Pronunciation And Sentence Stress In EFL Teaching

Spanish Pronunciation - Important Considerations About The Right Approach

Spanish pronunciation involves much more than simply learning how to correctly say individual words. The same word can indeed sound very different in the context of a complete sentence. The intonation might be different for example if the word is being used in a question as opposed to in a regular sentence.

For this very reason, when you are trying to master Spanish pronunciation it really is important to focus on complete phrases and sentences in your practice. Of course you will want to learn individual words and their Spanish pronunciation but that should only be a part of your vocabulary expansion efforts.

Using books and phonetic guides to come to grips with pronunciation is not a helpful approach. With all of the interactive tools at our fingertips these days it really pays to avail of audio or video tools to help with pronunciation. There are a number of reasons for this!

Firstly, the better tools have not been randomly assembled and put together. Instead, they have been carefully compiled to give you the right amount of review and reinforcement. Ideally you will spend a little time each day for your learning, and by blending in the appropriate degree of review in the process these tools help you to retain much more of what you have learned.

Secondly, the pronunciation tools can give you audio examples of proper Spanish pronunciation. In this way, you experience the words and phrases being used in real conversations. This is of immense value. And these real conversations cover topics and areas which you will find helpful for your earliest attempts at conversation. Again, they have not been randomly put together! Instead they are carefully compiled with the right subject areas for you to be covering early on.

Thirdly, these great interactive tools engage you. There is nothing more boring than trying to learn off by heart endless lists of words and phrases to build up your Spanish vocabulary. That feels too much like study - because that is exactly what it is! To the extent that you can actually learn faster with a process which is fun and engaging, why would you want to stick with a boring and grueling process!

If you make your Spanish pronunciation endeavors enjoyable you will stick with it and be successful. The reason so many people fail is that they simply use a bad approach for learning Spanish. That is a situation which you should endeavor to avoid.

Ways to Improve Adult ESL Learners' Pronunciation Skills

One of the most difficult and trickiest areas for language educators to teach and ESL (English as a second language) learners to acquire is that of pronunciation. ESL students new to the States, know the importance of speaking communication yet often their accents get in the way of correct pronunciation and as a result, have an even more difficult time being understood.

Today's current focus on communicative approaches to ESL instruction and the increasing emphasis on oral communication skills and teamwork are renewing interest in the role that pronunciation plays in adults' overall communicative competence.

Incorporating Pronunciation in Instruction

Celce-Murcia, Brinton, & Goodwin (1996) introduced a curriculum that supports a communicative and cognitive approach to teaching pronunciation. It takes into account features of North American pronunciation and the sound system and builds effective pronunciation lessons and activities.

Teachers who teach pronunciation need to build their lessons on targeted instructional pronunciation goals which include the following:

Teach the pronunciation feature which help raises learner awarenessListeners practice and listen for recognizing the targeted featureProvide guided practice and feedback based on structured communication exercisesProvide communicative practice and feedback on specific pronunciation instruction

A lesson on word stress, based on these instructional goals, could include the following information:

1. The teacher presents a list of targeted vocabulary items from the current lesson, employing both correct and incorrect word stress. In order for English learners living outside English speaking countries to listen to a native speaker's speech, teachers can run Panopreter text to speech software ( http://www.panopreter.com ) on their Windows 7 or Vista desktops or laptops, then Microsoft Anna will read out any English text clearly at various speed This is a good opportunity to introduce the concept of word stress and model it again and again. modeled.

2. Microsoft Anna can help learners listen for and identify stressed syllables, using sequences of nonsense syllables of varying lengths (e.g., da-DA,da-da-DA-da).

3. Learners go back to the list of vocabulary items from step one and, together, they show the right stress pattern by tapping out the stressed syllabus with a pen or on their laps. They can also clap the stress patterns. Teachers can also add new words to sustain continued practice, if relevant.

4. Pair work - Learners take turns reading a scripted dialogue where most of the words are understood in terms of meaning. As one learner speaks, the other indicates the stress arrangement on a printed copy. This is a good opportunity to provide feedback on the discrimination of sounds.

Teaching pronunciation is probably one of the areas that language teachers least enjoy addressing in the language classroom. But with up to date software for teaching pronunciation and guided interactive practice, learners can acquire pronunciation in a more user-friendly and communicative way.

Works Cited

Celce-Murcia. M., Brinton, D., & Goodwin, J. (1996). Teaching pronunciation: Reference for teachers of English to speakers of other languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Teaching ESL teachers the basics of accuracy and fluency in ESL instruction is only part of a presentation regularly offered by Dorit Sasson as part of her in-service training programs for teachers of English language learners. For more information about speaking engagements and in-service, contact Dorit Sasson at sassondorit@gmail.com or visit the Teachers' Diversity Coach, at http://www.doritsasson.com/ and click on the "speaking" page.

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