Upcoming Pronunciation Presentation

I am really excited (and honored) about presenting in WizIQs current MOOC on pronunciation and listening. My presentation will be on using humor (mainly jokes) in the classroom to help students with pronunciation issues such as minimal pairs and connected speech.

The power of connected speech is everywhere, and it can be pretty tricky for English Language Learners! 

For example: Luis d'Antin van Rooten wrote: "Un petit d'un petit S'étonne aux Halles. Un petit d'un petit Ah! degrés te fallent. Indolent qui ne sort cesse Indolent qui ne se mène. Qu'importe un petit d'un petit Tout Gai de Reguennes."
To those that understand French, this is just a bunch of nonsense French words. However, once it is spoken through the powers of connected speech most English speakers will clearly hear, "Humpty Dumpty" in a strong French accent.



You can see examples of how what we here is different than what we read all over pop culture Avant Garde A Clue is another example.

Pronunciation and listening are really closely linked! Students must be able to hear and understand reduced forms and other connected speech examples.

I "Mustach" you a question

Ice Cream or  I scream

Mustache or Must Ask

Red eye or  Red dye
Alaska or I'll ask her

Saturday or Saturday

A night train or A night rain

An ocean or A notion

and so many more! Should they be able to hear the difference? Should they be able to differentiate this when spoken?

This can be tricky, frustrating, and exhausting... but can it also be fun?

Well, show up on Wednesday to support my little presentation and I hope you'll find at least one way to help your learners.

In short, on Wednesdays I plan to talk about:

• Why humor is great in the classroom.
• Types of humor that we, as teachers, can use
• Other reasons jokes are effective in class
• Types of jokes that work well for pronunciation
• How I use jokes in my classroom

This presentation will probably not change your life. However, it will probably help you consider another way to make your classroom a friendlier environment.

I would really appreciate anyone who has the time to log in and show up on Wednesday. It is free :)

• Noon in Mexico You can enjoy this during your lunch!
• 7pm in London which is a perfect time for you to enjoy this before or after your dinner.
• 8pm in Madrid this gives you plenty of time to enjoy and then grab diiner

If you aren't already part of this great MOOC I'd suggest you check it out! In essence it helps teachers with different ways to teach pronunciation and listening. It is free, and all the recordings are there, so you can check out the ones you missed. Most importantly, it is with a really great group of people.

How NOT to teach minimal pairs

There's a bad moon
or there's a bathroom?

 I am still on a pronunciation kick from the most recent blog carnival! I am also thinking about the ELT Research Carnival where I wrote about the importance of bottom up skills in listening. This post mixes those two ideas with minimal pairs.

Minimal pairs can a fun way to test a students pronunciation or listening skills.

A common activity is to give students a worksheet and have them circle the word that they hear.

For example, "I really love to eat ( bears / pears )."

Do you see the problem with this?

It doesn't really require any listening skills. Most (normal) people would answer pears. They know that contextually eating bears is not something that happens, or at least not where I live in Mexico or where I grew up in San Diego.

Compare this to the Credence Clearwater song, "There's a bad moon on the rise." Many people hear, "There's a bathroom on the right." Both sentences make sense! That's why it can be tricky.

The other thing some teachers overlook is the types of minimal pairs. My Mexican students have no problem pronouncing (or hearing) the difference between l and r. Giving them activities using words like lice and rice wouldn't help them.

Of course, if you have a mixed class you can include activities which focus on all students needs, but if you are teaching a class with speakers of similar backgrounds be sure to pick sounds they will struggle with.


If you aren't sure what your students need to practice, that's OK. This is when I highly suggest picking up a copy of Swan's Learner English. A book I found beyond valuable when I first started teaching, and I still reference when I am exposed to speakers whose languages I don't know.

On TPT I put a free worksheet that I made for my TOEFL students. It focuses on the sounds that my Mexican students needed to practice. There are three activities:

1. Two stories use minimal pairs that are interchangeable in the sentences. This can be read to the class with students selecting what they hear (as a purely listening exercise) or with students in pairs taking turns. One student would read the first story making sure to carefully enunciate, and the partner would try to guess what they were saying. Then they would switch for the second story. 
2. There's also a BINGO board for some fun practice. 
3. Finally there's a writing activity where students make their own. After they can read it to the class and have students try to guess what they said. 

