Student-Centered Pronunciation Activities Using Digital Tools (original) (raw)

Bringing Technology Into the Classroom: Students’ Effort to Shape Pronunciation

The Journal of English Literacy Education: The Teaching and Learning of English as a Foreign Language

One of the essential skills in teaching English is pronunciation. The listener will only understand the speaker if their pronunciation is correct. Applying English pronunciation instructions to students is an integral part of the language. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the podcast which contains relevant and authentic content for global listening comprehension in language learning. As a technological tool, the “British Council” podcast was integrated for learning English pronunciation at English Education in Universitas Borneo Tarakan. This pre-experimental study involved one class of third-semester students who previously learned pronunciation. Because the calculated Z value was less than the -Z table (-4.809 -1.960) and the p-value was less than (0.000 0.050), the decision was made to reject H0, indicating an average significant difference between the pre-test and post-test based on the measured pronunciation. It presented that integrating the podcast shaped...

Pronunciation Tools for Fostering Intelligibility and Communication Success

This workshop will guide us through the world of suprasegmental features of pronunciation, look at some ways to help our students learn to hear and use intonation & contrastive stress to provide them with access to a greater range of English communication. We will examine practical ways to integrate pronunciation into lessons within a broader framework of current research and latest practices

Understanding and Teaching the Pronunciation of English

Teaching pronunciation can be a challenge. It requires some technical knowledge about phonology, an ability to predict the problems students may have, plus a good supply of strategies, tools, and activities to help students understand and practice. Teaching pronunciation implies that the teacher can provide a good pronunciation model for students to follow, give explanations and demonstrations of things the students need to know, and lead them through a series of practice activities to help them make their new pronunciation habits automatic.

Clearly speaking: pronunciation in action for teachers

2003

This kit helps teachers understand the importance of pronunciation and shows authentic classroom teaching situations. The video presents a very useful overview of pronunciation. Several experienced teachers are shown presenting their own techniques and strategies for successfully teaching pronunciation in the classroom. Learners’ comments are also recorded. The handbook explains how to use the video materials and has photocopiable material for professional development as well as further reading and resources.

Innovations in pronunciation teaching

2017

Emerging research findings and innovative practices in pronunciation pedagogy, including  means of increasing learner motivation and autonomy  multi-modal approaches to pronunciation teaching  the increasing role of technology in today’s pronunciation practice  pronunciation priorities for English as a lingua franca (ELF) communication  the impact of rhythm, stress, intonation, and thought groups on learners’ overall intelligibility  enhancements to previous pedagogical practices OVERVIEW

IMPROVING PRONUNCIATION IN THE CLASSROOM

English is an international language and it is used all over the world. In Mexico as well as other countries, English as a foreign language it is a main subject in the students' curriculum. It has been taught at school as one of the main subject from Elementary School until University. For that reason it is important to identify any issue since the first stages. In my case I have the opportunity to do this since elementary grades.

Integrating student-centred pronunciation assessment practices

Testing, Evaluation & Assessment Today, 2023

After a decades-long absence, pronunciation is slowly starting to make its way back into our classrooms, materials, syllabi, and our collective consciousness. But despite its welcome return, its assessment practices are still one of the last aspects to 'catch up'. Isaacs (2014) highlights this dearth of content, noting that in 50 years only one full-length text was published which referred to pronunciation assessment (Lado's Language Testing: The Construction and Use of Foreign Language Tests in 1961). In academic journals the reality has been similarly stark; in the longest-published journal on L2 assessment, Language Testing, only two pronunciation-focused articles were published in its first 25 years, 1984-2009 (Isaacs, 2013). While things are now changing and pronunciation assessment has been the topic of several publications, articles and, of late, IATEFL Conferences, this change is still recent. As such, many teachers may lack the fundamental training or input necessary to confidently assess their students' pronunciation, be that in the creation of a valid assessment tool suitable for our students' needs and objectives, or indeed knowing which features to assess. This article aims to provide suggestions of practical student-centred methods in which teachers can, with little preparation or difficulty, conduct assessments of their students' pronunciation. To begin with, a clarification: for many, the words 'pronunciation assessment' conjure images of large-scale international speaking exams or formal presentations, for which assessing pronunciation constitutes little more than one or two criteria on a vast rubric. However, as can be noted from the title above, this article instead focuses on how we can incorporate assessment in a less formal way, using students' results to inform our teaching practices and guide our lesson planning, highlighting whether we need to incorporate more, or less, explicit practice of specific pronunciation features, and to provide feedback. Archer, G. (2023). Integrating student-centred pronunciation assessment practices. Testing, Evaluation and Assessment Today, 8, 15-21. question (Celce-Murcia et al, 2010). An example of this can be seen in the oft-confused kit vowel (/ɪ/) and fleece vowel (/i:/). For many international students of English, the kit vowel is not part of their L1 vowel inventory. As a consequence, they may struggle to perceive and distinguish it from the fleece vowel, which can, in turn, lead to all kit vowels being pronounced as fleece vowels. Running an initial perception test prior to a productive pronunciation assessment can therefore be a useful stage. The results allow teachers to identify if, post-test, the mispronunciation should be treated with additional articulation training and productive practice, or instead, extra perceptual training, allowing students to practice hearing, identifying, and distinguishing the sound or sounds in question. Biodata Gemma Archer is an EAP teacher and programme coordinator in the English language unit at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. She is also the editor of the IATEFL Pronunciation Special Interest Group's biannual journal 'Speak Out!' and joint PronSIG coordinator. Gemma holds a CELTA, Dip TESOL and a Master's of Research in English Language and Linguistics and has taught English in the UK, Ireland, Italy and the Middle East. She specialises in pronunciation and phonology and her particular passion is in researching and teaching with diverse L2 and regional L1 accents.