (13 words) Procedure: 1) Divide the class into two sides. 2) Say the first sentence in as natural a way as possible, linking words together where appropriate. Now ask for a volunteer from Side A to repeat it. Keep going until you’re happy that the sentence has been successfully repeated by a learner. 3) Now do the same with the second sentence with the other side of the class. 4) Keep repeating this process, swapping from one side of the class to the other with each new sentence. As the sentences get longer English Teachers’ Network Workshop Teaching Pronunciation Nov 2010 it becomes more and more challenging. How far can they get before it becomes too difficult? 5) Now ask learners to do the same activity in pairs. Display the sentences on the board or with a projector. One learner in each pair looks at the board and reads out the sentences in turn. The other learner turns away so he or she cannot see, and tries to repeat what the first learner says. [...]... the missing parts 5) Ask one or two learners if they can remember the whole poem English Teachers’ Network Workshop Teaching Pronunciation Nov 2010 Activity 6) Creating a poem (from Memory Activities for Language Learning – CUP 2011) Age: Primary or Junior High School Aims: To make the pronunciation of words memorable by linking them to the names of celebrities Materials: Choose some celebrities that... http://www.rhymezone.com/ She’s Miss White She’s very bright She likes to turn on the light She doesn’t like the night She had a fright But now she’s alright She’s Miss White English Teachers’ Network Workshop Teaching Pronunciation Nov 2010 Procedure: 1) Display the poem on the board or with a projector Read it out to the class and check understanding of the language using translation or gestures Draw the learners’...English Teachers’ Network Workshop Teaching Pronunciation Nov 2010 Activity 5 - Rhyming poems Age: Primary or Junior High School Aims: To make language memorable by creating links between words which rhyme Material: You need to find or create... rhyming dictionary such as http://www.rhymezone.com/ See the examples below Tom Cruise Spears Winnie Britney Snow the Pooh Bill Barack Mariah Gates Obama Carey English Teachers’ Network Workshop Teaching Pronunciation Nov 2010 /u:/ /ɪə/ White /uː/ /eɪ/ /eə/ /ə/ /aɪ/ /ɑ:/ and and /i:/ news ears light shoe hates farmer fairy shoes years night through plates drama hairy lose tears bright glue weights... bambo debates llama vary o Procedure: 1) Give out the list of celebrities and rhyming words, or display them on the board Using the pictures to help, check that the English Teachers’ Network Workshop Teaching Pronunciation Nov 2010 learners know who the people are and how to pronounce their names Ask the class to tell you anything they know about them 2) Put the learners into pairs, or small groups Ask... to perform to the rest of the class Note: This activity works best if learners have already done the previous activity (Rhyming Poems) Instead of using celebrity English Teachers’ Network Workshop Teaching Pronunciation Nov 2010 names you can also just give the learners a list of rhyming words and ask them to make a simple poem, a story, or even a single sentence using as many of them as possible Activity... and that you are the waiter Tell her that you can each only say one word at a time each time you speak The conversation could go something like this: A: Afternoon English Teachers’ Network Workshop Teaching Pronunciation Nov 2010 B: Hello A: Menu? B: Thanks A: Thirsty? B: Yes A: Tea? B: Please etc 2) Now swap the roles around so that the learner becomes the waiter and you are the customer Try the conversation... into pairs and ask them to try having a one word restaurant conversation themselves 4) Ask one or two pairs to perform their conversations in front of the class English Teachers’ Network Workshop Teaching Pronunciation Nov 2010 Dialogue interpretations Age: Primary or Junior High School Aims: To practice the use of intonation and word stress as a way of expressing meaning Materials: Choose one of the... dialogue on the board or project it (3) A: Would you like to go to the cinema? B: Tonight? A: You’re not doing anything else? B: No I’m not doing anything else English Teachers’ Network Workshop Teaching Pronunciation Nov 2010 2) Ask the learners to work in pairs and to discuss different contexts in which the dialogue could be said Ask them to try saying it in different ways 3) Ask two or three pairs . Network Workshop Teaching Pronunciation Nov 2010 Activity 6) Creating a poem (from Memory Activities for Language Learning – CUP 2011) Age: Primary or Junior High School Aims: To make the pronunciation. Teachers’ Network Workshop Teaching Pronunciation Nov 2010 Activity 4 - Memory Drills Age: Primary or Junior High School Aims: To raise awareness about connected speech and the pronunciation of regular. English Teachers’ Network Workshop Teaching Pronunciation Nov 2010 Activity 1 -Crazy numbers Age: Primary or Junior High School. Aims: To use pronunciation as a way of raising energy;