How to teach and learn pronunciation in high schools

How to Teach and learn Pronunciation in high schools Index Headings Pagination A Introduction Page I Rationale for the study Page II Aims of the study Page III Scope and object of the study Page IV Methods of the study Page B Content Page I Theoretical base and realistic base Page 1.Theoretical base Page 2 Realistic base Page II The fact of teaching and learning pronunciation in high Page schools 1.Teaching pronunciation Page Learning pronunciation Page 3 Common pronunciation errors Page III Suggested solutions to these above problems Page VI Some effective pronunciation activities Page V The application of some fun activities in teaching certain Page pronunciation lessons in high school Unit (Tieng Anh 10) Page 11 Unit (Tieng Anh 10) Page 11 Unit (Tieng Anh 10) Page 14 Unit 1(Tieng Anh 12) Page 17 Unit (Tieng Anh 11) Page 17 Unit (Tieng Anh 10) Page 18 C Conclusion Page 18 Conclusion Page 18,19 Suggestions Page 20 D Reference books Page 20 A INTRODUCTION I Rationale for the study: English is the fourth most widely spoken native language in the world, and in terms of sheer number of speakers, it is the most spoken official language in the world It is the primary language used in international affairs The English language has official status even in nations where it is not the primary spoken language English is indisputably the primary language of global trade and commerce In many countries, most tourism authorities and other officials in contact with the public speak English to interact and engage with tourists and immigrants Knowing English opens job and employment opportunities in many countries and markets In Vietnam, the need of integrating into the world has been increasing due to the open-door policy More and more Vietnamese people have desired to learn English That is why English teaching and learning have become very important and significant to our country’s cause of industrialization and modernization Pronunciation is very much a “must” skill for any English language learner Pronunciation is definitely the biggest thing that people notice when you are speaking English Knowing grammar and vocabulary are important but useless if you are unable to pronounce those structures or words correctly Also, native speakers are more likely to understand you, even if you make grammatical mistakes rather than if you make mistakes in pronunciation Even the simplest words misspoken will keep you from effectively communicating with English speakers Proper English pronunciation is crucial to a student's success, yet it is often neglected in the classroom Teaching pronunciation is frequently classified as the most neglected aspect of language in English classrooms Focusing on pronunciation requires dedicating a significant amount of time to practicing, frequently with each student individually Teachers of English frequently believe this time is better used if dedicated to working on grammar and vocabulary Regardless of the teaching method that is predominantly used, pronunciation is often considered unimportant The high-school age is late for the acquisition of habits of speech, but more can be accomplished then than at any later time It should certainly be the desire of the high-school teachers as well as students to correct the many faults of pronunciation which commonly persist until this time In the process of fact teaching at Hau Loc high School, fact teaching in classes , I find that most teachers have been strongly influenced by the traditional methods Emphasis has been placed on the mastery of language structures rather than on how language is used Teachers as well as students are used to concentrating on grammatical items In this research I want to write about the method of teaching and learning pronunciation effectly I am very glad to receive the sharing and contributing ideas of colleagues so that I can perfect in the process of applying and teaching facts II Aims of the study: To report some English pronunciation mistakes commonly made by Vietnamese learners in general, and high-school students in particular And suggest some solutions To provide high- school teachers and students of English with classroom activities for efficient pronunciation teaching and learning To give the application of some activities in teaching English pronunciation in certain lessons of high school curriculum To widen the writer’s herself knowledge of English pronunciation, and somehow help her collegues enrich their knowledge as well as improve their pronunciation teaching methods III Scope and object of the study: Vietnamese people’s learning English is various in age, purpose, level However, this study is concerned only with the pronunciation teaching and learning in high schools IV Methods of the study: Studying textbooks, reference books and documents of the subject Observing some