Pronunciation and Speaking

WELCOME!!!

Instructors:Melissa Smith and Sabina Simon

Class Time:Monday, Wednesday1:30-3pm

Goals & PerspectivesTake 3 minutes to write down 3 goals that you would like to work on during this pronunciation class.

Now, share and compare your goals with your partner. And please pass in your surveys!

What do we think about these goals as a class?

Classroom GuidelinesNow in groups of 4, Take 5 minutes to write down 4 guidelines you think we need in our classroom to help support your learning in this pronunciation class.

• ____________________________• ____________________________• ____________________________• ____________________________

What do we think about these as a class?

What is Pronunciation?

Take 2 minutes to write a quick answer these questions:

1. What is pronunciation?

2. Why is pronunciation important to you for learning

English?

Why is English Pronunciation So Difficult?

1) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

2) We have a lot of money. We had a lot of money.

3) John said the boss is an idiot!

John said, “The boss is an idiot!” -- OR – “John” said the boss, “is an idiot!”

Spelling in English

GHOTI

How do you pronounce this word?

Don’t be discouraged– it’s why you are here!!

In this class, we will: Review all of the phonemes (sounds) and stress patterns in

North American English (NAE)

Learn about Stress and Rhythm

Become aware of our individual pronunciation issues

Learn about Cultural Signals

Presentation skills

Learn about resources to help us improve our

pronunciation

The International Phonemic Alphabet

(IPA)The English version of the Roman alphabet has only 21 consonant letters, but there are 25 distinct consonant phonemes in NAE. So, several additional symbols are needed to represent all the phonemes of the language.

Although there are many similarities between the IPA and English orthography, they are not identical.

Being able to recognize the symbols will help you use dictionaries and other pronunciation resources.

The International Phonemic Alphabet

(IPA)Look at page 16 (on your handout) Listen and repeat the sounds.

Now with a partner, in Exercise 9, place the symbol next to the underlined sound.

The International Phonemic Alphabet

(IPA)

How your mouth moves…

How you speak English should be different from how you speak your first language:

French

Cambodian

Learning to make new sounds will feel funny at first, but they will get easier with practice.

Remember: If your face hurts after this class, you’re doing something right!

Places of Articulation

Places of Articulation SIMPLIFIED

Alveolar = Top of mouth, right behind teeth Ex. /t/ as in “top”

Palatal = Top of mouth, middle Ex. /y/ as in “yell”

Velar = Top of mouth, back Ex. /k/ as in “kick”

Nasal = Nasal Passage Ex. /n/ as in “nose”

Bilabial = Both lips Ex. /p/ as in “pot”

Dental (or interdental) = Teeth, or between the teeth Ex. /θ/ as in “thin”

Labiodental = Lip between the teeth Ex. /f/ as in “far”

Glottal = Air passing from the windpipe through the vocal cords Ex /h/ as in “hi”

Voiced or Voiceless?

In addition to the place of articulation, whether you use your vocal cords to produce a sound (voiced) or you just use airflow (voiceless) is an important distinction to make for consonants.

Let’s do a little experiment…

First, put your hands around your throat…

Now, make the sound of a snake… (sssssss)

Finally, make the sound of a person sleeping… (zzzzzz)

Voiced or Voiceless?

On page 13, use your handout to write the symbol in each set of words.

Then find the key word for each sound.

Compare your answers with your partner.

Which ones were hard?

Why is all of this important?

Thinking versus Sinking

Volunteer Teacher?

Tell us what your native language is.

When you hear people from other

countries trying to speak your language,

are there certain sounds that are often

hard for them? Can you give us an

example?

How would you coach us to make this

sound?