ms hs 2011 special seminar pp1-14

7/31/2019 MS HS 2011 Special Seminar Pp1-14

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Traversing Borders: Viet Nam Teacher Training Program2011 Summer Institute An American Tapestry

American English Pronunciation

for Speakers of Vietnamese


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1 Why is pronunciation important?

2 How do people learn the pronunciation of a language?

3 How did you learn English pronunciation?

4 What English sounds are difficult for Vietnamese speakers?

5 What English words are difficult for Vietnamese speakers?


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6 What special tricks have you found for teaching the pronunciation ofEnglish?

7 What are some of the challenges youve faced in teaching Englishpronunciation?

8 What questions do you have about English pronunciation?


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OVERVIEW

1. The importance of pronunciation

2. Learning pronunciation

Mother languageForeign languages

3. The famously difficult pronunciation of EnglishThe Poem of English Pronunciation

4. Unique features of English pronunciationWriting/pronunciation mismatch

VowelsConsonantsSound changesWord lengthStressIntonation

5. Isolated sounds[ iy ] vs. [ i ]

[ t ] and [ ]

Practice: Minimal pairs

The most popular (spoken) vowel: schwaAspiration

6. Sounds in combinationWord-final consonants

Consonant clustersPractice: The 3 sounds of plurals

The 3 sounds of -ed

7. SentencesIntonation

Practice: Tongue twisters: Saying em.Practice: Tongue Twisters: Creating em.

8. Longer readingsContent vs. structure wordsWord grouping

Practice: Predicting, listening, reading aloud9. Sharing pronunciation techniques

10. Questions


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Poem of English Pronunciation

Dearest creature in creation,

Study English pronunciation.

I will teach you in my verse

Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.

I will keep you, Suzy, busy,

Make your head with heat grow dizzy.

Tear in eye, your dress will tear.

So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.

Just compare heart, beard, and heard,

Dies and diet, lord and word,

Sword and sward, retain and Britain.

(Mind the latter, how it's written.)

Now I surely will not plague you

With such words as plaque and ague.

But be careful how you speak:

Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;Cloven, oven, how and low,

Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.

Billet does not rhyme with ballet,

Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.

Blood and flood are not like food,

Nor is mould like should and would.

Viscous, viscount, load and broad,

Toward, to forward, to reward.

And your pronunciation's OK

When you correctly say croquet,

Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,Friend and fiend, alive and live.

Face, but preface, not efface.

Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.

Large, but target, gin, give, verging,

Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.

Ear, but earn and wear and tear

Do not rhyme with here but ere.

Seven is right, but so is even,

Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,

Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,

Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.

Finally, which rhymes with enough?

Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?

Hiccough has the sound of cup.

My advice is give it up!


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VOWEL CONTRASTLONG E [iy] and SHORT I [i]

CHARACTERISTICS[ iy ] = high, front, unrounded, slightly diphthongized, tense[ i ] = high, front, unrounded, not diphthongized, lax

SENTENCES WITH CONTEXTUAL CLUES1. Please SIT in this SEAT.2. These shoes should FIT your FEET.3. Do you STILL STEAL?4. Those BINS are for BEANS.5. They SHIP SHEEP.

MINIMAL SENTENCES6. He lost the LEAD / LID.7. This WEEK / WICK seems very long.8. FEEL / FILL this bag.9. She wore a NEAT / KNIT suit.

10. Dont SLEEP / SLIP on the deck.

MINIMAL PAIRS

ease - isleave - liveeach - itchpeach - pitchreach - richleak - lickcheek chick

steal - stilleel - illfeel - fillheel - hillkeel - killkneel - nilcheap - chip

peel - pillteam - Timbean - bingreen - grinseen - sinheap - hip

SPEAKING AND LISTENING PRACTICE

1. Sit with a partner.

2. Briefly take turns practicing the minimal pairs. Point as you say each one. Yourpartner should listen for correct pronunciation.

3. Take turns choosing minimal sentences and saying each with one of the sounds.Your partner should listen and point to which sound he/she heard.

POST TEST

[ iy ] = 1 When you hear the sound [ iy ] as in bee, write 1.[ i ] = 2 When you hear the sound [ i ] as in bit, write 2.

If you hear, ease easeis, you should write: 1 1 2.If you hear, feel fillfeel, you should write: 1 2 1.

Example:

1. 2.

3. 4. 5.