pronunciation teaching lessons of the colleagues, discuss the drawbacks, and find out solutions Applying some activities and games in certain pronunciation lessons, make small tests to see how these activities work B CONTENT I Theoretical base and realistic base: Theoretical base Education and training play an essential role in the preservation, development and continuation of human civilization In the era of scientific and technological revolution nowadays, education and training are becoming the main motive force for the developmental acceleration and considered as a determining factor for the success or failure of a nation in international competitions and for the success of each individual in his life Thus, the Government and people of every nation highly appreciate the role of education and training In Vietnam, Article 35 of the current Constitution stipulates: Education is the first priority of the national policy The Second Plenary Session of the Central Party Standing Committee VIII has issued the Resolution on the strategic orientation for the development of education and training during the period of industrialization and modernization To meet the increasing trends of globalization, the quality of English teaching and learning in Vietnam should be promoted further especially for communication Pronunciation has an important role in overall communicative competence Accordingly, teaching methods, strategies, teniques must be innovated and diversified in English classes, and learning pronunciation should be fun to all students Realistic base: Pronunciation is integral to learning and teaching a language because it decides how good one’s communicating skill is And it is neglected in many classrooms Thus, making pronunciation lessons more fascinating and less difficult to learners is extremely essential 3.In many high schools including the school in which I am working, pronunciation is really a trouble Both teachers and students are indifferent to it, or they it ineffectively II The fact of teaching and learning pronunciation in high schools Teaching pronunciation: English teaching in general and pronunciation in particular is strongly influenced by the traditional approach for which the pronunciation is irrelevant, focuses only on imitation Many teachers are not active enough to study and apply new methods in teaching especially pronunciation And there are not few teachers who make mistakes when pronouncing Teaching pronunciation in high schools is the issue to which has not been paid enough attention In some classes, pronunciation part is even ignored, and that results in students not being able to communicate with others properly in the near future Learning pronunciation: There is lack of concern and awareness for pronunciation learning among high school students They focus mainly on grammar, reading and writing skill because what worries them most is their examinations without knowing how important pronunciation is for their later lives Apart from teaching methods of the teachers, the majority of students is passive in learning They often find pronunciation difficult and boring to study As a result, they not know how to pronounce words in a correct and proper way Influence of local accent is one of the reasons that make pronunciation difficult for Vietnamese students Common pronunciation errors: Error Type 1: Omission of final consonants As in the case of several Asian languages, Vietnamese does not contain words ending with consonants; so naturally, learners are usually very confused with final consonants and thus end up deleting most of them The consonants commonly omitted are: /z/, /s/, /t/, /v/, /ks/, /ʤ/ /z/: tables; rose; rise; bags /s/: mice; class; mess; rice /t/: right; fight; hate; fruit; start /v/: love; drive; retrieve; Steve /ks/: six; lakes; cooks; hacks /ʤ /: manage; bridge; engage Error Type 2: Omission of Medial sounds Some sounds occurring in the middle of words are also omitted by Vietnamese learners as such occurrence is an unfamiliar phonetic phenomenon These sounds are: /z/, /s/, /t/, /v/, /ks/, /ʤ/ /z/: Wednesday; president; rising /s/: master; western /v/: severe; savage; rival; never /ks/: mixer; Foxtel; excel; vaccine /ʤ /: pledger; virgin; midget; bludger Error Type 3: Replacing /t/ /tr/ /dʒ / with /tʃ / A significantly common error committed by Vietnamese learners is to replace /t/ /tr/ & /ʤ/, with /ʧ/ That shows that learners struggle greatly with the concept of combining purely alveolar sounds with post palatal ones /t/: time; task; talent; cutter /tr/: trash; transit; hatred; tried /ʤ /: cage; badge; grudge Error Type 4: Confusing /ð/ for /d/ or /z/ Vietnamese learners find it difficult as most English learners to place the tongue tip between the teeth, so they resort to an easier solution that is to bring the tip into contact with the back of the teeth or alveolar sometimes in the form of /d/ or /z/ /ð/: weather; loathe; then; rather Error Type 5: Confusing/ʃ / for /s/Or/s/ for /ʃ / Vietnamese learners use /s/ and /ʃ/ interchangeably, however, based on my classroom experience, I have found that /ʃ/ is more commonly confused for /s/ especially when it is the initial sound in a word as in [shoe], which becomes [sue] and sometimes when it’s final as in [cash] which becomes [Cass] There are times when the opposite is true but more commonly when /s/ is located in the middle of the word as in [castle] which sounds as [cashol?] Due to the lack of distinction between the two sounds, it’s very difficult to establish a pattern of error Teachers then are strongly advised to provide the students with step-bystep instructions on how to produce these consonants and train their ears to distinguish between them /s/: muscle; person; percent; mouse and rats /ʃ /(initial): shovel; shine; sheep; shape; shallot /ʃ /(final): reddish; selfish; cash; rush; tarnish Error Type 6: Consonants clusters As formerly stated, the consonants cluster phenomenon is quite unfamiliar to the Vietnamese language and hence complex, so teachers should expect to see plenty of omissions, additions and substitutions occurring in words with [pr] [pl] [tr] [kr] [kl] [fl] [ks] [sk] [st] [ts] combinations Teachers need to spend a considerable amount of time with the students to practice these sounds as they affect intelligibility dramatically /pr/: problem; practice; pronunciation; present /pl/: place; plough; plane; please; plumber /tr/: try; train; trophy; trail; tricky; trace; trim /kr/: crane; crab; crime; Kristen; cram; cradle /kl/: climb; claim; cloud; clear; Clayton; cluster /fl/: fly; fleece; Fletcher; fluke; flirt; fluster /ks/: lacks; Max; spikes; takes; seeks, ticks /sk/: ask; task; husky; rascal; mascot; risky /st/: must; rusty; festival; pastor; best /ts/: rights; mates; fights; boots; seats; hits Error Type 7: Voiced-Voiceless distinction In English, frequent shifts between voiced and voiceless consonants are required to distinguish between certain words Such mechanism does not exist and is not required in Vietnamese, thus, constitutes a complex problem It is the teacher’s responsibility to explain the contrast between voiced and voiceless consonants as well as the opposition of fortis and lenis as they can play a part in the voicing and de-voicing process /v/: live; serve; Dave; leave; vile; volt; oven /f/: life; surf; Tafe; leaf; file; fault; often /b/: beal; best; ball; bye; ban; rib; robe; burb /p/: peel; pest; Paul; pie; pan; rip; rope; burp /g/: goal; gap; gate; ragged; beggar; bag; blog /k/: coal; cap; Kate; racket; Becker; back; block Error Type 8: Confusing long sounds for short sounds /ɪ / for /i:/ Another common mistake resulting of the confusion between spelling and pronunciation Vowel /ɪ/ is quite frequently spelled as letter [i] in English and since Vietnamese rely on spelling to produce the English sounds, they confuse /ɪ/ for /i/ /i/: need; read; teat; leave; meat; wheel; seat /ɪ /: knit; rid; tit; live; mitt; will; sit Error Type 9: Confusing /æ/ for /ʌ / This error is among many generated by the learners’ unawareness of the gap that exists between the English spelling and pronunciation Vowel /æ/ is quite often spelled with letter [a] which learners would then read as /ʌ/ or /a/ Teachers must repeatedly remind the students that English spelling and pronunciation are two very different things /æ/: bad; man day; hat; badge; tramp /ʌ /: bud; Monday, hut; budge; trump Error Type 10: Confusing /ʊ / for /u:/ These two vowels are sometimes spelled the same as in [foot] and [food] Teachers must explain the difference between lax VS tense as well as short VS long vowels and conduct some minimal pairs’ exercises to drill these sounds and assist learners in distinguishing between them /u:/: room; tooth; food; mood; rude; wooed /ʊ /: book; put; foot; hood; could; would III Suggested solutions to these above problems The teachers of English should try their best to improve their knowledge of pronunciation, and to practise pronouncing everyday for accuracy and fluency New teaching methods with games should be applied to draw students’ attention to the lessons and bring fun to learning Get students listen to the tapes, records or watch videos performed by native speakers to help them be familiar with native way of pronouncing It is essential that the teachers design a variety of interesting activities to get students practise pronunciation to help them to be aware of the importance of pronouncing a word correctly in communication Below are some activities that can be used in teaching pronunciation in high schools IV Some effective pronunciation activities Odd One Out Prepare a list with sets of three to four words (or pictures) that have the same vowel sound, plus one somewhere in the middle that is different For example, cut, but, nut and