Pronunciation

in the English Language

Ali Cullerton, Ph.D.

RELO Andes, U.S. State Department & El Centro Ecuatoriano
Norteamericano: Global Quality English

Outline of Webinar
Important
Definitions (base
for learning)

Cueing Systems

Language
Development

Phonics

Syntax

Differences in
Languages

Classroom
Activities

Classroom
Resources

Questions

When is pronunciation important?

O Pronunciation is important to teach when

the native language accent is affecting the

meaning of the words or a persons ability to
understand the speaker.
O Theres nothing wrong with having an
accent.

Important Definitions
O Phonetics: Study of speech sounds
O Phonics: The sounds of letters
O Phonemes: Smallest units of spoken language (knight has

O
O
O
O
O

3: /n/ /i/ /t/) there are 44 in English and 500 ways to

represent them.
Spelling: orthography, segment words into sounds
Phonemic awareness: understanding that speech is
composed of a series of individual sounds
Morpheme: root word
Etymology: language origin
Graphemes: letters, d, 26 in English
Graphophonemic: letter sound relationships

Cueing Systems
Graphophonic
Phonics
Phonemic
Awareness
Letters
Sounds
Spelling

Syntactic

Semantic

Pragmatic

Vocabulary
Grammar
Tenses

Comprehension
Making sense of
texts

Purpose for
reading

Oral Language Development in an additional language

O Beginners: Need to know key phrases and

expressions to help communicate in the classroom.

Levels of Language Proficiency

Description

Implications for Using Oral Reading

Level 1: Starting

Silent period. They listen but do not

speak English. They may respond
using nonverbal clues in an
attempt to communicate.

Teacher and more advanced

students model oral reading.
Students in the silent period
should not be forced to speak
individually, but should be given
the opportunity to participate in a
group activity.

Level 2: Emerging

Students are beginning to

understand more oral language.
They respond by using one or twoword phrases and start to produce
simple sentences for basic social
interactions and to meet basic
needs.

Teacher and students should

continue to model oral reading.
Students should be encouraged to
begin taking risks with simple,
rehearsed oral reading in nonthreatening situations.

Opitz & Guccione (2009). Comprehension and English Language Learners: 25 Oral Reading Strategies that Cross
Proficiency Levels.

Classroom Scenarios
Challenge
O How can I provide Instruction

and support for lower level

speakers without holding
back the more advanced
students?
O Student speaks English

outside of class but doesnt

want to try in class.

O How can I help support oral

language and oral reading?

Solution
O Modify the test, create group

structures that set students up for

success and targeting the amount
and nature of student support.
O Academic language is
complicated, and different than
just speaking in English. Allow
students to read, practice and
discuss their responses in small
groups/partners before sharing
out. (Think/Pair/Share).
O Create a low-anxiety environment,
repeated practice,
comprehensible input and drama
(Readers Theater).

Language Development (Halliday, 1984)

we learn
language

we learn
through
language

we learn
about
language

Phonics

International Phonetic
Alphabet (IPA)

http://web.uvic.ca/ling/resources/ipa/charts/IPAlab/IPAlab.htm

Each symbol stands for a distinct sound in language

Vowels
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O

AEIOU
Short Vowel: (a in cat, e in bed)
Long Vowel: usually two vowels together (nail, soap, toy)
Vowel Digraph: when 2 vowels represent a single sound
(meat)
Diphthong: when 2 vowels represent a glide from one
sound to another
R-Controlled Vowel: r influences pronunciation of the vowel
(start, cure)
Consonant: non vowel letters (b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, etc.)
Phonograms: one syllable words and syllables in longer
words that can be divided into two parts:
O Onset: consonant that precedes a vowel
O Rimes: vowel and any consonant sounds that follow

Phonograms: Onset & Rimes

O Onset: Consonant sound, before a vowel. (Ball)
O Rime: A vowel with a consonant sound that follows. (Show)

O Students make more errors decoding and spelling

the rime than the onset and more errors on vowels

than on consonants.
Common Rimes: -ack, -ail, -ain, -ake, -ale, -ame, -an, ank, -ap, -ash, -at, -ate, -aw, -ay, -eat, -ell, -est, -ice, -ick,
-ide, -ight, -ill, -in, -ine, -ing, -ink, -ip, -it, -ock, -oke, -op, ore,-ot, -uck, -ug, -um, -unk

Voiced vs. Unvoiced

O Voiced: vocal chords vibrate (B)
O Unvoiced: no vibration of vocal chords (P)
Voiced

Book

Vanilla

They

Dish

Zero

Genre

Good

Unvoiced

Please

Five

Thirty

Ten

Sir

She

King

Right Foot vs. Left Foot

English/Spanish
English is a left-footed language.
Spanish is a right-footed language.

