Contents

INTRODUCTION

1 Theoretical Foundation Of Teaching English Pronunciation In TEFL

1.1 Difficulties in teaching English pronunciation
1.2 Microskills in teaching English pronunciation

1.3 Techniques in teaching English pronunciation

2 Teaching English Sounds

3 Practical Part
3.1 Activities for teaching English vowels
3.2 Activities for teaching English consonants
3.3 Activities for teaching English diphthongs

4 Ways Of Teaching Prosodic Features

4.1 Activities for teaching intonation
4.2 Activities for teaching rhythm and rhyme
4.3 Activities for teaching word stress and sentence stress

5 General Conclusions

Bibliography

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INTRODUCTION

According to the new school Curriculum and the European Council of

Education the problem of teaching pronunciation in TEFL is a very actual
one and it had been studied and analyzed by many great teachers. I tried
also to do a research and I dedicated it to this topic :” WAYS OF
TEACHING PRONUNCIATION IN TEFL “.I did it because I feel it
important and necessary to be taught in schools lyceums or even
individually.

My research comprises four chapters .The first one is a practical one , the
second and the third are practical chapters and finely the last one is left for
general conclusions.

As I have already mentioned the first chapter is a theoretical one and it

is entitled “ Theoretical foundations of teaching pronunciation in TEFL “ . I
thought it is necessary to speak here about difficulties in teaching and I am
sure we can not teach English without having knowledge about micro skills
and techniques used in modern teaching of English pronunciation.
Concerning the second chapter , that means the “ Practical Part “, I
displayed a vast information about the most important peculiarities of
teaching English sounds . Every teacher of English needs to know that
pronunciation consists also in teaching English vowels , consonants and
diphthongs as well . Students in their turn should be taught to practice all
these aspects through exercises and many other activities .It helps to students to
pronounce sounds like the English people do and to develop a great instinct
in each learner to speak a beautiful English .

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 Chapter number three is dedicated to teaching prosodic features . That is
to say that when English is taught we have to take into account that it can
not be taught without teaching intonation, rhythm and rhyme and even stress
and sentence stress . All these are rendered in this chapter and also I tried
to show that activities are important in this domain too.
The last chapter is left as usually for general conclusions .While writing
the conclusions I thought it would be good to mention the aspects I touched
upon and to prove that what I did is of great importance in my future
career as a teacher . But there is one more aspect I mean there are lots of
aspects in English pronunciation which I did not study and even did not
touch upon . Such aspects as weak and strong forms in sentences or even
reading rules are also important in pronunciation . What I mean is that these
topics can be studied and analyzed by the others in order to render a
wonderful research which can be a real source for all the teachers and
learners of English as a second language or as a foreign language .
Probably my next research will be based on these aspects I have just
mentioned above . I tried to do my best and I hope that my research
dedicated to “ Ways of Teaching Pronunciation In TEFL “ will serve for
teachers of English to teach their students the best pronunciation .

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CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAL FONDATION OF TEACHING
PRONUNCIATION IN TEFL

1.1 Difficulties In Teaching English Pronunciation

First of all I would like to begin with the question : “ What is

pronunciation ? “ The English Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary gives
the following definition for the term pronunciation - the way in which a
language or a particular word or sound is pronounced and secondly it is the
way in which a particular person pronounces the words of a given
language , in our case , the words of English .Well, there are two aspects of
pronunciation . The first - the way in which a language or a particular word
or sound is pronounced needs a special attention . Why is it so ? Because
in order to know how to pronounce the words or the sounds a person
should be taught first. So in this paper we are trying to discover how many
and which aspects of pronunciation must learn or must be taught .
In G. V. Rogova’s “ Methods of Teaching English “ in the compartment “
Teaching Pronunciation “ we find that the first impact of any language comes
from the spoken word. The basis of all languages is sound , but words are
merely combinations of sounds . That is absolutely right and yet the
acquisition of good pronunciation depends to a great extent on the learner’s
ability of listening with care and discrimination . One of the tasks of language
teaching consists in devising ways to help the learners and the unfamiliar
sounds . The hearing of a given word calls forth the acoustic image of that
word from which a meaning is obtained . Therefore teaching pronunciation is
of great importance in the developing of pupils ‘ hearing and speaking habits
and skills.
Teaching pronunciation is as well of no less importance in the
developing of reading and writing habits , since writing or what is written is
a graphic representation of sound sequences. In reading the visual images

5
become acoustic images . These are combined with kinesthetic images ,
resulting in inner speech . Wrong pronunciation often leads to
misunderstanding . For example when a speaker or a reader replaces one
phoneme with another , he unintentionally uses quite a different word , in
this way altering the sense of what he wanted to say .
e.g. white instead of wide , it instead of eat ; pot instead of
port , etc. Every teacher must understand how important the teaching correct
pronunciation is . As we already know any language has its specific phonic
system . This is true for English as well . The sounds of English are not the
same as the sounds of Romanian or even of Russian . The pronunciation of
words is not only a matter of sounds , but also of stress on accent . Some
words have the heavier stress on the first part of the word :
e.g. sorry , evening , morning , answer .
and other words have the heavier stress on the second part :
e.g. begin , mistake , about , reduce , result , occur , effect .
Rogova suggests us that stress is really very important to the assimilation of
English pronunciation . foreigners often find it difficult to understand an
English man’s speech and ask him to speak more slowly , because in quick
speech the accented syllables are so strong that they almost drown the
others.
The pronunciation of sentence patterns includes also variations of
musical tones : rise and fall . English tones patterns differ from those of
Romanian , that is why pupils find it difficult to use adequate tone patterns
in conversation or while reading aloud . Sometimes Romanian people speaking
English use wrong intonation because of the interference of the mother tongue
. That often leads to misunderstanding and impoliteness :
e.g. ́Will you wait for me ́here ?
is not only a wrong tone pattern but is impolite in its form .
While studying the ESL and EFL programs we notice that ‘English’ is a
term that can refer to various dialects , including British English , North American

6
English and others. Obviously those studying English in order to fit into their
new country will learn the variety spoken there . However for those who do not
intend to change countries the question arises of which sort of English to learn . If
they are going abroad for a short time to study English , they need to chose which
country . For those staying at home , the choice may be made for them in that
private language schools or the state school system may only offer one model . For
example students studying EFL in Hong Kong , are more likely to learn British
English , whereas students in the Philippines are more likely to learn American
English .
Language teaching practice often assumes that most of the difficulties that
learners face in the study of English are a consequence of the degree to which
their native language differs from English . A native speaker of Romanian , for
example, may face much more difficulties than a native speaker of German . This
may be true for anyone of any other mother tongue , also called first language ,
setting out to learn any other language .
Language learners often produce errors of syntax and pronunciation
thought to result from the influence of their mother tongue , such as mapping its
grammatical patterns inappropriately onto the second language , pronouncing
sounds incorrectly or with difficulty or confusing items of vocabulary known as
false friends .This is known as mother tongue transfer or language interference .
However this transfer aspects are typically stronger for beginners ‘ language
production .
It happens very often that teachers are comfortable teaching reading ,
writing , listening and to a degree general oral skills , but when it comes to
pronunciation we often lack the basic knowledge of articulator phonetics not
difficult to acquire , to offer students anything more rudimentary and unhelpful
advice. There is also a tendency for us to focus on production as the main
problem affecting our learners .Most research however , shows clearly that the
problem is more likely to be reception - what you do not hear , you do not
say .Moreover if the English is not clearly received the brain of the learner

7
converts it into the closest sound into their own language . Thus the dental English
fricative [th] in ‘those’ becomes converted by Spanish speakers into the dentalised
Spanish [ d] , producing ‘dose‘ , as if what the speakers hears . Given this reality ,
it would seem logically to place a heavy emphasize on listening or reception as a
way into releasing appropriate pronunciation or production .
Apart from using knowledge of our students and our ears in order to be aware
of their pronunciation problems , it is also useful to have some prior knowledge of
what elements of English phonetics and phonology are likely to cause problems
.This is one area of language learning where few people would question the use of
contrastive analysis.
It is very important to mention the opinion of Marianne Celce-Murcia and
Janet M. Godwin concerning difficulties in teaching English pronunciation . They
say that there have been many differences of opinion over the years in the language
teaching pronunciation and about how best to teach it. In direct approaches
pronunciation is very important but the methodology is primitive : the teacher is
ideally a native or near native speaker of the target language who presents
pronunciation inductively and corrects via modeling – listen and imitate me as best
as you can .There is a threshold level of pronunciation in English such as that if a
nonnative speaker’s pronunciation falls below this level he or she will not be able to
communicate orally no matter how good his or her control of English grammar
might be.
What are the variables that seem to impede or enhance the acquisition of a
reasonable pronunciation in English ? Kenworthy (1987) provides a useful
inventory .For each of her 6 factors we can make our own conclusion at the end.
The first factor is the learner’s native language. Mother-tongue transfer is
generally more systematic , pervasive and persistent in th area of pronunciation
than it is in grammar or in lexicon .This makes it important for teachers to know
something about the sound system of the language that their learners speak in order
to anticipate problems and understand the source of errors.