put Divide your class into two teams and have them form two lines in front of the board Write the first set of four words on the board The students at the front of the line must read the set of words, race to the board once they have identified the word that sounds different and circle it The first student to circle the odd word scores a point for the team Syllables snap: Students take turns turning over cards with words written on them from their packs If the two words have the same number of syllables, 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 most cards at the end of the game is the winner This also works with vowel sounds in one syllable words and word stress Homophone Go Fish: This is a game that is best played in pairs or small groups – a really fun way to practice homophones! Make a list of the homophone pairs you’ll use, and write each word on a separate index card or piece of paper Make as many decks of cards as you’ll need depending on the number of groups you’ll have Each group gets a set of cards; each student gets five cards The remaining cards are put in a draw pile The goal of the game is to find the matching homophone by asking another student if they have “a word that sounds like…” For example S1: Do you have a word that sounds like “plane”? S2: Yes, I (hands over “plain”) Now, to keep the matching pair the S1 must use both words correctly in a sentence or two If S2 does not possess the homophone he/she has to say, “Go fish!” And S1 takes a card from the draw pile Kim’s game: Prepare about 20 objects (or pictures) involving the sounds students have learnt Teams of students look carefully at the things or pictures shown by the teacher Students then try to remember and write down what they saw Teacher may ask students to read the words aloud to check their pronunciation Sounds brainstorming board race7 Teams of students try to write as many words with the sound they have been given on the board as quickly as possible Each team member can only write one word before they pass the pen onto someone else, but they can prompt each other This also works for number of syllables and word stress Minimal Pairs picture board race Prepare sets of minimal pair pictures Divide the class into two teams Students take turn try to stick the pictures at the right column on the board The one who sticks right has to read the word indicating the picture to get a point for the team Sounds same or different In this variation on Minimal Pairs Stations, rather than indicating which sound they hear, students indicate if they think two words you say have the same or different pronunciation This is good for homophones as well as minimal pairs The easiest way to explain the task is to give students pieces of paper with “Same” and “Different” written on for them to hold up or race to slap Four in a Row Divide your class into groups of three to four students Print out this Four in a row worksheet (or make your own!) and cut it up into separate cards In groups, students must work together to arrange the words into sets of four words that sound the same The first team to complete all of the sets wins Dictation Dictation is when someone speaks out loud and someone else writes it down Getting your students to write down what you say is good listening practice for them, and when you’re dictating minimal pairs they need to listen especially carefully There are a few different dictation activities you can use Minimal Pairs Dictation—The teacher reads out minimal pairs in a particular order and the students write them down Or the students could have the words already written down and you could instruct them to put marks, numbers, colors, etc on particular words as you read Running Dictation—The students work in pairs One student runs to read the words or sentences from somewhere farther away, like on the wall outside the classroom They then dictate to the other student who writes them down The dictation could be single words, minimal pairs or sentences including target words and sounds Fast Dictation—This is where the dictation is read in one continuous stream instead of a few words at a time with breaks The students listen and write any words or phrases they notice (without panicking!) In this situation, the dictation should include some target words (in minimal pairs) which the students should listen for specifically and write down in the order they hear them Picture Dictation—The students have a picture, background or series of pictures containing objects that represent the minimal pair words They follow instructions to highlight the pictures of their minimal pair words, which may include, coloring, making marks or drawing additional items 10 Silently mouthing Students try to identify the word or sentence that the teacher or a student is mouthing silently This is good for awareness of mouth position for English sounds 11 Common