Adapted from Kate Kurnicks PUCESE presentation (2014).

English

Spanish

David

David

Joseph

Jos

Rachel

Raquel

Ecuador

Ecuador

Uruguay

Uruguay

Panama

Panam

Menu

Men

Phonics Examples
Phonics:
Connecting
sounds to letters
(i.e. letter-sound
correspondences

Digraphs: 2+
letters that make
one sound

Consonant
Blend/Cluster: 2+
letters that make
more than one
sound

Dipthongs: 2+
letters that make
more than one
sound

/k/ = c, k, -ck, ch,

que

Examples: th, sh,

ch, wh, ph, ee, oa

Examples: st-, tr-,

fl, -st, -ft

Examples: oi, oy

Jabberwocky: Phonics and Fluency

(Lewis Carroll from Through the Looking-Glass and What
Alice Found There , 1872)

Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

CONTEXT COUNTS!!!

Syntax
O The structural system of language or grammar.
O Compound words

O Adding inflectional endings to the words

O Prefixes
O Suffixes

O Capitalization
O Punctuation
O Simple, Compound and Complex Sentences

O Combining Sentences

World Atlas of Language Structure (WALS)

Word Order

*Number of
Languages

*Perce
nt

Example Languages

SOV

565

41.0

Gujarati, Hindi, Japanese, Tibetan

SVO

488

35.4

Arabic, English, Hebrew, Mandarin, Polish,

Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese

VSO

95

6.9

Hawaiin, Irish, Tagalog, Zapotec

VOS

25

1.8

Kiribati, Wari

OVS

11

.8

Tiriuo, Urarina

OSV

.3

Kxoe, Nadeb, Tobati, Wik Ngathana

No dominant
order

189

13.7

Dutch, German, Hungarian, Yupik

S=Subject V=Verb O=Object

*Out of a total of 1377 analyzed
Razfar, A. & Rumenapp, J. (2014).

English is Confusing
O Pronounce Ghoti
O Its pronounced Fish.
O Gh sounds like f as in the word rough.
O O sounds like i as in women.
O Ti sounds like sh as in explanation.

Differences in Languages
Problematic Sounds (English/Spanish)

Y&J
Opposite

P&B
P is aspirated
B is not
aspirated

There is no th
sound in
Spanish

V&B
V vibrates
B explodes

Emphasis
O Ecstasy is a very dangerous drug.

O You can go out tonight if you finish all your

homework.
O I didnt say he stole the money.

Adapted from Kate Kurnicks PUCESE presentation (2014).

Application in the
Classroom

REMEMBER:

O Skills are best learned in authentic language

experiences.
O It is most effective to use a variety of
strategies, like predicting, context clues and
phonics clues.

Syntax

Phonics
Instruction

Assessment:
Reading &
Miscue Analysis

Student
Investigators

Paired &
Parallel
Reading

Phonemic Awareness Skills

O Phoneme Isolation
O Isolating phonemes: Tell me the first sound in bat
...
/b/
O Phoneme Deletion
O Deleting phonemes: Say the word bat without the
/b/ . . . . at
O Phoneme Blending
O Blending phonemes: What word is made from the
sounds /n/ /i/ /t/? . . . knight
O Phoneme Segmentation
O Segmenting phonemes: Tell me the sounds in
knight . . . /n/ /i/ /t/

The role of context in reading

Bow/Bow
The boys arrows were nearly gone so they sat down on the
grass and stopped hunting. Over at the edge of the wood they saw
Henry making a bow to a small girl who was coming down the road.
She had tears in her dress and also tears in their eyes. She gave
Henry a note which he brought over to the group of young hunters.
Read to the boys, it caused great excitement. After a minute but
rapid examination of their weapons, they ran down to the valley
Does were standing at the edge of the lake making an excellent
target.
By Gary Kilarr

Reading Bow/Bow

O What did you notice about your reading?

O What did you do to make sense of the text?

O What did you do to pronounce the words?
O What did the story mean?
O Is there a connection between phonics and fluency? Yes?

No? Why?

Suggestions for Teaching Phonics

O Direct phonics instruction can be done

strategically with words taken from a

meaningful context, examined, and put back
into context.
O Bow/Bow: Teach homonyms; various ways to

spell similar or the same sounds, using words

from stories or subject text books

Phonics Suggested Teaching Order

Beginning
consonants

Ending
consonants

Consonant
Digraphs (sh, th,
ch, wh, ph)

Long vowels

Consonant
blends (bl, gr, st,
etc.)