8
 The second factor is the learner’s age .The younger the age when the learner
begins to acquire English the better the learner’s pronunciation .In fact complete
mastery of English before age 12 generally results in accent-free speech , whereas
acquisition after age 15 virtually guarantees some degree of accentedness in speech.
The third factor is the learner’s exposure .Exposure to the target language
can refer to both the length of time and the extensity of the exposure over time.
Generally speaking the more time spent on learning the spoken language the better
the pronunciation .
The learner’s innate phonetic ability is the fourth factor. Some people simply
have more skills at or aptitude for imitating and producing sounds and sound
patterns that are new to them. All other things equal such learners will achieve a
better pronunciation than will those learners with lesser aptitude.
The fifth factor is the learner’s attitude and sense of identity. The attitude the
learner has toward the target language and its speakers may affect his or her
pronunciation .The more favorable the attitude , the better the pronunciation is.
The sixth is the learner’s motivation and concern for good pronunciation
.This factor is of great importance in pronunciation instruction. If the learner ‘s
motivation to prove is strong and if the investment of time and effort is great , there
will be improvement .
Another difficulty that may occur is the difference between the sound system
of the languages .For example if we compare Romanian with English than it is easy
to observe the following differences:
1. Romanian does not have dental fricatives
 voiceless [ ð ] may be replaced with a dental [ t ].
 voiced [θ] may become a dental [ d ] .
 since [ t ] and [ d ] are typically pronounced as dental stops anyway , words
like ‘there’ and ‘dare’ can become homophones.
 [ æ ] pronounced as [ ε ] . This makes many Romanians pronounce ‘death’
and ‘that’ as homophones.

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 2. Tendency to pronounce the English high lax vowels [ I] , [ υ ] as [ i ] ,[ u ] .

For example ‘fill’ and ‘feel’ , ‘put’ and ‘poot’ , ‘live’ and ‘leave’ are
homophones, since Romanian does not have these vowels.
3. Tendency to pronounce [ ŋ ] as [ ŋg ] ,(‘singer’ ,rhymes with ‘finger’)

because Romanian [ ŋ] is an allophone of [n] before velar stops.

4. Tendency to replace the English retroflex [ r ] with the Romanian trilled [r ].

5. Common mistakes due to Romanian cognates with different meanings (‘

false friends’).
6. Some speakers may have difficulty in using prepositions .Romanian is an

inflected language and use of prepositions is less extensive than in

English .While English prepositions modify the meaning of verbs in
Romanian there are separate words for each meaning .
e.g. go in - a intra
go out - a ieşi
go away – a pleca
go ahead - a continua
A significant number of Latinate words have identical or very similar
spelling in Romanian and English , making pronunciation confusing.

So pronunciation is deffinitely the biggest thing that people notice when a person
is speaking English . The speaker’s pronunciation creates the first impression he or
she makes when speaking.

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1.2 Micro-skills In Teaching English Pronunciation

Referring to micro-skills in teaching pronunciation , professor Jeremy Harmer

tries to give an answer to such questions ‘What a native speaker knows ? ‘and
‘What a language student should learn ?’.Well , native speakers or even competent
users of the language know how to say a word, that is how to pronounce it .This
knowledge comprises three areas : sounds , stress and intonation.
On their own the sounds of a language may well be meaningless. If all words
are made up of sounds , then all speakers of a language need to know the sounds if
they are to understand what is said to them and be understood in their turn.
When they use a word , native speakers know which part of that word should
receive the heaviest emphasis. For example in the word ‘photograph ‘ not all the
parts are of equal importance . We can divide the word into three parts :‘ pho‘ ,‘
to’, and ’ graph’ . Competent speakers of the language will say the word like this: ‘
PHOtograph’ , stressing the first syllable .The situation changes with the word
of ‘ photographer’ , where the stress shifts evidently to the second syllable :’
phoTOgrapher ‘ . Stress in words also changes depending upon a word’s
grammatical function : ‘perMIT ‘ is a verb but ‘PERmit ‘ is a noun .Native
speakers of a language unconsciously know about stress and they know how to use
stress to change the meaning of phrases and sentences and questions .
Closely connected with speech is intonation , which means the tune you use
when we use when we are speaking , the music of speech .Intonation is a big
indicator of involvement. If we tell what we think is a fascinating story and our
listener says :’ How interesting . ‘, starting at a low pitch and dropping their voice
on the ‘int ‘ of ‘interesting’ we will be fairly despondent since by their us of pitch
and intonation they will have plainly told us that they did not think much about our
story . High pitch and a small fall , on other hand would be much nicer , since that
would indicate that our audience was fascinated by what we had to say . Intonation
is clearly important then and competent users of the language recognize what

11
meaning it has and change the meaning of what they say through using it in
different ways .
Trying to give answer to the question ‘What a language student should learn ?’
we found more aspects .The first aspect is phonics. Phonics refer to an instructional
design for teaching children to read .Phonic involves teaching children to connect
sounds with letters or groups of letters. It is linked with basic rules , alphabetic
principle with spelling. English spelling is based upon the alphabetical principle ,
the idea that letters represent sounds .For example the word ‘pot’ is composed of
three letters , each representing a phoneme . Some letters in English regularly
represent only sound . However the alphabetic principle is not sufficient to
represent all of the spellings in English . Reading in English also requires
understanding of additional patterns that do not follow the “one letter – one sound”
principle .
Another important aspect is teaching the learner the vowel phonic patterns .It
consists of :
• short vowels are the five single letters vowel: a, e , i, o, u.
• long vowels are synonyms with the names of the single letter-vowels . They
are : [ ei ] , [ I] , [ ai ] , [ oυ] , [ ju ].
• schwa is the third sound that most of the single vowel spelling can produce .
The schwa is an indistinct sound of vowel in an unstressed syllable,
represented by the linguistic symbol [ ə].
• closed syllables are syllables in which a single vowel – letter is followed by
a consonant.
• open syllables are syllables in which a vowel appears at the end of the
syllable. The vowel will say its long sound .
• diphthongs are linguistic elements that fuse two adjacent vowel sounds .
The learner should pay attention also to consonant phonic patterns . It consists
of:
• consonant diagraphs are those spellings where in two letters are used to
represent a consonant phoneme .The most common consonant diagraphs are :

12
 ch for [t∫] , ng for [ŋ] , ph for [f ] , sh for [ ∫ ] , th for [θ] and
[ð] and wh for [ w ] .

