Ideas to Maximize Pronunciation Teaching
Browsing through the web and by means of twitterinoes’ posts in #ELT and #EFL, I came across these sites or articles containing some useful information regarding the teaching of pronunciation.
Though you may not be teaching a course on Pronunciation, still many of these ideas can be applied in a regular EFL/ESL classroom when vocabulary is going to be introduced.
Carefully read these three articles and explore their content. You may find something useful to be tried out in your classroom.
Global English and the Teaching of Pronunciation
Though you may not have any trouble with a particular English accent, learners at times question the reason why we teach a given variation rather than a different one, or why it is that we do not prepare them to understand other variations, etc.
BBC published a single piece written by Jennifer Jenkins, lecturer in Sociolinguistics and Phonology at King's College, London. In this selection whe explores:
a) What global English is
b) What the implications of EIL for pronunciation are
c) The findings from research
d) What the implications for pronunciation teaching are
Practical Ideas for Teaching Pronunciation and Listening in an English as a Lingua Franca (EFL) Context
This other “article” is actually a series of talks in which the speakers, Katy Davies (British Council – Dubai) and Laura Patsko (Saint George International – London), explore and propose ideas that they have tried in their classrooms. It is worthwhile paying attention to these ideas within the context of EFL and English as a Lingua Franca.
The authors also keep a blog where they have also published more of their ideas and that is called EFL Pronunciation.
15 Top Pronunciation Games
Written by Alex Case for TEFL.Net, 15 Top Pronunciation Games is a handsome list of activities (games) you could be carrying out in your pronunciation class or in your EFL classroom as well.
Many of these activities can be used with different age groups. After one reads the description of each game, you are bound to come up with your own adaptation to have the activities materialize learning in your teaching scenario.
Hope these tips can help you address pronunciation issues in class in a better way.
Best regards,
Jon