Medial
consonants
(middle of word)

Short vowels

Irregular patterns
like r controlled
vowels (ir, er, ur,
or)

Suggested Strategies for Phonics

Making
words

Signs, labels,
calendars,
poems,
games

Student
writing

Phonics
anchor
charts

Phonics
books or
journals

Shared and
partner
reading

See resources slide for more information on these strategies

Authentic Contexts for Learning Reading Skills

Predictable stories
Read-Alouds
Shared and Partner Reading
Guided Reading
Rhymes and Word Play
Student writing
Environmental Print (signs, labels,
charts, names, games, calendar time)
O Journals, Books, Poems
O
O
O
O
O
O
O

Activities for Learning about Literacy

Student
Writing

Literacy and
Thematic
Centers

Word Walls

Spelling and
Word Games

Making
Words

Cloze
Activities

Music, Art,
Technology

Ways to Support Older Readers

O Teach high frequency words
O Teach common syllables

O Teach rime patterns

O Teach chunking
O Teach word parts, syllabication, prefixes,

suffixes, root words, derivatives

O Use texts at students instructional level
O READ READ READ!!!!!

Review with Students

Common
Prefixes &
Suffixes

Root
Words

Basic Sight
Words

Running Records
O Running Records:
O 1. Choose a text for student to read (that they
O

O
O

have not read before).

2. Option 1: sit across from student (have your
own copy of the text) Option 2: sit next to the
student
3. Take notes while student reads.
4. Compare notes over time to see how student is
improving.
5. Make texts more difficult over time.

Running records: HOW TO MARK

ERRORS

Example of running records

Repeat a word CORRECTLY

Skips a word
Incorrect word
Correct word

SC

Self Correction

Text: The horse ran down the road.

Student: The house ran down the
road.

Fly Swatter Game

O 1. Identify sounds that are difficult in English and the
O
O
O
O
O

native language.
2. Write a lot of words on the board that sound similar
but with different sounds (e.g. yellow, jello).
3. Break students up into two groups, in a line and give
each group a fly swatter.
4. Read a sentence using a word on the board.
5. One student from each group races to the board and
tries to hit the correct one.
6. Keep score.

Plot

Conflict

Characters

Beers (2003)

Setting

Most
Important
Word in the
Selection is
________

Theme

Words Across Contexts

1. What would the word _________ mean to

2. What would the word _________ mean to
3. What would the word _________ mean to
4. What would the word _________ mean to
1. What would the word _________ mean to

A
B
C
A
B
C
A
B
C
A
B
C
A
B
C

Word Scrolls
What it is:

What it isnt:

Examples:

Practice:
Beers (2003)

Additional Resources for Teaching

Pronunciation in the Classroom
O Anchor Charts:

O
O

http://eslamplified.blogspot.com/2013/03/amplifyinganchor-charts-for-ells.html
Phonics Journals:
http://www.reading.org/General/AboutIRA/PositionStat
ements/PhonicsPosition.aspx
Shared/Partner Reading:
http://www.readwritethink.org/professionaldevelopment/strategy-guides/shared-readingopportunities-direct-30823.html
Cloze Activities:
http://bogglesworldesl.com/cloze_activities.htm
Word Walls:
http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/word_walls

Additional Resources for Teaching

Pronunciation in the Classroom
O http://www.manythings.org/e/pronunciation.ht
O
O
O

ml
http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/esl
/pronunciation.cfm
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=ell
https://web.utk.edu/~wiley/SETESOL2007_CK_
Specific_American_English_Pronunciation_Chall
enges_for_ELLs.pdf
http://www.cal.org/caelanetwork/resources/pro
nunciation.html

References
Beers, K. (2003). When Kids Cant Read What Teachers Can Do. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann.
O Freeman, D. & Freeman, Y. (2004). Essential Linguistics: What You Need to Know to
Teach Reading, ESL, Spelling, Phonics and Grammar. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
O Guccione, L. Comprehension and English Language Learners: 25 Oral Reading
Strategies that Cross Proficiency Levels. Retrieved from
http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/50910/
O Halliday, M.A.K. & Hasan, R. (1985). Language, Context, and Test: Aspects of
language in a social-semiotic perspective. Geelong, Victoria: Deakin University Press.
O Kress, J. (1993). The ESL Teachers Book of Lists. New York.
O Razfar, A. & Rumenapp, J. (2014). Applying Linguistics in the Classroom: A
Sociocultural Approach. New York: Routledge.
O Tompkins, G. (2014). Literacy for the 21st Century: A Balanced Approach (6th ed.).
Boston: Pearson.
Websites:
O http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/blog/learnenglish/pronunciation/consonants-voiced-unvoiced/
O http://www.readingrockets.org/article/english-language-learners-and-five-essentialcomponents-reading-instruction
O