1.3 Techniques Used In Teaching English Pronunciation

Different teachers who have studied this topic say that there are a lot of ways
and of techniques used in teaching pronunciation . For example such teachers as
Balbina Ebong and Martha Sabbadine from the British Council decided that a
good method in teaching pronunciation is using songs . A teacher can use songs to
focus on sounds . Sounds are the smallest unit from which words are formed and
can be categorized as vowels and consonants . As languages differ in their range of
sound , students have to learn to “ physically “ produce certain sounds previously
unknown to them . Learners can find sounds difficult to pick up out , and may not
see the point in focusing on them . However , incorrectly pronounced sounds strain
communication , sometime even changing a phrase’s meaning .Songs can help
because they are authentic and easily accessible examples of spoken English .The
rhymes in songs provide listeners with repetition of similar sounds. We can use
songs also to focus on words . on connected speech .
There is another opinion of David F. Dalton , that exercise is good in training
pronunciation. It should be simple , accessible , fun and combine reception and
production .Some students , usually adults , do feel embarrassed to pull ridiculous
faces when practicing vowel sounds , but David F. Dalton has generally found that
this soon passes and students enjoy the pronunciation work. Where possible ,
exercises should be communicative , and generate differences of opinion and
disagreement of what was said / heard. The exercise allows clear practice in
production and reception and gives concise feedback to individual learners , as

13
to where problems lie in these areas and how to repair them . Often these are very
simple physical questions such as not rounding the lips as in [u: ] in ‘fool ‘ which
the teacher can help them to focus on . As teachers , we are not the best judges of
the accuracy of our students’ pronunciation .We are accustomed to it and usually
very tolerant , when in general , native speakers are not . The exercise , then helps
us to be more aware of real problems learners have in their oral production and to
help to correct them .
Celce Murcia and Godwin suggest us several techniques in teaching
pronunciation . First there is “ listen and imitate/repeat” technique which was used
in direct approaches and also the audio-lingual approach . Second there are tongue-
twisters like “ She sells sea shell by the seashore.” or
Peter Piper picked a pick of peppered piper.
Did Peter Piper pick a pick of peppered piper ?
If Peter Piper picked a pick of peppered piper
Where is the peppered piper Peter Piper picked?
The third technique is suppose to be the technique of using lists of words as
minimal pairs .
e.g. syntagmatic: Don’t sit on that seat .
paradigmatic: Don’t slip/sleep on the floor.
A fourth technique that is used by first language acquisition research is the
developmental approximation drill, where the developmental sequence followed by
most L1 children becomes a way to get nonnative speakers to produce a
problematic sound or sound quality .
e.g. [w] ------------------ [r] [y] ---------------------- [l]
wed--------------------red yet----------------------let
The fifth technique that is wide spread is the drilling of vowel shifts and stress
shifts , something that was given by the early work in generative phonology .
e.g. vowel shift [ay] ---------------- [I ]
bible----------------- biblical
stress shift PHOtograph --------------phoTOgraphy

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 In fact what we have to do is to apply the most useful and usable of the old
techniques along with the same new and innovative exercises suggested in work on
teaching pronunciation.
In “The Pronunciation Book “ of Tim Bowen and Jonathan Marks we find that
in teaching pronunciation there is a big need to know all the sounds of English
language.
This is a chart showing the 44 phonemes of the variety of ‘standard’ British
English that otherwise known as RP or ‘received pronunciation ‘.

І: I Υ u: I∂ 
e ∂     
æ ʌ  ɒ   
p b T d  Ξ K g
f v Θ ð S z ∫ ʒ
m n Ŋ h L r W j

In correspondence to a standard model (RP) such a chart does not include

phonetic variations on the basic 44 phonemes found in various British regional
accent and other varieties of English. This chart is intended a general structural
guideline.
The 44 phonemes of English break down into 12 vowel sounds , 8 diphthongs
and 24 consonants . Many teachers like to display a phonemic chart in their
classrooms and to use it both to help in the teaching of sounds and to deal with
pronunciation problems as they arise . If for example a learner pronounces the
word ‘village ‘ as ‘willage’ the teacher might point to the phoneme [ v ] on the
chart , thereby indicating to the learner where the pronunciation error lies . In
addition , the chart can function as a “ pronunciation syllabus “ for the learners .It
provides a visual representation of the sounds of English , and can thus help them
with the aid of the teacher to recognize which sound they can already pronounce
well, and more importantly to determine which sounds they need to work on .
Using a phonemic chart presupposes a need on the part of both teachers and
learners to learn phonemic script .It is also a good deal more systematic and
15
accurate than homemade phonetic transcriptions that take the learner’s mother
tongue as the model for the sounds of English .It is suggested that teachers need to
be sensitive to problems of overload , particularly at lower levels with learners
whose mother tongue uses non-Roman script .Talking to learners about the
importance of good pronunciation and explaining the function of phonemic
symbols and the phonemic chart as well is extremely helpful.
We favor a gradual approach , introducing sounds and their symbols as they
arise over a series of lessons , rather than presenting all the symbols in a single
lesson . We typically introduce up to four sounds in a single lesson , beginning with
the familiar symbols as [m] ,[ s ] , [ p ] . We also introduce sounds in contrasting
pairs , where we feel the difference in sound , quality is particularly important .
Another wonderful technique in teaching pronunciation is using a tape –
recorder . We may find it useful to tape pronunciation listening exercises for our
learners . This is particularly important when we wish to have our learners
distinguish between vowel sounds , stress patterns or different intonation patterns.
Thus when we say :’ Read the sentence aloud !’ , we may find it helpful to tape our
reading beforehand .There are two big advantages to taping. Firstly , we can
provide a constant and consistent model , secondly our learners can listen in their
own time (perhaps in a self access centre or language laboratory , or even for
homework ).
Another role of the tape recorders is to record the learner own pronunciation .
This is a very effective way of giving them feedback on their own performance . If
they hear the contrast between a model sentence read by the teacher and their own
version of the sentence , this can help them in a number of ways . It can show them
that they still need to improve . It can also make them aware of errors in their own
performance .

CHAPTER 2 TEACHING ENGLISH SOUNDS

16
 We will probably need to help our learners become aware of what happens
when they produce sounds in their own language or in English . It is not normally
sufficient simply to repeat the sounds and expect learners to get it right through
hearing alone .Sometimes we will have to show or explain to them what happens
when a particular sound is produced .We will also probably need to show them how
to improve their pronunciation of the particular sounds that they are finding
difficult .
Celce Murcia and Godwin in “Teaching Pronunciation “ help us a lot by
informing that English has 24 distinct consonant sounds that we can describe in
terms of their place and manner of articulation and in terms of voicing – whether
the vocal cords are vibrating ( voiced ) or not (voiceless ) . In order to represent
each distinct consonant and introduce a few special symbols .One of the best ways
to appreciate the difference between voiced and voiceless sounds is to put our
fingertips on our Adam’s apple and alternate hissing like a snake [ssssssssssss] and
then buzzing like a bee [zzzzzzzzzz]. When buzz like a bee w can feel the vocal
cords vibrate : [z] is a voiced sound. But when we hiss like a snake , we feel
nothing because the vocal cords are still:[s] is a voiceless sound . To demonstrate
the place of articulation f a consonant sound , teachers use a variety of visual aids.
A saggital section diagram of the human speech organs can be a useful aid in
describing the points of articulation. The manner of articulation describes what
happens to the air stream as the sound is articulated . If the air stream gets blocked
completely we refer to the sound as ‘stop’ sound .If the air stream is compressed
and passes through a small opening we call it a ‘fricative’. If the sound begins like
a stop and then is released like a fricative we call it an ‘affricative ‘. If the air passes
through the nose instead of the mouth , we call the sound a ‘nasal ‘. If the air
stream moves around the tongue in a relatively unobstructed manner ,we call the
sound a ‘liquid ‘. And if the sound is very close to being a vowel , we call it a
‘glide’.
The English consonant sounds are as follows
Sound example

17
 1. [b] boy, cab
2. [p] pie , lip
3. [d] dog , bed
4. [t] toe , cat
5. [g] go , beg
6. [k] cat , back
7. [v] view ,love
8. [f] fill ,life
9. [ð] the ,lathe
10. [θ] thin , bath
11. [z] zoo , goes
12. [s] see , bus
13. [ʒ] leisure , beige
14. [∫] shy , dish
15. [h] his , ahead
16. [] check , watch
17. [Ξ ] joy , budge
18.[m] me , seem
19. [n] no , sun
20. [ɳ] sing , singer
21.[l] long , full
22.[r] run , car
23.[w] win , away
24.[y] you , Soya

Many teachers of English like to classify the English consonants according the following way:
Place of articulation
Manner of Bilabial Labio- Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
articulatio dental
n
Stop p ,b t,d k, g
18
Fricative f,v Θ,ð s, z ∫,ʒ H
Affricate , Ξ
Nasal m n ɳ
Liquid l r
Glide w y

A major problem that learners have with English consonants is the fact that
they cluster both initially and finally . In initial position there are many clusters of
two consonants and even some with three . With clusters of two ,either the first
sound is [ s ] or the second one is [ l ] , [ r ] , [w] or [y] ; in some conditions both
conditions are hold.
Two : [sn] snake ;[sp] speak ; [sk] sky ; [pl] play ; [pr] pray ; [kw] quite ;
[hju] hue ; [pju ] pure
With initial clusters of three , the first sound is [p] , [t] or [k] and the third sound is
[l] ,[r ] , [w ] or [y] :
Three : [str] strong ; [spl ] splash ; [skw] square ; [sky] skew .
In final position there are even more consonant clusters than in initial position ,
and these clusters can consist of two , three, four consonants;
Two : [lb] bulb; [md] seemed; [rv] serve; [vz] loves
Three : [rts] hearts ; [dz] builds ; [sks] asks
Four : [mpts] tempts ; [ksts] texts.
1.