pronunciation pictures Students draw lines between the pairs of words that share the same sound on their sheet, and see what kind of picture is made by those lines This can take a lot of preparation, but is easier if you just have the thing they draw as a letter of the alphabet, usually an upper case one as there are more straight lines 12 Mimicking Pairs Mimicking is an essential part of pronunciation practice, that is, you model a word and students repeat by copying the same stress and tone But you can maximize the opportunities for learning by practicing two sounds at once Have students repeat sentences like these: Sit in your seat Chips are cheap Your niece is nice … 13 Tongue Twisters Tongue Twisters are fun and excellent for pronunciation practice This is a great way to help students practice the longer ones Let’s see one as an example taken from this worksheet, “Betty Botter” Write the Tongue Twister on the board: Betty Botter bought some butter, "But," she said, "this butter's bitter If I bake this bitter butter, It will make my batter bitter But a bit of better butter That would make my batter better." So she bought a bit of butter, Better than her bitter butter, And she baked it in her batter, And the batter was not bitter So 'twas better Betty Botter Bought a bit of better butter Now, erase some of the words and have students say it again, filling in the blanks Betty Botter bought some _, "But," she said, "this butter's _ If I this bitter butter, It will make my _ bitter But a bit of butter - That would make my better." So she _ a bit of butter, Better than her _ butter, And she _ it in her batter, And the _ was not bitter So 'twas better Betty _ Bought a bit of better _ Next, erase a few more words, and then again, till students remember and pronounce the Tongue Twister correctly Though pronunciation rules are clear, pronunciation practice is not an exact science Simply going over “the rules” is not enough You have to give students some motivation and the element of fun always does the trick V The application of some fun activities in teaching certain pronunciation lessons in high school In the process of teaching pronunciation in high school, I have applied some activities to make my lessons more enjoyable and motivating Here are some samples: Unit (Tieng Anh 10) Part E- Pronunciation Activity applied: Minimal Pairs picture board race Steps: - Prepare sets of pictures indicating the sounds taught in the lesson: / e / and /æ/ - Divide the board into columns (one for sound /e/, the other for sound /æ/ ) - Divide students into teams - Give each team a set of prepared pictures - Explain the rules of the game to students: + in about one minute, students try to stick as many pictures in the right colunm as possible, then read out the words indicating the pictures + students get point for a correct one + the winner is the one who gets more points 10 11 Answer keys: / e / : bed , bench, colour pencils, hen, bread, elephant / æ/ : mat, sand, apples, cat, casttle, candles Unit (Tieng Anh 10 ) Part E- Pronunciation Activity applied: Minimal pairs dictation Steps: - Prepare some words containing the sounds taught in the lesson: /3: /, /3 / ( bird, fur, herd, earth, service, sir, stir, turn, urgent, work, church, nurse, teacher, pagoda, tonight, camera, about, doctor, summer, cinema, letter, composer, surprise…) - Divide students into groups - Explain the rules of the game to students: + teacher read the prepared words particularly + students recognize the sounds by writing down “1” for sound /3 / or “2” for sound /3: / + students get point for the quickest and correct answer + the winner is the one with more points Keys: /3 / : teacher, pagoda, tonight, camera, about, doctor, summer, cinema, letter, composer, surprise /3: /: bird, fur, herd, earth, service, sir, stir, turn, urgent, work, church, nurse Unit (Tieng Anh 10) Part E- Pronunciation Activity applied: Kim’s game Steps: - Collect about 20 objects (or pictures) involving the sounds taught in the lesson: /a:/ and /ʌ / (/ʌ / : cup, trumpet, puppy, duck, truck, skull, bug, gun, nut, gum /a:/: car, star, guitar, scarf, shark, marmot, pencil sharpener, marker, heart, mask) - Divide students into teams with posters - Show students the objects (or pictures) and ask them to look carefully at the objects in about 1minutes 12 - in about two minute, students try to remember and write down as many words as possible, then read them aloud + students get point for one correct word + the winner is the one who gets more points 13 14 Unit (Tieng Anh 10) Part E- Pronunciation Activity applied: Odd one out Steps: - Prepare about 5-6 sets of four pictures (or words) containing the sounds taught in the lesson: / i / and / i: / (3 of them have the same sound) - Divide students into teams - Explain the rules of the game to students: + teacher shows students the pictures (or words) at a time + students try to pick out the picture (or word) indicating the different sound from the rest and read the words correctly + students get point for a correct one + the winner is the one who gets more points (Set of pictures 1) 15 (Set of pictures 2) (Set of pictures 3) 16 (Set of pictures 4) (Set of pictures 5) 17 Keys: Set 1: sheep, meat/beef, cheese, ship Set 2: peach, bee, pizza, key Set 3: teacher, gift, teeth, tree Set 4: singer, tea, green, sea/beach Set 5: fish, ink pot, sleep, chicken Unit 1(Tieng Anh 12 ) Part E- Pronunciation Activity applied: Dictation Steps: - Divide students into two teams - Divide the board into two parts with two columns - Place the sounds: /s/, /z/ at the top of the columns - Teacher dictate words and students take turn to write them in the right column - students get point for a correct answer - the winner is the one who gets more points Words given: books, zoos, bats, sends, maps, handbags, caves, news, speaks, mats, blankets, Maths, photographs, bridges, clicks, communicates, realises, balloons, finds, lies Keys: /s/: books, bats, maps, speaks, mats, blankets, Maths, photographs, clicks, communicates /z/: zoos, sends, handbags, caves, news, bridges, realises, balloons, finds, lies Unit (Tieng Anh 11) Part E- Pronunciation Activity applied: Tongue twisters Steps: - Write the tongue twister on the board - Get students to practise reading - Explain the rules of the game to students: - Erase some words and have students read again, filling in the blanks - Continue erasing until students can remember the tongue twister and pronounce it correctly /sk /: Skinny skunk skipped over a skeleton /st/ : Stephanie Stegosaurus stepped on Steven’s stuff /sp/: Sparky sped into space on a special spaceship 18 Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm Teaching and learning Pronunciation in high schools 18 We can the same with: Unit (Tieng Anh 10 ) Part E- Pronunciation Sounds practiced: /ʊ /: / and / u: / Woodchuck How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? A woodchuck would chuck many chucks of wood if a woodchuck could chuck wood C CONCLUSION Conclusion Pronunciation certainly deserves strong attention in the English class Poor pronunciation will cause problems in oral communication no matter how good a speaker’s control of English grammar and vocabulary might be Therefore, English teachers need to help students be aware of its important role in order to be able to speak English clearly and intelligently It does not matter if someone makes mistakes as long as he or she knows how to correct them Along with enriching our own knowledge of pronunciation, it is our responsibility to motivate students, to be their guide light in studying Applying games and fun activities in teaching and learning pronunciation has been proved much more effective than the old traditional methods in our school It can not only help to bring learners interesting lessons but also create an active way of learning English And below is the result of my small survey: Class 10 C6 10 C7 11 A7 % Students understand the leson before applying the study 79% 74% 70% % Students understand the leson before applying the study 98% 92% 85% % differance 19% 18% 15% Suggestions Pronunciation is an indispensable part in studying a language, at the same time, it is considered to be difficult and boring Hence, active approach like applying games or fun exercises in teaching this area should be used more often by all teachers of English High schools should be upgraded with modern equipments like projectors, smart boards, TV connecting with the internet … for higher quality of teaching and learning English There should be more training courses or workshops for qualifying teachers of English, so that they can meet the students’ learning demands Though I have done my best to study this matter, there are still mistakes or imperfection I hope to receive comments, ideas from colleagues and students to 19 better my study Thank you! The headmaster /s confirmation Thanh Hoa, 10th May , 2021 Undertaking not to copy Nguyễn Thành An D Reference books English Pronunciation in Use – Cambridge University Press Teaching Pronunciation - by Marianne Celce Murcia, Donna M.Brinton, Janet M.Goodwind Pronunciation documents on the Internet 20 ... working, pronunciation is really a trouble Both teachers and students are indifferent to it, or they it ineffectively II The fact of teaching and learning pronunciation in high schools Teaching pronunciation: ... enough to study and apply new methods in teaching especially pronunciation And there are not few teachers who make mistakes when pronouncing Teaching pronunciation in high schools is the issue to. .. development of education and training during the period of industrialization and modernization To meet the increasing trends of globalization, the quality of English teaching and learning in Vietnam should