6. 7. 8.

9. 10.


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CONSONANT CONTRAST T AND (VOICELESS) TH [ ]

CHARACTERISTICS

sound voicing duration articulator point ofarticulation

[ t ] tank voiceless stop tip of tongue tooth ridge

[ ]

thank

voiceless continuant tip of tongue top teeth

SENTENCES WITH CONTEXTUAL CLUES1. (initial) He TAUGHT what he THOUGHT.2. He said THANKS for the TANKS.3. (medial) Its a PITY theyve turned PITHY.4. (final) The CLOTH will help it CLOT.

5. She BROUGHT some BROTH.

MINIMAL SENTENCES6. (initial) Thats a good THEME / TEAM.7. He THOUGHT / TAUGHT about her.8. (medial) She was sad about the DEATHS / DEBTS.9. (final) Its the new MATH / MAT.10. He cant stand the kings WRATH / RAT.

MINIMAL PAIRS

Initial

tank - thankteam - themetick - thickticket - thicket

tin - thintong - thongtaught - thoughttrash - thrash

Medial

retread rethreadeater - etherdebts - deathsoats - oaths

fates - faithstents - tenthsgroats - growthsmitts - mythspity - pithy

Final

bat - bathdebt - deathheat - heathmat - math

oat - oathpat - pathfate - faithpit - pithwit - with

SPEAKING AND LISTENING PRACTICE

1. Sit with a partner.

2. Briefly take turns practicing the minimal pairs. Point as you say each one. Yourpartner should listen for correct pronunciation.

3. Take turns choosing minimal sentences and saying each with one of the sounds.Your partner should listen and point to which sound he/she heard.

POST TEST[ t ] = 1 When you hear the sound [ iy ] as in bee, write 1.

[ th ] = 2 When you hear the sound [ i ] as in bit, write 2.

If you hear, tin tinthin, you should write: 1 1 2.If you hear, pat pathpat, you should write: 1 2 1.Example: 1. 2.

3. 4. 5.

6. 7. 8.

Adapted from Nielsen, D. (1973). Pronunciation Contrasts in English, Regents Publishing.


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CONSONANT SOUNDS THAT EXIST IN ENGLISH

BUT NOT IN VIETNAMESE

Word-initial consonant sounds:

j, p, r, th [ ], th [ ] (Similar but not the same: b, ch, d, sh, t)

Word-final consonant sounds:-b tub-d did-f off-g dog-j (written dge) budge-l fill-r far-s mess

-sh fish-tch match

-th [ ] bath

-th [ ] bathe-v move-z goes

Word-initial consonant clusters:bl- blow

br- browfl - flyfr- fromgl- gladgr- grapekl- cluekr- cry

kw- quick

pl- playpr- praysk- schoolskw- squaresl- slowsm- smilesn- snow

sp- speak

spr- springst- standstr- stringsw- swingthr- three

Word-final consonant clusters:

-bd sobbed-dz dads-fs -coughs

-ft raft-fts rafts-fth fifth-gd bagged-gz bags-jd budged-ks makes-kt cooked-ld fold-ldz folds-lf self-lk bulk

-lks sulks-lm elm-lmz elms-lp help-lps helps-lt felt

-lts melts-lch belch

-lth filth-lvz selves-lz falls-md combed-mp bump-mps bumps-mpt bumped-mz thumbs-nd wind-ndz winds-nt ant-nts ants

-nz bones-ps maps-pt helped-rd yard-rdz thirds

-sks asks-st fast

-sts insists-cht matched-ths sheaths-thz moths-ts seats-vd moved-vz moves-zd b


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Twisting Our Tongues around ENGLISH

Tongue-twister:"A sequence of words, often alliterative, difficult to articulate quickly."(Oxford English Dictionary)