Teachers as Tim Bowen and Jonathan Marks have something about teaching
sounds. They consider important to pay attention to the whole process of
pronunciation . Speaking about the vowels and diphthongs they point first to the
air , voicing , jaw , lips ,tongue to every little detail. There are some pieces of
advice concerning each point:

Air

19
 Say [i:] . put your hand in front of the mouth . You should feel some (but
probably not much )air being expelled from the lungs. Muscle effort is involved in
the passage of this air , with the tongue and other speech organs affecting the
quality of this passage without ever completely blocking it.

Voicing
Whisper [i:] .Place the fingertips lightly on either side of Adam’s apple .
Notice the absence of any vibration . Keep your fingertips in position and now utter
[i:] aloud . Notice the vibration .This is voicing . Voicing (the vibration of the vocal
cords ) is present in the pronunciation of all vowels , diphthongs and consonants.

Jaw
Say [i:] .Notice the position of the jaw . It is probably almost closed. Now say
[æ] . Can you feel any difference . Now try several times to succeed these two
vowels. You should feel a considerable difference in the jaw position. To illustrate
the importance of jaw position in the production of vowels and diphthongs try
pronouncing [i:] with your jaw wide open and [æ] with your jaw almost closed . It
will probably feel very unnatural and difficult to achieve .

Lips
Whisper the sound [i:] . Notice the lips . They are spread , almost as if you are
smiling. Now say [u:] . You feel that the lips become rounded , almost as if you
were whistling . Try pronouncing [i:], [u:] several times in rapid succession . to
illustrate the importance of lips , try pronouncing [i:] with rounded lips . It would
probably sound quiet differently . It may sound for example like a French vowel.

Tongue
Pronounce the sound [i:] . Notice the position of the tongue .Is it low in the
mouth ? Is it flat ? You will probably notice that it is raised towards the front upper
molars . Now say [u:] . Again notice the position of the tongue .It is probably

20
humped a little further back and it is not making such noticeable contract with the
rear of the mouth. In fact it is probably touching the sides of the back upper molars .

c
The production of consonants is affected by a number of factors , but
particularly by the manner of place of their articulation . Other factors to
consider are the quantity of air flow and the amount of muscle power
involved therein , as well as the question of voicing .
Manner of articulation
Prepare to say the sound [p] but stop just before releasing the sound . Notice
that the lips are pressed tightly together and that the passage of air is
momentarily obstructed. Now release the sound [p] ,you will feel that it is
almost like an explosion accompanied by a realize of air .Experiment in a
similar way with [k] . These sounds are plosive (stops). They are
characterized by two of the articulators organs coming together to form a
complete closure , blocking the passage of air momentarily. The air is
released to give the plosive sound . There are 6 plosives in English : [p], [b],
[t] , [d] , [k] , [g].Now try the sound [f] .Notice how this sound can continue
for some time . Unlike the plosives it is not a single ‘explosion‘ of air. The
top teeth and the bottom lip make contact and obstruct the free passage of
air , but not completely.
There is also a certain amount of friction involved .Now try [s] and [z] and
notice again the half-obstructed passage of air. These sounds are members
of the group known as fricatives :[f] , [v], [θ] , [ ð] , [s] , [z], [∫] , [ʒ] and [h].
The phonemes [m] , [n] and [ɳ] form a separate group . Practice saying them
all several times in rapid succession . You will soon notice that they have a
common feature .As with the plosive sounds there is a blockage in the
passage of air somewhere . The air ‘escapes’ through the nasal cavity , giving
all three sounds a nasal quality .These sounds are known a nasals.

21
The phoneme [l] is in a category of its own . Whisper the sound [l] several
times in rapid succession . You will probably notice that the teeth or blade
of the tongue comes into contact with the ridge behind the teeth , while the
air flow gives rise to the name of this single phoneme category – lateral .

So all the consonants and the vowels have their own way of being
pronounced and w have to pay attention to the articulation , because it is of a
great importance in teaching English sounds.

CHAPTER 3 PRACTICAL PART

22
 3.1 Activities For Teaching English Vowels

According to Dumitru Chitoranu ‘s “Ghid de pronuntie” , there are 12

simple vowels in English .That means that these vowels appear in initial ,
mid and final position . In Romanian we have 7 simple vowels , which can
appear in any position in words, no matter if it is a voiced or a voiceless
vowel.

Pronunciation of the vowels [i:] and [I]

cc
Activities :
1. The sound [i:] and [I] contrasted in minimal pairs of words:
[i:] [I] [i:] [I]
Deed did seat sit
Seal sill beat bit
Lead lid leap lip
Steel still peak pick
Seen sin seeks six

2 The vowels [i:] and [I] contrasted in sentences:

• We want Jean . …………………. We want gin .
• Feel them carefully . ………………. Fill them carefully.
• It is on the seal. …………………….. It is on the sill .
• It is a big meal . ……………………. It is a big mill.
• He caught the sheep . ………………. He caught the ship.

Pronunciation of the Vowels [e[ and [æ]

23
 The sound [e] is easy to be pronounced by Romanian speakers because it is
similar to the Romanian [e] .We can find the English vowel [e] at the beginning and
in the middle of the words and never in the final position of a word.
e.g. eggs, enemy , any, bell, says , fence.
The vowel is longer when it is followed by a voiced consonant and shorter
when it is followed by a voiceless consonant.
e.g. bed - bet
led – let
beg – beck
said – set
The vowel [æ] is very difficult to be taught because it has no equivalents in
Romanian . The sound [æ] can be obtained by keeping the mouth wide open as for
pronouncing [a] , but trying to pronounce a Romanian [e]. The tip of the tongue has
to touch the inner edge of the lower teeth. The vowel [æ] appears only in initial
position and in the middle of the words.
e.g. Ann , apple , act, hat , sand , natural .
The vowel [æ] is modified in dependence of the position in words. It is longer
when it precedes a voiced consonant and shorter before a voiceless consonant.
e.g. cab – cap
bag – back
sad – sat
ladder – latter

Activities :
1. The sounds [e] and [æ] contrasted in minimal pairs of words:

[e] [æ] [e] [ æ]

Ten tan send sand
Mess mass pen pan
Led lad lend land

24
Leg lag head had
Bed bad merry Marry
Expensive expansive peck pack

2. The vowels [e] and [æ] contrasted in sentences:]

• I said bad. I said bed .

• I want my wife to be more expensive.
I want my wife to be more expansive.
• We watched him peddling . We watched him paddling.
• Throw the pen away . Throw the pan away.
• I love this gem . I love this jam.

3. The sounds [i:] ,[I] ,[e] and [æ] contrasted in pairs:

[i:] [I] [e] [æ]

Pete pit pet pat
Deed did dead dad
Lead lid led lad
Neat knit net gnat
Bean bin Ben ban
Peel pill Pell pal
Seat sit set sat

Pronunciation Of the Vowels [ ] and [ ʌ]

The vowel [] is much longer than the Romanian [a] . The English vowel []
appears in initial , mid , and final position
e.g. arm , art , hard, calm, far, car.

25
 Just the same as the other English vowels , [] suffers some modifications , in
dependence of its position in words. The vowel [] is very long when it is in a
final position or followed by a voiced consonant.
e.g. car, far, are, tar, father, garden , sergeant, palm.
The vowel is shorter when precedes a voiceless consonant :
e.g. carp, clerk, art, calf.
Romanian speakers have no difficulties in the pronunciation of the vowel [ʌ],
it resembles very much the sound [a] from Romanian .But it has to be shortened a
little . This vowel appears only in initial and mid position , both in stressed and
unstressed syllables.
e.g. up , upper, cup, does , pronunciation.