I've talked about other ways to practice minimal pairs like jokes, and comics and I still standby those as great techniques. Just make sure to keep the few tips this blog talked about.

What about you? What do you think teachers should keep in mind when working on minimal pairs (or any pronunciation) with students?

Pronunciation Resources

When I was getting ready for the 34th ELT Blog Carnival on the topic of pronunciation, I went to LinkedIn and Facebook and started asking teachers to submit their blogs if they thought they were relevant. In addition to the awesome carnival you will see soon, I also had a lot of teachers who gave me other sites that they found helpful related to pronunciation. This blog is a accumulation of those.

Note: I haven't used all of these in my classes, but I have looked over their sites. Really though, I am just presenting them as options that other teachers have suggested.

1. http://leonsplanet.com/phono.htm This site gives a quick introduction to the different terms we are likely to encounter (Phonic, Phonetics, Phonemics, etc.) Then it breaks down the differences between British and American pronunciation as well as many of the rules the languages has (spelling, pronunciation etc.) The site has audio and is completely free to use. 
2. http://www.englishwithlucy.com This site pronunciation guidelines. It includes many sets of minimal pairs, vowel help, speaking naturally,etc. Specifically there is an entire section on testing pronunciation. Something some teachers may feel unsure how to do.   
3. http://www.onestopenglish.com/skills/pronunciation/  is part of onestopenglish's site that focuses on pronunciation. OneStopEnglish does have a subscription option, however you can access the interactive IPA chart, an article on why to teach pronunciation, two different pronunciation activities and articles on how to use pronunciation in your class, and some pronunciation exercises from beginning students through advanced students. There is more available if you are a subscriber.
4. http://www.teachingenglishgames.com/Articles/Teaching_Pronunciation.htm has an article that walks a teacher step through step of the dos and don'ts of how to teach pronunciation. She also has a book for sale for about $23USD filled with games. If you buy it and find out you don't like it you can always return it. It has a 100% money back guarantee for up to 60 days after purchase!
5. http://www.mrthorne.com/ is a site with a bunch of videos I've seen teacher recommend in the past.  I think they seem to be geared for a younger age set, but your older students may enjoy it too. The videos are all free to view. He also has two apps to help learners practice for about $1.00 a piece!
6. www.englishforeveryone.org This site has a set up with many different printable worksheets to help teachers teach different aspects of phonics (phonemes, syllables, etc.) The site appears to be completely free and I've been told is quite popular in India.
7. http://www.burlingtonenglish.com this site is an online course which sells directly to schools. It lets you record and gives you instant feedback.They only sells directly to schools, so you'll need to talk to an administrator, but you can find out more about them from looking at the site.
8. TedPower.co.uk is a great site chock full of information. The pronunciation section includes, English's background, sounds that students usually struggle with, minimal pair practice, diphthongs, consonant cluster practice, assimilation practice and some IPA assistance
9. http://www.pronunciator.com is a site designed to help you learn lots of different languages. You can see screenshots of the different activities it offers here. It isn't for free if you want to use it on your own, then it is $20/month. Be sure to check if your school or library has it before paying for it yourself.  
10. http://helenfraser.com.au/ is a pretty cool site about Cognitive Phonetics. There's even a free handbook you can download. 

So there we are, a list of ten resources from teachers who think they may be helpful to those of us teaching pronunciation.
 
Thank you so much to those of you who gave a resource and if anyone knows of any others please feel free to leave them in the comments.

Jokes for distinguishing the D / Th

I know some Spanish speakers mix up the sound the D makes and the sound the TH makes (yes I realize th has different sounds).

I saw this meme today and though "That's a perfect example of this minimal pair." For those of you who don't know this meme is one of the many floating around the internet that always ends in, "you're going to have a bad time."

For example, "If you don't do homework in my class.... you're going to have a bad time."

"If you don't compliment your girlfriend's haircut... you're going to have a bad time." etc.

This one's especially humorous to me because of the play on words. As most of you may have figured out I have been in a big joke mood lately and am currently compiling a series of  knock knock jokes and other jokes that deal with minimal pairs and connected speech. Since this meme popped up I thought I'd share a few jokes I have as well:
 

D / Th

·     Knock Knock. Who’s there? Dishes. Dishes who? Dishes your friend let me in.  This is your friend.