On-line Tongue Twisters

1. She sells seashells down by the seashore.

2. Toy boat, toy boat, toy boat.

3. Green glass globes glow greenly.

4. He threw three balls.

5. The great Greek grape growers grow great Greek grapes.

6. Singing Sammy sung songs on sinking sand.

7. He threw three free throws.

8. Tom threw Tim three thumbtacks.

9. Scissors sizzle, thistles sizzle.

10. Near an ear, a nearer ear, a nearly eerie ear.

11. Eddie edited it.

12. Wow, race winners really want red wine right away!

13. Two tiny tigers take two taxis to town.

14. Double bubble gum, bubbles double

15. She said she should sit.

16. As one black bug, bled blue, black blood. The other black bug bled blue.

17. She sees cheese.

18. Five frantic frogs fled from fifty fierce fishes.

19. Truly rural, truly rural, truly rural.

20. Fresh fried fish, fish fresh fried, fried fish fresh, fish fried fresh.

21. Busy buzzing bumble bees.

22. A bloke's bike back brake block broke.

23. She slits the sheet she sits on.


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Extended Tongue Twisters

1. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,

Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

2. If one doctor doctors another doctor, does the doctor

who doctors the doctor doctor the doctor the way the

doctor he is doctoring doctors? Or does he doctor

the doctor the way the doctor who doctors doctors?

3. A tree toad loved a she-toad

Who lived up in a tree.

He was a two-toed tree toad

But a three-toed toad was she.

The two-toed tree toad tried to winThe three-toed she-toad's heart,

For the two-toed tree toad loved the ground

That the three-toed tree toad trod.

But the two-toed tree toad tried in vain.

He couldn't please her whim.

From her tree toad bower

With her three-toed power

The she-toad vetoed him.

4. You've no need to light a night-light

On a light night like tonight,

For a night-light's light's a slight light,

And tonight's a night that's light.

When a night's light, like tonight's light,

It is really not quite right

To light night-lights with their slight lights

On a light night like tonight.

5. Through three cheese trees three free fleas flew.

While these fleas flew, freezy breeze blew.

Freezy breeze made these three trees freeze.

Freezy trees made these trees' cheese freeze.

That's what made these three free fleas sneeze.

6. Something in a thirty-acre thermal thicket of thorns and thistles thumped and

thundered threatening the three-D thoughts of Matthew the thug - although,

theatrically, it was only the thirteen-thousand thistles and thorns through the

underneath of his thigh that the thirty year old thug thought of that morning.


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Write Your Own English Tongue Twisters

WARM-UP

1. A Tongue Twister is a sentence with repeating sounds that is difficult to say. Write a

Vietnamese Tongue Twister:

2. Try to pronounce these famous English Tongue Twisters:

She sells seashells down by the seashore.Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

MAKING A LIST OF WORDS FOR A TONGUE TWISTER

3. Who? Write a name you like. (Names that begin with b, d, l, m, p, s, or t work best). Try to thinkof an English name if you can.

Answer the questions below, using words that begin with the same letter as the name you chose. Try to write lots of different answers. After you finish, pass this paper to several classmates. Askthem to suggest more answers.

4. Did what?

5. When?

6. Where?

7. Why? Because.

8. Starting with the name you chose, use the words in your answers to write your ownoriginal Tongue Twisters on the lines below. Try different combinations. Here are twoexamples:

Mary married a monkey in Minnesota at midnight because she was mad.Mary ate mangoes in Montreal in the middle of May by mistake.

9. On a separate paper, make a drawing of your best Tongue Twister.


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PRONOUNCING PAST TENSE VERBS

Make the past tense of regular verbs by addinged.

I play soccer every day. I played soccer yesterday.

She works in an office. She worked in a school last year.

-ed has three sounds:[ t ] ( T sound ) looked, walked, jumped, fished

[ d ] ( D sound ) played, listened, climbed

[ id ] (extra syllable) mended, visited

A. Listen to each past tense verb. Circle the sound ofed in each.

1. [ t ] [ d ] [id ]

talk talked 8. [ t ] [ d ] [ id ] help helped

2. [ t ] [ d ] [id ]

fold folded 9. [ t ] [ d ] [ id ] ask asked

3. [ t ] [ d ] [id ]

open opened 10. [ t ] [ d ] [ id ] hop hopped

4. [ t ] [ d ] [id ]

erase erased 11. [ t ] [ d ] [ id ] answer answered

5. [ t ] [ d ] [id ]

cook cooked 12. [ t ] [ d ] [ id ] study studied

6. [ t ] [ d ] [id ]

move moved 13. [ t ] [ d ] [ id ] hope hoped

7. [ t ] [ d ] [id ]

admit admitted 14. [ t ] [ d ] [ id ] try tried

B.Say each past tense verb aloud. You will almost naturally say it correctly. Circle the sound youthink is right.