Activities :
1. The vowels [] and [ʌ] contrasted in minimal pairs of words:

[] [ʌ] [] [ʌ]

Carp cup calm come
Heart hut harsh hush
Lark luck mast must
Bard bud barter butter
Psalm some starter stutter
Barn bun bark buck

2. The vowels [] and [ʌ] contrasted in sentences:

• Calm down ! Come down !

• Is the calf white ? Is the cuff white ?
• I found a larva in the garden . I found a lover in the garden.
• There were carts in the movie. There were cuts in the movie.
• I do not like this type of barter. I do not like this type of butter.

26
 Pronunciation of the Vowels [ɒ] and []

The vowel [ɒ] appears only in initial position in words.

e.g. on , odd ,opera, not, lock , box.
In American English the sound [ɒ] is substituted by a sound which is similar to
[] . Such words like mob [mb ] , log [ lg] .When [ɒ] precedes a voiced
consonant , it is longer in such words as : long , log , rob, cod, than in : pot, hop,
lock . what .
The English vowel [] resembles the Romanian [o] ,but it is a little closer.
This vowel appears in initial, mid and final positions in words:
e.g. ought, all, order, pawn ,call, hoard, paw , core .
The vowel is very long when it is situated in final position or precedes a
voiced consonant.
e.g. saw , four , more , board, lawn, cause .
When given sound is followed by a voiceless consonant its length is shortened.
e.g. walk , thought, daughter.

Activities :
1. The sounds [ɒ] and [] contrasted in minimal pairs of words:

[ ɒ] [] [ ɒ] []
Not naught shot short
Spot sport collar caller
Cock cork moss Morse
Odd awed body bawdy
Nod gnawed rot wrought

2. The vowels [ɒ] and [] contrasted in sentences:

• I’ll have a shot. I’ll have a sort.

• He’s a bad sot. He’s a bad sort.
• Now , where ‘s that cock? Now ,where’s that cork?

27
 • He was counting the pots. He was counting the ports.
• The potter was very helpful. The porter was very helpful.

Pronunciation of the Vowels [υ] and [ u]

The vowel [ υ] appears only in the middle of the words .

e.g. put , full, look.
This vowel is longer before a voiced consonant and shorter before a voiceless
consonant.
e.g. good , pudding, book, foot.
The English vowel [] is very similar to the Romanian [u] .This sound
requires length and it appears in initial , mid and final position .
e.g. ooze , spoon, fool, rule, shoe, argue, do.
The vowel [] is very long in final position and when precedes a voiced
consonant .
e.g. who , woo, blue, lose, move, wooed.
When it precedes a voiceless consonant its length is shortened.
e.g. shoot, group, goose.

Activities :
1. The vowels [υ] and [ u] contrasted in minimal pairs of words:

[ υ] [] [ υ] []
Pull pool wood wooed
Full fool soot suit (Am.)
Stood stewed hood who’d
Look Luke should shoed

2. The vowels [υ] and [ u] contrasted in sentences :

• Give me the glass ! Fool ! Give me the glass fool !

28
 • Look ,the postman is at the gate. Luke, the postman is at the gate.
• Are you sure she could ? Are you sure she cooed ?
• It was a long pull . It was a long pool.

Pronunciation of the Vowels [ə] and [ ]

The vowel [ə] is easy to pronounce for Romanian speakers because it

resembles the Romanian vowel [ə] , being a little shorter . It is one of the most
frequent sound used in English and it is called also “schwa” . The schwa appears in
initial , mid , and final position and only in unstressed position .
e.g. above , alike , ago , suppose , condition , summer , soda, ever.
The schwa is longer in final position or when is followed by voiced
consonants, and it is shorter when it precedes a voiceless consonant .Sometimes the
schwa is omitted , without changing the sense and the meaning of the word.
e.g. condition [ kən’di∫ən] [kən’di∫n]
The English vowel [] is well pronounced if we pronounce it very long and
our tongue is strained. We can find the vowel [] in initial ,mid and final position.
When it is in a final position or is followed by a voiced consonant the sound is very
long :
e.g. her , sir , fur, heard , bird , pearl ,.
When the sound we are speaking about is followed by a voiceless consonant ,
its length is considerably reduced.
e.g. hurt , earth , curse.

Activities :
1. The vowels [ə] and [ ] contrasted in minimal pairs of words:

[ə] []
an earn
and earned

29
 forward foreword
commas commerce
for fur
but Burt
could curd
had heard

3.2 TEACHING ENGLISH CONSONANTS

The contribution of such a personality as Dumitru Chitoranu in teaching

English sound cannot be omitted in any case. We find in his studies many
statements about English consonants . There are 24 consonant sounds , most of
them having correspondent sounds in Romanian. We can classify the consonants
according to the manner of articulation as follows:
• Stop consonants [p, b, t , d, k, g]
• Fricative consonants [ f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ∫, ʒ, h ]
• Affricate consonants [  , Ξ ]
• Nasal consonants [ m , n, ɳ ]
• Liquid consonants [ l, r ]
• Glide consonants [ w , j ].

30
 Except this classification consonants have one more classification , that means
according to the functions of speech organs which are involved in their articulation.
• Bilabial [ p, b , m ,w]
• Labiodentals [ f, v ]
• Dental [θ, ð]
• Alveolar [ t, d, s, z, n, l ]
• Palatal [∫, ʒ ,  , Ξ , r , j ]
• Velar [ k, g, ɳ ]
• Glottal [ h ]
And there is one more classification of the consonants – according to the
criteria of vibration of the cord:
• Voiced [ b, d , g , ð , v , ʒ , z, Ξ , m , n , l, r , w, j ]
• Voiceless [ p, t, k, θ , f , ∫ , s,  , h ]
And we have consonants which make pairs :
[p, b] ,[ t, d] , [k, g] , [f , v] , [θ, ð] , [s, z ] , [∫, ʒ ] , [ , Ξ ].
It has been stated that it is much easier to teach English consonants than
English vowels .

Pronunciation Of the Stop Consonants

All the stop consonants appear in the three position : initial , mid and final
position in words.
e.g. power upper soap
beard rubber lab
town later cat
day rider road
coat chicken lack
game ragged leg

31
 When the consonants [ p, t , k ] by a stressed vowel they are pronounced with
aspiration , a sound similar to ‘h’ .
e.g. past , time, carpet.
When the consonants precede an unstressed vowel the aspiration is shortened ,
and when they precede the sound [s] , it disappears totally .
e.g. speak , stay, scar.
When the stop consonants are followed by [l] there happens a ‘ lateral
explosion ‘ of the vowels.
e.g. trouble , apple , little, middle, giggle.
But there is a ‘ nasal explosion ‘ when they are followed by [n] .
e.g. ribbon , happen, kitten, sudden.

Activities:
1. Practice the following consonants in minimal pairs of words :
With aspiration without aspiration
pace base
pack back
pact backed
pad bad
pail bail
pair bear
pall ball

voiceless in the mid position voiced in the mid position

Harper harbor
Dapple dabble
Crumple crumble
Utter udder
Butting budding
Dicker digger

32
Voiceless in final position voiced in final position
Rope robe
Mop mob
Lap lab
Tap tab
Sat sad
Set said

Pronunciation of the Affricate Consonants

[ , Ξ ] are pronounced by pushing the tongue to the alveolus , a place

where the tongue blocks completely the speech channel . In order to understand
better the difference between these consonants and Romanian we need to compare
some words which have similar pronunciation , but of course different spelling.
e.g. beach – bici
budge – bagi
chop – ciob
match – meci
both of these sounds appear in initial mid and final positions in words.