·     Knock Knock. Who’s there? Datson. Datson who? Datson awful question to ask. That's an awful question to ask.

·     Knock Knock. Who’s there? Dakota. Dakota who? Dakota’s too thin. Please open the door.  The coat is too thin. Please open the door.

      Knock Knock. Who’s there? Gladys. Gladys who? Gladys isn't a robber, aren't you? Glad this isn't a robber, aren't you?

·

NOTE: The Th and D sound are normally mixed with a voiced TH however since the meme used an unvoiced TH as an example I chose to to delve into this.

Do you know any fun jokes or tricks for helping EFL students with the differences? Would you ever use a meme or knock knock joke in your EFL class? Are you laughing, but only because these are so lame? Leave a comment and let me me know.

Teachers in Pop Culture!

When you think of a teacher who is the first person that pops into your head? Is it someone you actually know? Or is it something a bit more iconic? The good the bad and ugly, but we can learn from all of them!

1. OK, you probably shouldn't grade your essays like this, but there is something to be said about not writing too much on students essays. For one, they get overwhelmed, and it is more work for you! Make a good solid rubric and correct and comment only as needed.

2.
Use songs in class! Yes, yes yes!!! However, try to make it a song with applicable vocabulary and grammar they can use again later. Not just random sounds (unless of course you are dealing with minimal pairs or doing a listening activity).

3. Again! Use movies!!! Movies are GREAT, but don't just put a movie on not give the students any instruction and tune out.

4.
 I fully encourage teaching people how to swear (or how not to)! I usually do a lesson with my students on how to "fake" swear (shoot, cheese and crackers, fudge!). We all learn curse words in other languages pretty fast, but we don't learn those fake swear words. So go ahead and teach them, but you should probably avoid making it the focus of your class.

5.
 DO teach your students different ways to say things! Tell them about different accents and words, but be sure to only do so when appropriate (not the first day of class)Penny Ur talked about this at a convention I went to in Spain. More here

6.
 Mind Your Language has so much fun stuff it is hard to pick! For the sake of simplicity here's a good on that reminds you to teach pronunciation in the classroom, but perhaps do it with a bit more pizazz (think dictoglosses or minimal pairs).

7.
 Know when to use the book and when to look past it. The book doesn't always have all of the answers :)

8.
 DO share things about yourself with your students. DO make it clear that you are knowledgeable. DO NOT scream that your knowledge will bite their face off.

9.
DO try to make class interesting. Get people from outside the class to stop or or skype: authors, and directors and good ones. On the other hand, just use yourself; dress up, bring in music or use anything you can to connect with your students.

10.
DO be honest! I often tell my TOEFL students that the TOEFL is not my favorite test, however they still need to get a good score on it. So, no matter how much they, and I, may dislike the test, we all have to put our full effort into the class and learning our idioms, inferences and more!

I really had a hard time lowering this down to 10!

5 fun ways to use a Dictogloss in the EFL class

Listening is important. Collaboration is important. Writing is important.

Dictoglosses combine all of these these things to keep students' brains working in a foreign language.

What is a dictogloss?

I am glad you asked :) Dictoglosses are essentially dictation exercises where students work together to recreate a text. The process is normally as such:

1. The teacher reads a text. Students listen. They do not take notes. They just listen.
2. The students INDIVIDUALLY write down as much of the story as they can remember. They can use pictures, abbreviations, other words, blanks or anything else that will help them if they don't recall the specifics. 
3. (optional) The text is read again. Students do NOT write while the teacher is speaking. When the teacher finishes, they make changes as needed to their version. (I prefer to skip this step and go straight to 4, but some teachers find their classes don't have much to share unless this step is used. You know your classroom best so do what you think will work!)
4. The students pair up with a friend and together try to combine their versions to get the version as close to the original as possible.
5. Students put down their pens and the teacher reads the text one last time.
6. The students get a few more moments to write their final version (if you as a teacher want you can combine pairs at this point to make a group of 4 working together on the final version).
7. If you want you can have the students write the final version on butcher paper and everyone posts it on the board. Then give students time to circulate and mark any mistakes they see (misspelled words, bad punctuation etc.) I find the faster way is to have them pass the paper to the right/left and then the teacher reads the reading again and they correct the paper. 
8. I usually give the team with the fewest mistakes a prize of some sort (bonus points, free homework passes, etc.)

