Teaching American English Pronunciation

This is a comprehensive introduction to teaching the pronunciation of North American English. It includes an illustrated description of the sound system of English, ideas for overcoming pronunciation problems specific to fifteen different languages, and a variety of approaches and techniquesfor use in the classroom.

Preface

xiii

Introduction: Preliminary considerations in the teaching of pronunciation

xv

Biological factors

xv

Socio-cultural factors

xvi

Personality factors

xvi

The role of the native language

xvii

Setting realistic goals

xviii

PART ONE: The sound system of English

Spelling and pronunciation

The English spelling system

3

(1)

Sound-spelling correspondences

4

(2)

Spelling in other languages

6

(1)

The phonetic alphabet

6

(2)

Exercises

8

(3)

Individual sounds of English

How speech sounds are made

11

(1)

Consonants and vowels

12

(1)

The description of English consonants

12

(1)

Place of articulation

12

(6)

Manner of articulation

18

(6)

Voicing

24

(2)

Summary

26

(3)

The description of English vowels

28

(1)

Tongue height

29

(1)

Frontness/backness of tongue

30

(1)

Tenseness/laxness

31

(1)

Lip rounding

32

(1)

Phonetic symbols for vowels

32

(2)

Complex vowels (diphthongs)

34

(1)

The vowel /er/

34

(1)

The consonant /h/

35

(1)

Semi-vowels (glides)

35

(1)

Exercises

35

(4)

English sounds in context

Positional variation

39

(1)

Contrastive sounds of English

39

(1)

Non-contrastive sounds of English

40

(5)

Implications for teaching

45

(2)

Conclusion

47

(1)

Grammatical endings

47

(1)

The regular past tense

47

(2)

The plural, possessive, and third person singular

49

(2)

Grammatical endings in the pronunciation classroom

51

(1)

Exercises

51

(2)

The shape of English words

Syllable types

53

(1)

Consonant clusters

54

(6)

Exercises

60

(3)

Word stress and vowel reduction

What is stress?

63

(1)

Schwa

63

(3)

Major and minor stress

66

(1)

Placement of word stress

67

(4)

Exercises

71

(2)

Connected Speech

Rhythm, sentence stress, and intonation

73

(1)

The stress-timed rhythm of English

73

(1)

Placement of stress in sentences

74

(2)

Intonation

76

(5)

Modifications of sounds in connected speech

81

(1)

The pronunciation of function words

81

(3)

Linking

84

(2)

Deletion of consonants

86

(1)

Assimilation

87

(2)

Summary

89

(1)

Exercises

89

(4)

PART TWO: The identification and correction of specific pronunciation problems

Introduction

93

(2)

Common pronunciation problems

English vowels

95

(6)

English consonants

101

(5)

Stress, rhythm, and intonation

106

(5)

Problems of selected language groups

Arabic

111

(3)

Chinese

114

(5)

Farsi

119

(2)

French

121

(2)

German

123

(2)

Greek

125

(3)

Hindi and Punjabi

128

(4)

Italian

132

(2)

Japanese

134

(4)

Korean

138

(4)

Polish

142

(3)

Portuguese

145

(4)

Spanish

149

(4)

Vietnamese

153

(8)

PART THREE: Classroom activities

Introduction

161

(2)

A communicative approach to pronunciation teaching

Introduction

163

(2)

Consonants and vowels

165

(3)

Connected speech

168

(1)

Suprasegmentals

169

(1)

Monitoring

170

(1)

Conclusion

171

(2)

Pronunciation syllabus design: a question of focus

The zoom principle

173

(1)

Assessing learner variables

173

(1)

Collection of speech samples

174

(1)

Diagnosis of speech samples

175

(3)

From diagnosis to syllabus design

178

(3)

Monitoring progress

181

(1)

Appendix: Student diagnostic profile

182

(3)

Suprasegmentals in the pronunciation class: setting priorities

Introduction

185

(1)

Stress/unstress

186

(2)

Stress and rhythm

188

(1)

Major sentence stress

189

(3)

Intonation

192

(2)

Linking and pausing

194

(1)

Palatalization

195

(1)

Conclusion

196

(1)

Pronunciation-based listening exercises for the multi-level class

Introduction

197

(2)

Minimal pairs

199

(2)

Stress assignment

201

(1)

Function words

202

(2)

Intonation

204

(1)

Conclusion

205

(2)

Teaching pronunciation: an inventory of techniques

Introduction

207

(1)

Individual sounds

207

(1)

Minimal pairs

207

(2)

Visual aids

209

(3)

Stress, rhythm, and intonation

210

(2)

Developing fluency

212

(2)

Conclusion

214

(1)

Developing self-correcting and self-monitoring strategies

Introduction

215

(1)

Self-correction

216

(2)

Self-monitoring

218

(1)

Conclusion

219

(2)

Developing natural and confident speech: drama techniques in the pronunciation class

Introduction

221

(1)

Articulation

222

(2)

Pitch, volume, and rate

224

(2)

Variety

226

(1)

Conclusion

227

(2)

Unintelligibility and the ESL learner

Introduction

229

(3)

The receiver

232

(2)

The sender

234

(2)

Conclusion

236

(1)

Glossary

237

(4)

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Teaching American English Pronunciation

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials