yatcb lesson plans stress reduce merge part 2 connected speech

PRONUNCIATION Stress, Reduce, Merge Part – Connected Speech Method: T or SS write or sentences on the board, with not too many syllables in each – 8-10 will fine There should be space between them so there is room to write above and below each one They could be from the SS’s work or from a real text SS copy them into their notebooks T models each sentence and SS repeat – as a group and individually T asks one student to come to the board T asks the SS to break a sentence up into syllables They could draw lines between the syllables, or rewrite the sentence in syllables T checks that it is correct with the whole group T elicits the sequence of stressed syllables from the group, and SS marks them T elicits the stressed vowel sound on each stressed syllable from the group, and SS marks them with Clear Alphabet This is the ‘Sound Spine’ – the sequence of the most important sounds in the sentence, which must be heard clearly to convey meaning T asks SS to focus on the weak syllables and elicits whether any of them can be combined with contractions SS changes the syllables on the board accordingly T elicits the sound connections between the syllables, and SS marks them: VC F CV VV CC vowel sound to consonant sound friendly connection (first syllable ends with m, n, ng, or l sound) consonant sound to vowel sound vowel sound to vowel sound consonant sound to consonant sound T asks SS to circle VC and F connections T elicits that VC and F connections are good because they are easy to pronounce T asks SS to look at the remaining ‘bad’ sound connections with their group or partner SS should think about the ‘Features of Connected Speech’ and what we can to ‘iron out’ the bad connections and make them easier to pronounce T may need to elicit or explain: VC & F we don’t need to change them – they are already easy to pronounce CV FINAL CONSONANT LINKING (FCL): we usually move the consonant sound forward to join the next syllable VV INTRUSION: we usually add a consonant sound: w, y, or r CC we have three options: i FCL: move the first consonant sound forward; if voiced, it changes to unvoiced, e.g b changes to p (this is called ASSIMILATION) ii ELISION: delete the first consonant sound; if it is t or d we could replace it with a glottal stop iii ASSIMILATION: the first consonant sound changes to make the phrase easier to say SS sound out the phrases and the whole sentence as they this work T monitors, checks, and corrects, then leads group feedback about the decisions taken to make the syllables fit together – to make the sentence easy to pronounce and sound natural SS write out the sentence – syllable by syllable – using Clear Alphabet T monitors, checks, and corrects, then leads group feedback Purland, Matt Talk a Lot Foundation Course Ostróda: English Banana.com, 2011 Hardback Available for free download: http://englishbanana.com/resources/free-books/intermediate/talk-a-lot-foundation-course/ p.4.2 You Are The Course Book – Lesson Plans 70 10 SS repeat the process in their groups with one or all of the remaining sentences – depending on time allocated T monitors, checks, and corrects Group feedback at the end T elicits the main pronunciation point: “So what have we learned from this ?” Tips: • Wait until SS are confident using the method in Stress, Reduce, Merge Part – Sentence Stress (p.69) before running this session • SS should be familiar with writing sentences phonetically with Clear Alphabet before running this session, or T could model the Clear Alphabet text on the board and SS learn it by practising during a few of these sessions • For further information about the Stress, Reduce, Merge process, see Talk a Lot Foundation Course and Stress, Reduce, Merge Purland, Matt Stress, Reduce, Merge Ostróda: English Banana.com, 2012 Material pack Available for free download: http://englishbanana.com/resources/free-books/intermediate/stress-reduce-merge/ You Are The Course Book – Lesson Plans 71