PRONUNCIATION: THE MYTH

CPR – Avilés 2011 – 2012

Based on: Teaching Pronunciationby Judy B. Gilbert

CLASSROOM APPLICATION

NEW ENGLISH FILE

NEFA p. 7 NEFA p. 71

NEFA p. 11 NEFA p. 73

NEFA p. 57 NEFA p. 93

INTEGRATED INTELLIGIBLE

COMMUNICATIVE RECEPTIVE ACCENT

R.P.CONTEXT

EIL (English as an Int’l Lang)

TEACHABLE

Source: CELTA Unit 37 Reflection

FAQ 1: Should native-speaker-like pronunciation be the goal?

The perfection trap vs.

Listener-friendly pronunciation

FAQ 2: What if there isn’t enough time?

PRIORITIZE

FOCUS ON IMPACT

FAQ 3: Why do we neglect pronunciation?

REWARDING

• Unengaging• Discouraging• Too technical• Impractical

DISCOURSE INTONATION

FAQ 4: Children vs. Adults

“Teaching an old dog new tricks depends not so much on the age of the dog and its brain, as on the perceived usefulness of the trick.”

FAQ 5: Can’t we learn as we go along?

Many fossilize pronunciation before

reaching the threshold of intelligibility.

FAQ 6: Can “non-natives” teach pronunciation?

Non-natives

• Lack confidence• First hand experience• Achievable target

Natives

• Unaware of difficulties• Take aspects as timing

and pitch for granted• Hurry over important

matters

HANDOUTS

• HUIP p.48 11.3 Count words + idioms• New English File Advanced

And what’s all this for?

CLT

Which concepts do this definitions explain?

???? ????

The knowledge we have of a

language in order to produce

sentences, the knowledge of the

building blocks of sentences and

how sentences are formed.

The ability to use the language

meaningfully for a range of

purposes and functions

depending on the setting and the

participants, despite limitations.

Now, what would you do?

Classroom Activities

Fluency Accuracy

•Reflect on natural use of language•Focus on achieving communication•Require meaningful use of language•Require the use of communication strategies•Produce language that may not be predictable•Seek to link language use to context

•Reflect on classroom use of language•Focus on the formation of correct examples of language•Practice language out of context•Practice small samples of language•Control choice of language

•Do not require meaningful communication

Is group work a fluency task?

Compare the following activities

• Which is Fluency and which accuracy?

• Can you add some ideas/ examples of your own?

Other types of activities

• Task-completion (games, puzzles, map-reading)

• Information-gathering (surveys, interviews)

• Opinion-sharing(ranking, putting in order)

• Information-transfer (read info and draw a graph)

• Reasoning-gap (working out a timetable for a given

company structure)

The push for authenticity

•More motivating•Not graded

•May be a burden

8 major changes!!! Thank you CLT

1. Learner autonomy2. The social nature of learning

(cooperative learning)3. Curricular integration4. Focus on meaning5. Diversity (learning styles)6. Thinking skills7. Alternative assessment8. Teachers as co-learners

Homework

• Apply the following:

1. There is a gap between receptive and productive competence

2. Fluency may have progressed at the expense of complexity

3. Learners have a limited vocabulary range4. Language production may be adequate but

often lacks the characteristics of natural speech

5. There are persistent, fossilized language errors

• And the following

PEAK

STRESS

FOCUS WORD

THOUGHT GROUP

To prepare a lesson based on either of these sources of input

• Article from The Guardianhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/blog/2011/nov/29/universities-uk-students-global-graduates

• You tube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUmZp8pR1uc

• Text from CAE ELT coursebook