So now that we know the basics. How do make this fun?

SONGS Well, part of it means that you have to pick fun texts! Use a song! Yes, I know that I love to use songs whenever possible but it can be fun. Break out lyrics (and have them listen to the song to reveal the answers). You shouldn't use a full song unless it is really an upper level class. If they are fairly advanced though you don't even need to speak. Just play the chunk of the song, (something slower and older the students won't know. The first 30 seconds or one minute of Jill Sobule's "Lucy at the Gym" is a good example; the first 20 seconds of "It makes me ill" would not be advised. I find punctuating these is usually the hardest part!


DRAW AND TELL With lower students tell a draw and tell WITH the picture, and keept the picture up! Stories tend to follow a logical progression more than a speech or tongue twister. Since they are lower level the visual will also help them remember the story and vocabulary used. Just be sure to remember to keep it short! You could also differentiate by passing out the picture to certain students and not to others. More on Draw and Tells here.

MOVIES/TELEVSION Again, keep the level of the student in mind. You don't want to use Rock, Paper, Lizard, Scissors, Spock from The Big Bang Theory. The first minute (actually I'd keep it at the first 20 seconds) of the Hitchhikers Guide the to Galaxy is better. You could use the audio from the movie, or recite it yourself. Be careful of accents, background noise, and audio that requires students to see something to understand it.

 TED TALKS / NPR / SPEECHES Get authentic speech in here! TedTalks could work. Why not try the  first 39 seconds of this one. Use an acceptance speech from MTVs Video Music Awards (because many students care more if Taylor Swift says it than if you say it). These can be helpful when practicing idioms and other things that don't often come up in artificial texts. These can be very difficult if the person is a fast talker, or there are lots of proper nouns. I LOVE Peter Dinklage for example, but his recent Emmy acceptance speech has some names student may struggle with. I may tell them to just use initials or write the names on the board to help them out with that part.


 TONGUE TWISTERS / BRAIN TEASERS Tongue Twisters can be fun for advanced students and brain teasers have the added bonus of letting students who finish quickly try to solve them. These also tend to be super short. Tongue twisters have the advantage of being used to differentiate sounds (especiall minimal pairs). Try to start with something like, "She sells sea shells by the sea shore" and then move onto something longer like, "Betty bought some butter 'But,' she said, 'this butter's bitter. If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter, but a bit of better butter, better than the bitter butter will make my bitter batter better.' So she bought a bit of better butter, Better than the bitter butter, and made her bitter batter better.

So there you go 5 ways to make dictoglosses a bit more fun! Do remember to aim the text at your learners. Stories are easier than texts which don't follow a logical progression. Keep in mind accents, vocabulary, etc. To make them even more effective try to use texts or audio that have grammar points you have recently covered. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Lucy at the Gym both have transition words for example.

Have you used dictoglosses? What texts do you find work well? Any other tips to share?

I am not an artist (my class and their troubles with my visuals)

The other day a student asked which "shit" we were going over.

Recognizing this as a chance to review some minimal pairs (and correct an embarrassing mistake) I said, "We are going over the homework shEEt, remember that shit means something else." I grabbed my marker as some students laughed and explained what shit meant to those who didn't get it.

Then I made my way over to the board, "It's like ship or sheep"

And I draw a ship (to which all students nod and I even get a few murmers or "barco"): I repeat the English word and sound: "Ship"

Then I draw the beautiful sheep, to which one student says, "Sheep means like cloudy?"

Everyone laughs at my sheep as I try to defend it, "It isn't a cloud it has a head...and legs"

To which the student replied, "I thought it was raining"

At this point I just have to conceed my art is not the best. "Fine. OK. I am no artist, but just remember a shIp is not shEEp and a shIt is NOT a shEEt."

There is lots of stuff online to help you help your class with minimal pairs. When we studied minimal pairs earlier to help with the TOEFL. We used this worksheet which worked well.

ESL handouts also offers a worksheet which makes students listen carefully to George Michael's, "Careless Whispers"

If your students still struggle with minimal pairs there are lots of fun activities to do in class. My favorite website for home study is: http://www.shiporsheep.com/

If you prefer books then you're lucky. When I took my CELTA and were my go to books for minimal pair and overall pronunciation help!