Activities :
1. Practice the following minimal pairs of words:
Chin – gin etching – edging
Cheap – jeep larch – large
Choke – joke match – Madge
Cheer – jeer batch – badge
Chest – jest rich – ridge

33
 2. Practice the following combinations of words:
Which chair
Much junk
Much gin
Riche judge
Dutch cheese
Large jar
Much jelly

Pronunciation of the Fricative Consonants

All the fricatives appear in the three positions : initial , mid and final.
Activities :
1. Practice the following words with the consonant [f] ;
Five sacrifice
Food coffee
Fear roof
Faith leaf
Difference deaf

Trifle soften
Muffle deafen
Baffle often
Rifle siphon
Waffle toughen

Flee frame
Flesh fume
Flag fury

34
 Frog fuse
Fruit future

h
b
Activities:
1. Practice the following variants of the sound [m]:
Nymph rhythm
Comfort prism
Circumvent lissome
Smack bottom
Smoke materialism
2. Practice the following words with the sound [n]:
Infant cotton
Infinite sudden
Invite often
Sneeze mission
Snatch listen
3. Practice the following variants of the sound [ɳ ]:

Bring bacon
Cling taken
Anger blacken
Drink thicken
Singer sicken

Pronunciation of the Liquid Consonants

35
 The English liquid sounds are [l]and [r]. [l] is pronounced by pushing the
blade of the tongue on the alveolar ridge and the air must pass freely on the lateral
parts of the tongue .[r] is pronounced by raising the blade of the tongue to the hard
palate without touching this area of the palate . The liquid consonants appear in
initial , mid and final position .

Activities :
1. Read in a loud voice the words in which [l] is initial and in mid position:
Leak collect
Lid aloud
Leg lily
Lamp malady
Lord ballet
2. The same task but with the sound [r] :
Read correct
Rude arrange
Rid hurry
Raw story
Rub horror.

Pronunciation Of The Glottal Consonants

Two English sounds resemble vowels and consonants at the same time. They
are called semi vocals or semi consonants. As vowels they cannot form any syllable
and as consonants they are always followed by a vowel . These are [j] and [w].
e.g. yes , what
When [w] is preceded by a consonant ,lips are rounded as for pronouncing
[w] and those consonants are pronounced with rounded lips .

36
 e.g. sweet, quite , dwelling
[j] is pronounced by articulating with the lips the sounds.
e.g. yet , yard
The sounds [j] and [w] appear only in initial and mid position
e.g. young, water
refuse, twelve , aware
These two sounds appear in combination of words which present big
difficulties in pronunciation for Romanian speakers , because there are no
equivalents for such sounds in Romanian.

Activities :
1. Read in a loud voice the words :
Yiddish wit
Yet wet
Yap wax
Yacht watch
You wood
Young won
Yeast were
Youth week
Yard wolf
Yawn wall
3. Practice the [j] and [w] contrasted in minimal pairs of words:
Wet yet wield yield
What yacht wall yawl
Woo you whelp yelp
Were year whale Yale
Worn yawn woke yoke

37
 3.3 ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHING ENGLISH DIPHTONGS

There are many combinations of sounds in English which can be counted as

diphthongs , but only 8 of them have a statue of phoneme. They are [] ,[] ,[]
, [ ], [ ] , [iə] , [ ] , [ ] . Generally the pronunciation of the diphthongs
does not present too many difficulties for Romanian speakers because Romanian is
also a language of vocalic combinations .
But there is a very important difference between the English and Romanian
diphthongs . It consists in the degree of intensity and the duration of pronunciation
of the two component elements. In English , diphthongs are low , the first vowel
is stressed and comparatively to the second .

Pronunciation Of The Diphthong []

When we pronounce the English diphthong [] we can begin from the
pronunciation of the same Romanian diphthong , but we must stress the sound [e].
We can even compare some Romanian words with English words.
English Romanian
May mei
Bay bei
Hay hei
The diphthong [] appears in initial , mid and final positions .When we
pronounce it we need to pay attention to the sound [e] ,because it is keeping its
length when it is situated at the end of the words , or it is followed by a voiceless
consonant. The length of the sound is reduced when [] is followed by a voiceless
consonant .

38
 Activities :
1. The long and the short variants of the diphthong []:

Play plays place

Ray raise race
May made mate
Lay lays lace
Pay pays pace
Bay bays base
Day daze dace
Fay phase face
2. The vowel [e] and the diphthong [] contrasted in minimal pairs of

words:
Tell tale wet wait
Pen pain tent taint
Red raid men main
Let late rest raced

Pronunciation of the Diphthong []

The English diphthong [] is very similar to the Romanian [] . In this case
as in the case with [] the sound [a] must be pronounced longer than [I] .The
diphthong can be practiced by comparing the English diphthong with the Romanian
in words:
English Romanian
Die dai
Sty stai
My mai

39
 The diphthong is found in all the three position in words. When it is in a
final position or is followed by a voiced consonant the sound is much longer then in
the case when it is followed by a voiceless consonant.
e.g. fly like
high white
sly mice

Activities :
1. The long and the reduced variant of the diphthong [] contrasted in words:

Sigh side sight

High hide height
Pie pies pice
Rye rise rice
I eyes ice
2. The diphthongs [] and [] contrasted in minimal pairs of words:
Tray try pale pile
Bay buy paint pint
Way why lake like
Ray rye late light
Raid ride space spice

Pronunciation Of The Diphthong []

The diphthong [] has similarities with the Romanian diphthong []. But
the first element of the English diphthong is more open and longer than the
Romanian . Because of this we can compare it in English and Romanian words:
English Romanian
Toy toi
Soy soi

40
 Boy boi
The diphthong [] appears in initial , mid and final position in words. The
length of the sounds is kept when the diphthong is situated in final position or
followed by a voiced consonant, and the sound is shortened considerably when it is
followed by a voiceless consonant

Activities :
1. The long and the reduced variant of the diphthong [] contrasted in
minimal pairs of words :
Toys voice
Boy choice
Can moist
Noisy adroit
Poison hoist
Destroy exploit
2. The diphthongs [] , [] and [ ] contrasted in minimal pairs of

words :
Tray try Troy
Say sigh soy
Bay by boy
Pays pies poise
Lane line loin
Bail bile boil

Pronunciation Of The Diphthong []

41
 The diphthong [] is formed from a nucleus similar to the vowel [ə] and
finished with a sound close to [υ] . It is not difficult at all for Romanian speakers to
pronounce the sound ,because it is similar to the Romanian one. For example:
English Romanian
So său
Row rău
Toe tău
We an find this diphthong in all the three positions in words. It has the same
peculiarities as the others .It is longer in final position , and when it is followed by
a voiced consonant .The sound is obviously reduced when it precedes a voiceless
consonant.

Activities :
1.The long and the reduced variant of the diphthong contrasted in words.:
Go goad goat
Roe robe rope
No node note
Mow mode moat
Row rode wrote
2. The diphthong [] contrasted with other diphthongs:
Laid lied Lloyd load
Ray rye Roy row
Fail file foil foal
Lane line loin loan
Pays pies poise pose

Pronunciation Of The Diphthong []

42
 The English diphthong [] is very similar to the Romanian [] and it does
not present any difficulty when pronouncing it . For a better pronunciation of the
diphthong w have to pay attention to the first element of the diphthong : it must be
longer and more stressed than the second one. We can compare some words from
both languages :
English Romanian
Now n-au
Cow c-au
Sow s-au
The diphthong appears in initial , mid and final position in words. It is long
when is found in a final position or is followed by a voiced consonant.

Activities :
1. Long and reduced variants of the diphthong contrasted in words :
Bough bout loud lout
Cow couch mouse(vb.) mouse(n.)
House(vb.) house(n.) mouth(vb.) mouth(n.)
Vow vouch bowed bout
Found fount south(vb.) south(n.)

Pronunciation Of The Diphthong [Iɜ]

The diphthong [Iɜ] has no equivalents in Romanian and it is a little bit

difficult to pronounce . For a right pronunciation it is better to make the[I] of the
diphthong longer and more stressed . this diphthong can be found in all the
positions in words. The sound is longer in mid and final position or when it is
followed by a voiceless consonant

Activities :

43
 1.Long and reduced forms of the diphthong [Iɜ] contrasted in words :
Peer peers pierce
Fear fears fierce
Tear tears tierce
Gear geared ---
Beer beard ---
2. The diphthong [Iɜ] contrasted with the vowel [i:] :
Pier pea cheers cheese
Beer bee piers peas
Fear fee beard bead
Tear tea ear E
Deer Dee steered steed
Sheer she speared speed

Pronunciation Of The Diphthong []

The diphthong [] has no equivalents in Romanian . The diphthong appears

in initial , mid and final position .The sound [] is longer in final position and
when precedes a voiced consonant. The length of the sound is reduced when it is
followed by a voiceless consonant.

