Job Discussion Forums

[muffintop]

[Non Sequitur]

Please update Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet

[Denim-Maniac]

Sorry NS - I posted quite early this morning, and your reference to middle school made me think of phonics. I always refer to the 'IPA', so then the alphabet used to transcribe sounds isnt confused with the word 'phonetics', which just means 'sounds of language'.

Every language learner with a dictionary (either paper or electronic) encounters IPA each day though ... dictionaries use the IPA to transcribe words so people can see how to say them.

@muffintop - I would guess that the only Chinese students who dont know it are complete beginners. The false beginners we have did previously learn it but have since forgotten it. I am perhaps lucky with the students I work with ... they are lower-intermediate and upwards, but even our lowest level students have a grounding in using the IPA. This was also true when I was in middle school and college.

You can actually use it to show the differences between British and American English if needs be. The accent differences dont provide a reason to not use IPA. A Chinese teacher once said in a staff meeting, 'who would want to learn Chinese from a teacher who didnt know pinyin?', bemoaning our lack of knowledge. I dont rely on it and use IPA for everything, but wow, it really can be useful ...

'beware of heard, a dreadful word. It looks like beard, but sounds like bird'. With such spelling inconsistencies you can see the use of IPA transcriptions for key / troublesome sounds.

[Javelin of Radiance]

IPA is kind of important because English spelling rules and pronunciation often don't jive with one another, and like Denim Maniac few foreigners I've met could pronounce a single word in IPA. I've let my knowledge of it slip and I can hardly remember most of it now. I should refresh myself because I get students coming up to me now and then with a word transcribed in IPA asking me how to pronounce it. Last time I remember replying with "Well, you say it first then I'll tell you how it sounds" because I couldn't read the entire word. Kind of shameful when you think of it.

[Denim-Maniac]

I have an app on my phone which I use to review. If I think I have some troublesome words I will make a note beforehand. Today I had the word 'suite' referring to a hotel suite so it was useful to have /swi:t/ written underneath the word on the board.

We do a lot of work on sentence stress in my class and use the /ə/ sound a lot ... it helps the students when thinking about weak and linking sounds. It helps them to turn the words 'fish and chips' into a much more natural 'fi shen chips' /fiʃəntʃips/

No-one needs to be anal and transcribe everything using it, but it is super useful, students and colleagues can see you are being serious and making an effort in trying to learn it and use it. And the fact there are just 7 consonant sounds native speakers dont immediately recognise and just 20 vowel sounds its crazy that we cant learn it, or make an effort to.

[kungfuman]

It's really hard to "prepare". WHY? because the topic of the subject you are teaching can have different meanings in different places.

the term "Oral English" is such an open topic and taught in so many different ways that until you arrive and meet the class and the administrators you will have little idea.

Some places give you a book - that you may or may not use - and some want you to go in and chat with the students.

Some are very formal and others informal.

So prepare by picking the brains of those that will govern you before you arrive.

[Bud Powell]

Has the OP even told us the level she'll be teaching?

It seems that everyone assumes that she'll be teaching middle school or lower. I've taught university and have never needed to use the IPA.

[Baishou]

[Javelin of Radiance]

[Bud Powell]

[MozartFloyd]

It seems we don't really know what level the OP will be teaching.

Having read through the comments, I agree that getting students to speak is huge. How you gonna do that? That's the question.

I'm actually surprised no one has mentioned games, which are especially important with primary students. If you're teaching primary students, overload your repertoire with lots of games, lots and lots of games to keep kids interested and active. Educational games are great, but sometimes you just need a fun game to keep kids interested. Little kids love games. Games can even work in middle school but they must reflect the maturity level of the students. If you don't know any games, start learning now!

Grammar schmammar in the end. I've never taught grammar directly, that's what Chinese teachers are for. Your main job is to get students to talk, correct their pronunciation, and keep them interested in class. Learn to have fun and don't be too boring.

[Baishou]

[Harbin]

[Harbin]

[muffintop]

Really?

The most widespread issues I have encountered is /ɪ/ -> /iː/ and /eɪ/ -> /ɛ/. There is also the /θ/ and /ð/ which you kind of mentioned but those can be forgiven somewhat since the sounds do not exist in putonghua so often they fall back on /s/ or /f/.

Also.../z/ -> /s/ can often be extremely difficult for native speakers to pick up on without context. Ice vs eyes. Try it.

/ʒ/ -> /j/ is close enough. Really.

/t/ -> /d/ never had much of a problem with this in and of itself. The common issue I see is that the students often like to pronounce it in the Chines way. /t/ become /tə/ and /d/ becomes /də/ (more or less). This issue exists for many consonant sounds actually.


Usually our job is not to make their pronunciation perfect (to what standard would we hold them accountable anyway?) but to remedy any issues which may greatly impact their ability to be understood.