music for pronunciation

Music for pronunciation

with Dante Cuevas

Adapted from the talk “Music for pronunciation” given on June 29th 2012Speaker’s notes are in pink

Overview

• The nature of English sounds• The pronunciation benefits of music• Examples of music activities that enhance

pronunciation

English Sounds

ghot“It’s unfortunate that dark cars always become

inanimate.”

Without prior reference it is often difficult to tell how to pronounce a new word .

How would you pronounce the following word?

As you can tell by reading the sentence above out loud, the English language is riddled with phonetic anomalies like connected sounds, reduced sounds as well as a multitude of vowel and consonant variations that can leave L2 learners puzzled when trying to figure out the correct pronunciation of a new word. In comparison with other languages (like Spanish) English pronunciation is difficult and inconsistent. Why is this so?

English language history

The English language was first written in the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc runic alphabet, later (circa 7th century AD) the Roman alphabet was adopted and over centuries all the original characters ended up being absorbed and replaced by Latin script.

This creates the basis for English’s phonetic inconsistency for in adapting a Germanic tongue into a Latin alphabet all sorts of phonetic

maneuvers were required that left English without the benefit of across-the-board pronunciation rules.

To further complicate things, the English language was subsequently further enriched by the Old Norse and Old Norman (French dialect) languages

to make it a truly eclectic tongue. Image taken from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/timelines/british/index.shtml

It turns out music can lend a hand

With this all this complexity in the English language how can we aid our students towards great pronunciation?

Benefits of musical aptitude in the class

In a study done by the University of Minnesota with 71 secondary students, 2 groups were studied, one group had previous musical training the other did not. The group with musical training showed significantly less production and discrimination mistakes.

University of Reading UK

• Musical rhythm & Intonation

• Musical Pitch & Phonetic Pitch

• Note duration & Vowel lengthening/shortening

A study done by the University of Reading with adult L2 learners revealed a numerical correlation between the ability to perceive:

Appalachian State University

In another study done by Appalachian State University, a positive correlation was found between:

Pitch perception and good pronunciation.

Benefits of music in the classroom

• Less pronunciation mistakes• Easier ability to detect the vocal subtleties• Easier to imitate natural intonation

Examples of music activities

• The prince of Paris• Musical Puzzles• Limericks • Educational rap

Because English has such a diverse phonetic history, it is important to reinforce pronunciation with music, for in English music we can naturally find intonation structures as well as all the other phonetic variables so important to proper pronunciation. We will now go over some particularly effective pronunciation enhancing activities.

The prince of ParisThe Prince of Paris lost his hatSome say this and some say thatI say you Sir Who Sir me Sir?Yes Sir you Sir No Sir not I SirWho Sir then Sir?

Here is a game that helps with intonation

Limericks

A canner exceedingly cannyOne morning remarked to his granny:

“A canner can can Any thing that he can

But a canner can’t can a can, can he?”Carolyn Wells

Limericks provide a great, rhythm-based platform for pronunciation development

LimericksOur novels get longa and longaTheir language gets stronga and strongaThere’s much to be saidFor a life that is ledIn illiterate places like BongaH. G. Wells

A wonderful bird is the pelicanHis bill can hold more than his belicanHe can take in his beakFood enough for a weekBut I’m damned if I see how the helicanDixon MerrittMy firm belief is, that Pizarro

Received education at Harrow -This alone would suffice,To account for his vice,And his views superstitiously narrow. Aldous Huxley

Funny limericks work well in the classroom

Tongue Twister Songs

These songs are a recent find that I wanted to share because they are great for developing proper diction.

Rap for better pronunciation

• Songs• Freestyle

This activity allows for vital language circuits to be built that greatly aid with intonation and delivery. Use educational rap videos, let your students write their own raps or even let them “freestyle” (improvised rap off of a beat).

Class idea: Have students (in groups or alone) write their own raps on a class-relevant topic and put on a def talent show!

“Rapping “ imposes a set of conditions on the brain that fuse the linguistic, the musical

and the creative aspects of language.

Music as a phonetic platform

• Daily warm-up practice

To reap full phonetic benefits from music, regular use is required. One effective way is to incorporate it into your warm up.

This is just a great way to start a class because you get your students into an entirely different state, you warm up their English-pronunciation muscles and you get their linguistic circuits going as well!

Conclusions English lacks an across-the-board phonetic structureMusic can:• ease and facilitate pronunciation woes

• enliven your classes and• develop your students’ mental-language circuits in novel ways.

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