Activities :
1. Long and reduced variants of the diphthong [] contrasted in words:

Air aerial airplane

Wear wearing wherefore
Tear tears ---
Care cared careful
Hair haired hairpin
Bare bareback bare skin

44
 2. The diphthongs [Iɜ] and [] contrasted in pairs of words :

Chair cheer rare rear

Dare dear stare steer
Hair here bare beer
Mare mere share shear
Tear tear fare fear
Pair peer spare spear

Pronunciation Of The Diphthong []

The same as with some of the sounds , we do not have any similar sounds in
Romanian for this diphthong and we meet difficulties when pronouncing the
sounds. For a better pronunciation of the sound it is suggested to stress and to
make longer the first element of the diphthong . The sound appears only n mid and
final position in words . In the diphthong [] , [υ] is longer than [ə] when the
sound is stressed , in other cases [υ] is quite reduced .

Activities :
1. Variants of the diphthong []:

Tour usually
Doer vacuum
Endure continuous
Brewery influence
Bureau valuable
Fluent rescuer
2. The diphthong [] contrasted with [] and [Iɜ] :

Sure share sheer

Poor pair peer
Dour dare dear
Tour tear tear

45
 Lure lair Lear
Boor bear beer
Moor mare mere
Wooer wear we’re

b4 WAYS OF TEACHING PROSODIC FEATURES

4.1 Teaching Intonation . Activities for Teaching Intonation

We have been looking at different ways in which human sound is

processed . The point to emphasize is that all this is dome in order to communicate ,
and when we communicate using sounds , we clearly do a good deal more than
simply string allophones together to make up words. The message we convey
depends just as much on how we say something as on what we actually say .
The most obvious aspect of pronunciation is the articulation of specific
sounds. Thus , the proper name “Henry “ can be said to consist of a sequence of
sounds , or segments ,transcribed as [ ‘henri ] .But this segmental transcription does
not of course , tell us very much about the way this world might be uttered in any
specific situation .
So far we have established that intonation is used by speakers to convey
information , mainly through choice of significant pitch variation . But what kind
of information can be conveyed ? In Crystal (1987)six functions are listed :
• emotional : expression of attitudinal meanings such as excitement ,
surprise , reserve .
• grammatical : marking of grammatical contrasts , such as chunking
into clauses and sentences , or contrast between questions and
statements .

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 • information structure : marking of the distinction between what is
already , known and what is new . For example if someone says :
“I saw a BLUE car.” , this presupposes that it is already known
that a car is being talked about , and ‘blue’ is the new information .
• textual : marking of the structure of larger stretches of discourse ,
such as the distinctive melodic shape which different paragraphs
are given in news – reading .
• psychological : organization of discourse into units that are more
easily perceived and memorized , for example the tendency to
divide telephone numbers into rhythmical chunks.
• Indexical : markers of personal identity , and of group membership;
for example , members of certain occupation have distinctive ways
of speaking ,such as preachers , sports commentators , street
vendors , etc.
It has been stated that there are four possible tune movements :
Simple : - falling (moving downwards )
- rising (moving upwards )
Compound : - falling then rising
- rising then falling
Again the use of gesture and the backboard can help the teacher indicate the
rising or fallen pattern .
Gesture : a sweep of the arm from high to low will indicate the falling tune
(vice-versa for the rise) . The teacher should produce this gesture backwards -
from right to left , as this will be the right way round – from left to right – for
students .
The blackboard : (the non-text stage )
1. The teacher draws the parallel lines on the blackboard ; the top
represents a high pitch , the bottom line represents a low pitch .Then
an arrow is drawn to indicate the direction of the intonation pattern.

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 2. It is also possible to indicate both stress and intonation at the same
time
(the text stage )
Once the learners are able to read English the teacher can use a sign system
over the text , either on the blackboard or in a stenciled handout with exercises for
pronunciation work .
Brita Haycraft has pointed out the usefulness of such signs:
They are a support for the students’ memory , they can isolate stress and
intonation …they are neutral , common language , a code. Signs are there to help
and therefore must be flexible. When students first begin , by merely looking at
lines drawn on the blackboard (without words ) they ‘hear ‘ the sentence and
imitate it .

Activities :
When we teach our students we must understand what intonation is .It is the
music of a language – the way the voice goes up and down . We need to make
these general points about intonation :
• Intonation is very important in expressing meaning , and especially in
showing our feelings ( surprise , anger, disbelief , gratitude )
• However , intonation patterns are quite complex , and it is better for
students to acquire them naturally rather than try to learn them
consciously .
1. A game-like activity – using reliant to set up a situation that would
illustrate the difference in attitude . The teacher gives each student a small coin and
asks them to respond ‘thank you ‘ , at the same time drawing on the blackboard :

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One student is then given a larger coin and encouraged to produce ‘ thank you ‘ on
slightly higher pitch , and so on with increasing amounts of money . The
differences in pitch are illustrated on the blackboard :

The teacher can use other objects , such as chocolate , depending on the age level
and interests of the class .
2. Mood-cards . Two faces are drown on cards , one indicating a bored ,
uninterested mood like this :

The other like this :

And these once introduced , act as aids to correction whenever the dull intonation
pattern is produced. These drawings can be very simple , or the more amusing
cartoon-like drawing would be better . For younger learners they can also be given
names such as :

Mr. Grumpy Mr. Happy

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 3.Creating roles or enacting . One way of overcoming shyness and
embarrassment is to have the pupils or students to adopt a role and act out a short
sketch. For young learners this may quite simply entail having pupils walking
towards each other and producing greetings :

Mr. Happy: Hello .

Mr. Grumpy : Hello .

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4.2 Teaching English Rhythm and Rhyme . Activities

As a general definition of the word ‘ rhythm ‘ , the Oxford English

dictionary gives the following one : ‘ movement marked by the regulated
succession of strong and weak elements ‘ . The list of possible movements is very
long , and ranges from one heartbeat , the tick-tack of the clock , the sound of
footsteps , fingers tapping , to waves beating on the shore or the change of the tides.
It certainly seems a if our lives are pervaded by rhythm even though the rhythm is
not necessarily there objectively , but may be something we impose .

Activities :

1. Walking the rhythm

Level : all
Time : 10 – 15 minutes
Aims : developing awareness of pace and rhythm
Materials: music to accompany walking and rhythmic texts , recorded if possible
Preparation : 1. select of music to walk to.
2. make a recording if possible of a short poem or prose text in English and

one in the students’ mother tongue .

Procedure : ask the learners to walk round the room in pairs , with one leading , and
the other trying to walk like the leader . The leaders should move as they

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 like – stop , slow down , or speed up . After a maximum of minute ask the
students to swap roles. After another minute , ask all the students to stop
and discuss the way they felt , first in groups of four , then as class . Then
play the music and ask the students to walk to it . Then ask how easy or
neutral it is for them to walk to the pace of music . Next play the recording
of a short poem or read it and encourage students to move a part of their
body (head , leg or arm )or to sway their whole body to the rhythm of the
text.
3. Feeling The Rhythm
Level: elementary and above
Time : 5 minutes
Aims: becoming aware of the rhythm of English
Materials: a short poem or rhyme
Preparation : find a short poem or rhyme which is easy to understand , preferably
with repetitions .
Procedure : do this at the beginning of a lesson as warmer . The learners stand in
circles of about 10 people . Ask them to take one step forward , swinging
their arms , from behind their back to high in front of them and then step
back , swinging their arms down . Say the poem or rhyme accompanying the
rhythm with the movements . The students imitate you . When they have got
the rhythm , proceed with the rest of your lesson .
Suggestions for text : Icker backer , soldier cracker
Icker backer boo
Engine number nine
Out go you !