15. [ t ] [ d ] [id ]

want wanted 22. [ t ] [ d ] [ id ] wait waited

16. [ t ] [ d ] [id ]

work worked 23. [ t ] [ d ] [ id ] call called

17. [ t ] [ d ] [id ]

turn turned 24. [ t ] [ d ] [ id ] close closed

18. [ t ] [ d ] [id ]

correct corrected 25. [ t ] [ d ] [ id ] crash crashed

19. [ t ] [ d ] [id ]

trip tripped 26. [ t ] [ d ] [ id ] carry carried

20. [ t ] [ d ] [id ]

cry cried 27. [ t ] [ d ] [ id ] toss tossed

21. [ t ] [ d ] [id ]

push pushed 28. [ t ] [ d ] [ id ] add added

C.Now listen to them. Were you right?

D.Look at the verbs above. What patterns do you see? Try to write a rule for when to use eachsound.

-ed sounds like [ t ] with words ending in

-ed sounds like [ d ] with words ending in

-ed sounds like [ id ] with words ending in


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PRACTICING SENTENCE STRESS

The basic rules of sentence stress are:1. content words are stressed2. structure words are unstressed

3. the time between stressed words is always the same

CONTENT WORDS STRUCTURE WORDS

Words withmeaning

Examples Words for grammar Examples

main verbs SELL, GIVE,EMPLOY

pronouns he, we, they

nouns CAR, MUSIC, MARY prepositions on, at, into

adjectives RED, BIG,INTERESTING

articles a, an, the

adverbs QUICKLY, LOUDLY,NEVER

conjunctions and, but, because

negativeauxiliaries

DON'T, AREN'T,CAN'T

auxiliary verbs do, be, have, can, must

"to be" as a main verb is, are, was

A. Listen to the following story. Circle all the words that receive stress. Draw a light X through thewords that are unstressed.

Once there were two brothers who were identical twins. They looked exactly alike. They both had the

same curly dark brown hair, blue eyes, and beautiful teeth. They were both exactly 5 feet 10 inches

tall and both weighed exactly 150 pounds.

They not only looked alike but also sounded alike on the telephone. Not even their family could tell

the difference. They dressed alike, listened to the same music, and read the same books. They even

laughed at the same jokes.

When they were twenty-three they both got married and a year later both had sons. The years wentby and as they began to grow old, they both wore glasses and eventually, both became bald.

Then one day, one of the brothers got sick and died. A few days later a man stopped the other twin

on the street.

Excuse me for asking, he said, but was it you or your brother who died?

B. Read the following story. Circle words that should receive stress. Draw a light X through thewords that should be unstressed.

One day a mother was playing with her five-year-old son. Suddenly he grabbed her ball-point pen and

swallowed it.

Oh no? cried the woman. We must find a doctor!

She took her son, ran out of the house, put him in their car, and drove quickly to the nearest

doctors office. Taking her son by the hand, she rushed into the waiting room and shouted to the

nurse, I must see the doctor right away.Imsorry, said the nurse calmly, but the doctor is busy.

But nurse, she said, Please! My son just swallowed a ball-point pen!

Well, said the nurse, Im very sorry, but youll just have to use a pencil.

C. Listen to the story and see if you were right. Make corrections as you listen.

D. Read the story to a partner, taking care to stress the CONTENT WORDS and not to stress theSTRUCTURE WORDS.

Adapted from http://www.englishclub.com


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Suggested techniquesfor improving pronunciation

REMEMBER: If someone doesnt have a sound in their language,they cant hearthat sound in other languages!

Limit overt pronunciation practice

Provide model pronunciation

Let students see your mouth

Show the position of articulatory organs (lips, tongue, teeth)

Songs, songs, songs!

Practice with foreigners

Choral reading

Act out a BRIEF scene from a movie or recording

Practice body language/facial expressions

Use Vietnamese tone marks as clues for English sentence intonation.

E.g: (You knw what I man, dont yu?)

Talk to yourself

o Describe what you see

o Imagine meeting a famous person

o Argue a point

Ask students who pronounce well to explain their technique

Use short poems or memorized passages

Dictation exercises to build awareness

Some words can be fudged:

asked ( ast) fifth ( fith)

twelfth ( twelth) fifths (fifths or even fiss)

twelfths ( twelths.. or even twelss)

Find synonyms for difficult words

Keep a paper and pencil handy

Remember that good pronunciation may take a long time for some students

ms hs 2011 special seminar pp1-14

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