Пәннің оқу-әдістемелік кешенін құрастырушы: Абадилдаева Ш. К
Finally – a word on accents
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- Бұл бет үшін навигация:
- Teaching Pronunciation
| Finally – a word on accents
Cultural identity is the last and perhaps the most important question to be dealt with. ESL and EFL students who are learning English merely for business often do not intend to assimilate, and will not wish to completely give up their accent as it sends a clear message about their roots and history. The main objective here is not to attain some hypothetical standard of English pronunciation, but to merely ensure that all students can be readily understood. Any ‘foreign’ accent, in the end, will probably not be any more distracting than ones of native English speakers from varying parts of the world. Games can be useful here as well, to break the ice and lessen tension about accents. Impersonations are a wonderful way to help students improve their pronunciation, and have a fun as well. Many famous personalities can be used as models and the students will have a terrific time guessing who they are. Often the students will find that their pronunciation will markedly improve as they mimic the speech patterns of their favorite actors and celebrities. They can even imitate the teacher for an added note of hilarity! All of these ideas can be expanded on and modified to fit the needs of your particular class. Teaching pronunciation to ESL students is very necessary, but it doesn’t have to be nerve-wracking. Just work on it a little during each class, and see your students’ abilities grow! About the author: Shelley Vernon, conscious of the vital role teachers can play in the lives of their pupils, promotes learning through encouragement and games. Receive free games and ideas on Free ESL teaching games http://www.teachingenglishgames.com/. Teaching Pronunciation Pronunciation involves far more than individual sounds. Word stress, sentence stress, intonation, and word linking all influence the sound of spoken English, not to mention the way we often slur words and phrases together in casual speech. ‘What are you going to do?’ becomes ‘Whaddaya gonna do?’ English pronunciation involves too many complexities for learners to strive for a complete elimination of accent, but improving pronunciation will boost self esteem, facilitate communication, and possibly lead to a better job or a least more respect in the workplace. Effective communication is of greatest importance, so choose first to work on problems that significantly hinder communication and let the rest go. Remember that your students also need to learn strategies for dealing with misunderstandings, since native pronunciation is for most an unrealistic goal. A student’s first language often interferes with English pronunciation. For example, /p/ is aspirated in English but not in Spanish, so when a Spanish speaker pronounces ‘pig’ without a puff of air on the /p/, an American may hear ‘big’ instead. Sometimes the students will be able to identify specific problem sounds and sometimes they won’t. You can ask them for suggestions, but you will also need to observe them over time and make note of problem sounds. Another challenge resulting from differences in the first language is the inability to hear certain English sounds that the native language does not contain. Often these are vowels, as in ‘ship’ and ‘sheep,’ which many learners cannot distinguish. The Japanese are known for confusing /r/ and /l/, as their language contains neither of these but instead has one sound somewhere between the two. For problems such as these, listening is crucial because students can’t produce a sound they can’t hear. Descriptions of the sound and mouth position can help students increase their awareness of subtle sound differences. жүктеу/скачать 1,59 Mb. Достарыңызбен бөлісу:
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