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4.3 Teaching Word Stress and Sentence Stress . Activities

In English we can use the word ‘stress’ to refer generally to the way we
emphasize something ,or give it prominence . The term ‘stress’ is used in two
different ways . One use is as a conventional label for the overall prominence of
certain syllables over others . Used in this wider sense , stress does not correlate
directly and simply with one feature as loudness , but represents the combined
effect of several other factors besides . The second and narrower use is concerned
with the way in which speakers actually achieve this impression of prominence , i.e.
its physiological cause. In this sense , stress refers to the muscular energy which
goes into the production of a syllable .
The smaller domain in which the contrast stressed and unstressed syllables is
the word .The characteristic patterning of these two kind pf syllables is commonly
called word ‘stress ‘ . What makes English word stress particularly difficult to cope
with for foreign learners is what makes English word stress appear chaotic and
without rules .English word stress is fixed in the sense that every word has its own
stress pattern which is an important part of its identity .

Activities :

1. Word stress
Level: all

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Time : about 5 minutes
Aim : to develop personal and physical awareness of word stress
Materials : recordings of pieces of music with different rhythms
Preparation : prepare a list of words with the same stress pattern , including
nonsense words .
Procedure : brainstorm a number of rhythmic feelings with the class first . make a
list of fields where rhythmic activities occur .Here are some examples :
Nature : a summer breeze , an autumn gale , the waves of the sea , breathing ,
heartbeats .
Sports : riding a hoarse , rowing a boat , cycling , running , swimming , tennis.
Ask the learners to sit comfortably , to close their eyes and breathe calmly . Tell
them in a quiet voice that you are going to say some words . They should
concentrate on the rhythm of the words , not the meaning and try to associate it
with something personal . Ask them to complete the second part of the
sentence such as :’ When I feel the rhythm of those words , it is as if ….’ or ‘
The rhythm of these words make me think of ….’. Quietly say the words you
have prepared without stopping between them . repeat the list .

2. Sentence stress
Level : elementary and above
Time: three stages of 15-20 minutes .(can be in separate lessons )
Aims : raising awareness of how stress affects the meaning of a sentence.
Materials : rhymes and statements
Preparation : The students need to know what word stress is , before doing this.
Prepare a class set of two suitable rhymes at the students’ level such as “This
is the house that Jack built.” or “Boys and girls come out to play .”Rhymes
which contain several one-syllable words are the most suitable .
Stage 1
Noticing stress

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Procedure : teach the class the first rhyme , ask them to clap the rhythm , or move
any part of their body they like . Ask the students how many syllables the
words have . Remind them that two-syllable words have one syllable stressed
more strongly than the other . Go through the text and , asking your students
to say where they fee there is strong stress .
Stage 2
Procedure : teach the class the second rhyme . Say the first stanza and ask them to
repeat it. Check that they understand it . then write it on the blackboard . Ask
them to say it while clapping the stressed syllables . For example :
“ THIS is the HOUSE that JACK built .”
Ask a student to indicate the main stress on the board .Draw your students’
attention to the fact that one word is stressed more strongly than the others .
Ask some students to repeat the rhyme , clap it, walk it, putting the main stress
on words .
Stage 3
Practicing in conversations
At this stage class practice is beginning to be more communicative . You can
concentrate on sentence stress only , or you may want to combine it with
intonation practice as well .
Preparation : prepare a series of statements about your students , the school, their
work place , current affairs , etc. at a level and on topics appropriate for the
group . Some should be true and some should be false .
Procedure : ask the learners to show whether the statements are true or false by
repeating them , replacing some words , and making careful use of stress .Ask
them to prepare their own list of true or false statements . In pairs one student
reads out one of their statements and the other students responds.
In twos or threes , the students pretend that they are in a noisy place , for
example in a railway station or busy street , or trying to talk on a bad phone
line . One starts a conversation , another ‘ misunderstands ‘ and puts the stress

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 on the wrong word /syllable .The other student correct them by stressing the
right word even more strongly .

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS

Now comes the time to draw some conclusions . It is important to mention that
I found necessary to pay a special attention to several aspects concerning the
“Ways of teaching pronunciation in TEFL “ .
The pronunciation process seems to be a practical one but it can not be
practiced by anyone without being aware of some theoretical notions concerning
pronunciation.
The first chapter contains information about the difficulties met in the process
of teaching English pronunciation . This process is not easy at all and it needs to be
studied first. A teacher should know first the level of the learner , then to find out
which are the difficulties. A very frequent difficulty is the difference between the
English phonic system and the learners’ phonic system. In this case the teachers
and the learners as well must study the differences between the ways of
pronouncing special sounds.
A speaker can have a wonderful grammar , a very well developed vocabulary ,
but he or she can be misunderstood by a native speaker or even by the teacher. We
can ask what is the problem? The answer to this question is that a bad
pronunciation makes the speaker or the learner to make first of all a bad impression
about himself or about herself , and secondly of course to be misunderstood .
Also in this chapter I tried to show some micro skills and techniques used in
the teaching pronunciation process. It is very important for a teacher to know what

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to teach , how to teach , when to teach and why to teach. It happens that the learners
have no ideas why they need to be taught different things at different times and with
different purposes. For example when I was at school practice I tried to see this
thing at every lesson. Pupils were already intermediate learners I would say , it was
the 9th grade and practically they had a good pronunciation , but it was not perfect ,
and it is normal , to my mind. I observed that they had a good teacher in English
who knew all these things and in such a way they got good pronunciation .
In the second chapter I mentioned something about the sound system. A
teacher should be aware of all the peculiarities of the English vowels and
consonants. Without it students or learners can not receive a good information
about it and they are not able to become good teachers in their turn. For example if
I did not receive this information when I was a beginner now I could never become
a good teacher. The pronunciation process seems to be a practical one but it can not
be practiced by anyone without being aware of some theoretical notions concerning
pronunciation.
The third and the fourth chapters are practical ones. Everyone knows that
theory without practice is nothing, and I agree with this. Practical part means
exercises for different types of vowels ,consonants and diphthongs as well ,
different activities for teaching or better to say for practicing the English
intonation ,word stress and sentence stress. This is one of the most important
aspects in this process , I think. What I tried to do with the learners at school at this
chapter was to practice with them intonation and word stress with the help of the
tongue twisters.
Actually this is all that I could in this domain. There are many other aspects in
pronunciation I did not touch upon . My suggestion would be to pay also a special
attention to such aspects as developing pronunciation through games , developing
the process of learning pronunciation by studying the weak and the strong forms in
a sentence. A learner should be aware which syllables to stress and in what cases. It
is rather difficult to do it because , practically there are no rules for this. The learner
should feel the stress exactly as the native speakers do.

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 In the end I would say , as a future teacher of English that a teacher must teach
his students first of all the best pronunciation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Bowen Tim and Marks Jonathan : The Pronunciation Book Student

Centered activities for Pronunciation Work , Pilgrims Longman Resource

Books, Longman , 1993

2. Celce-Murcia Marianne : Teaching English as a Second or Foreign

Language , (second edition ) Heinle and Heinle Publishers , a division of

Wadsworth , Boston , Massachusetts , 1991

3. Chiţoran Dumitru and Pîrlog Hortensia : Ghid de Pronunţie a Limbii

Engleze , editura ştiinţifică şi enciclopedică Bucureşti , 1998

4. Dalton Christiane and Barbara Seidhofer : Pronunciation, language

teaching – a scheme for teacher education , editors CN Candlin and H. G.
Widdowson , Oxford University Press , 1995

5. Doff Adrian : Teach English . A training course for teachers . Trainer’s

Handbook , Cambridge Teacher Training and Development , Cambridge

University in Association with the British Council , 1990

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6. Doff Adrian : Teach English . A training course for teachers . Teacher’s
Workbook , Cambridge Teacher Training and Development , Cambridge
University in Association with the British Council , 1998

7. Harmer Jeremy : The Practice Of English Language Teaching , (new

edition ) Longman Handbooks for Language Teachers , London and New
York , 1994

8. Hubbard Peter , Jones Hywel , Barbara Thornton , Wheeler Rod : A

Training Course for TEFL , Oxford University Press , 1994

9. Laroy Clement : Pronunciation . Resource Books for Teachers , series

editors Alan Maley , Oxford University Press , 1996

10. www.en_wikipediawork/non+native pronunciation

11. www.peacecorps.gov/library/pdf/Moo41_tefltesl.pdf

12. www.ucop.edu/elltech/parker_paper.

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