Page 10 - DENG401_Advance Communication Skills
P. 10

Unit 1: Simple Rule for Pronunciation & Intonation




               help learners link words, try starting at the end of a sentence  and have  them repeat a  Notes
               phrase, adding more of the sentence as they can master it.


                 Example: ‘gowaway,’ then ‘aymeegowaway,’ and finally ‘Willaymeegowaway’ without
          any pauses between words.

          6.   Vowel Length: You can demonstrate varying vowel lengths within a word by stretching
               rubber bands on the longer vowels and letting them contract on shorter ones. Then let the
               students try it.


                 Example: The word ‘fifteen’ would have the rubber band stretched for the ‘ee’ vowel,
          but the word ‘fifty’ would not have the band stretched because both of its vowels are spoken
          quickly.

          7.   Syllables
               (a)  Have students count syllables in a word and hold up the correct number of fingers,
                    or place objects on table to represent each syllable.

               (b)  Illustrate syllable stress by clapping softly and loudly corresponding to the syllables
                    of a word. For example, the word ‘beautiful’ would be loud-soft-soft. Practice with
                    short lists of words with the same syllabic stress pattern (‘beautiful,’ ‘telephone,’
                    ‘Florida’) and then see if your learners can list other words with that pattern.

          8.   Specific Sounds
               (a)  Minimal pairs, or words such as ‘bit/bat’ that differ by only one sound, are useful
                    for helping students distinguish similar sounds. They can be used to illustrate voicing
                    (‘curl/girl’)  or commonly confused sounds (‘play/pray’). Remember that it’s the
                    sound and not the spelling you are focusing on.
               (b)  Tongue twisters are useful for practicing specific target sounds, plus they’re fun.
                    Make sure the vocabulary isn’t too difficult.
               (c)  The Sounds of English, American Accent Training, and EnglishClub.com websites below
                    offer guidelines for describing how to produce various English sounds. You can find
                    representative practice words for every English sound on the English is Soup site.































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